Eastside Bar & Grill

01What to order

• Florentine bistecca, O'Connor Angus T-boneThe dish the Australian Good Food Guide singles out for the house, at MBS 3–4. A T-bone carries strip and fillet on one bone.
• Tomahawk, O'Connor or Mayura StationThe cut Broadsheet names first for the parrilla.
• TenderloinBroadsheet's pick for a smaller steak.
• BrisketThe other alternative to the big cuts that Broadsheet lists.
• House-cured wagyu bresaolaWith truffle pecorino and caperberry, on the menu FirstTable shows.
• Wood-roasted spatchcockWhole, with togarashi and shiso.

02The beef

Two producers are named for the steaks. O'Connor supplies the Angus T-bone, at MBS 3–4 according to the Australian Good Food Guide, and tomahawks; Mayura Station supplies tomahawks too, per Broadsheet. The cuts are dry-aged on site. No source gives the number of days, the feed or the price of a cut, and the restaurant publishes no menu with prices online. The kitchen also cures its own wagyu bresaola.

03The fire

The fire has changed. In January 2017 the restaurant opened as Eastside Grill with a Japanese binchotan charcoal grill, per Spice News. Today it cooks on a timber-burning parrilla built by Fenwesco, whose owner, Rick, runs the grilling, according to FirstTable. A brasero feeds the coals; V-groove grates sit above them. FirstTable says the result is timber smoke rather than charcoal. No source names the wood. Ask for the T-bone.

04The story

Eastside Grill opened on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, on Level 1 of the Old Rum Store at 2-10 Kensington Street, owned by the Greencliff group. Spice News described a building about 100 years old with its raw structure kept, a leather-paneled bar, a custom brass chandelier, herringbone floors and a mural by the Belgian-born artist Caratoes. The opening chef, Stanley Wong, had cooked at Spice Market in New York and the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, and the first menu was American with Japanese touches. The name nods to New York's Meatpacking District and to the east side of Kensington Street. It now trades as Eastside Bar & Grill.

05The practical

Level 1, The Old Rum Store, 2-10 Kensington Street, Chippendale. Phone 02 9212 0900. FirstTable lists dinner Monday to Saturday (from 5 p.m., or 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, until 9 or 9:30 p.m.), lunch Thursday to Saturday from 12 to 2:30 p.m., and closed Sunday. The Butchers Banquet runs on Wednesday nights: unlimited steak and sides for two hours, booking required. No menu with prices is published online, so ask when you book.

Address

Level 1, The Old Rum Store, 2-10 Kensington Street, Chippendale NSW 2008

Phone

+61 2 9212 0900

Directions

Google Maps ↗

06In Sydney’s selections