Cinder at The Terminus

01What to order

• Cape Grim ribeye, 600 g / 21 oz, dry-aged 60 daysMB3+, Tasmania, A$152 on the August 2025 Josper menu.
• Wanderer Reserve bone-in strip, 500 g / 18 oz, dry-aged 55 daysMB3+, Victoria, A$125.
• Southern Grain T-bone, 550 g / 19 oz, dry-aged 48 daysMB2+, South Australia, A$105.
• SHIMO Wagyu tomahawk, 1.2 kg / 2.6 lbMB9+, New South Wales, A$315, served with the chef's sides and sauces.
• O'Connor cube roll, 300 g / 11 ozGrain-fed, MB5+, Victoria, A$72; the Cape Grim tenderloin (200 g / 7 oz, MB3+) is A$58.
• Wagyu WednesdayA Wagyu steak with house chips, slaw and a sauce, A$39, lunch and dinner every Wednesday.

02The beef

Grass-fed: Cape Grim tenderloin (200 g / 7 oz, MB3+, Tasmania), Vintage Beef Co Reserva striploin (250 g / 9 oz, MB2+, Victoria, A$52) and Southern Ranges cube roll (240 g / 8.5 oz, MB2+, A$55). Grain-fed: Macka's cube roll (300 g / 11 oz, MB4+, New South Wales, A$66) and striploin, O'Connor cube roll at MB5+. Wagyu from six producers and two countries: Matriarch grass-fed 'vintage' cube roll and striploin at MB5++, Margaret River rump and rump cap at MB9+, INFINITE by Rangers Valley cube roll at MB9++ (400 g / 14 oz, A$175), SHIMO flank, Diamantina Pure Wagyu striploin, and A5 from Hokkaido (rump cap, MB12++, A$145) and Kumamoto (striploin, MB12+, A$165). Everything comes with a house garnish and a sauce or butter; extra sauces are A$5, butters A$4. The number: 60 days.

03The fire

An enclosed Josper. Charcoal, per Broadsheet and Time Out; the house says wood-fired. Coal-baked scallops, flame-grilled squid, wood-roasted carrot on the same list. Wagyu Wednesday is cooked on the open-flame grill. The Terminus itself holds AHA awards for its beer, not its fire. Order the 60-day ribeye.

04The story

John McLean licensed the Scotch Thistle Hotel in 1854 and built it in bluestone with 18 rooms on Plenty Road, now Queens Parade; it became the Roscrea around 1864 and the Terminus between January and April 1885, and in 1928 Herbert Wymond spent about £4,400 rebuilding the interior. Russell Griggs took it in 2008 and made it a craft-beer pub. Sources disagree on when Kickon Group arrived: Australian Hotelier says late 2019, the Darebin heritage list names Craig Shearer as licensee from 2020, Broadsheet says 2021. Cinder opened in December 2021 with Furst, from Beer Deluxe, as head chef; a Cuts Club launched with 65 members and knives by the Belgian maker Matthieu Dechamp, and by 2023 cost A$500 to join.

05The practical

Entrance at 18 Brennand Street, Fitzroy North 3068, behind the Terminus Hotel at 492 Queens Parade; phone (03) 8351 3269, bookings through SevenRooms. Lunch from 11:30 am Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; dinner from 5:30 pm Tuesday to Saturday; the kitchen closes from 3 to 5 pm. BYO on Thursdays, a A$55 lunch Friday to Sunday, a four-course chef's table at A$115 or A$190 with wines for the whole table. Trams 11 and 86. A 15 per cent surcharge applies on public holidays.

Address

Terminus Hotel, 492 Queens Parade (entrance 18 Brennand Street), Fitzroy North VIC 3068

Phone

+61 3 8351 3269

Website

cinder.melbourne

Directions

Google Maps ↗

06In Melbourne’s selections