Steak Dinner at Moo Moo, Brisbane City

Moo Moo The Wine Bar and Grill, Brisbane City
39 Edward Street, Brisbane CBD

I'd been to Moo Moo at the Gold Coast but was still very interested in its Brisbane City restaurant. It feels like it only just opened not long ago but I'm sure it's been a few years now. One of the things that appeals to me the most is the location. Moo Moo has taken over what used to be Siggi's at The Stamford Plaza. I have a great memory of one of my first 'fine dining' experiences with my family at Siggi's and later on, high tea there. It's sad it's gone now but hopefully there are bigger and better things. I would soon be finding out.

Although Marc had made a booking, and for the first time ever we didn't miss it by running late, our table wasn't ready and we were encouraged to have a drink while we waited. I swear this is the oldest restaurant trick in the books to sway people over to the bar and rack up booze expenditure. Because I'm a deaf old bat, the bar was too noisy for me and I was happy when we were lead past a hall of hanging carcasses to our table in the quieter restaurant.

A vegetarian's worst nightmare?

The restaurant portion of Moo Moo seemed smaller than I expected but we speculated that there may have been more tables in the other rooms. They tried their best to jazz up an old building but I liked that it was still quite classic and tasteful, rather than overly funky and ridiculous. The channel of greenery through the middle of the room was a nice touch too.

Our table decided to skip entrees and instead, order individual mains and some sides to share. I had a moment of panic when I saw all the mains because there weren't nearly as many steak options as I thought there would be. Could Moo Moo Brisbane be that different to Moo Moo Gold Coast?! It turns out that two sheets in my menu were stuck together. There was an entire page full of steak that I had missed.

Tasting of steak

We received a complimentary steak taster as our amuse bouche. I didn’t really see the appeal in this and Elaine and I agreed that steak served cold was rather strange in the mouth.

F1 wagyu rump cap - with bearnaise sauce

For my main, I chose the F1 wagyu rump cap, upon our waiter’s recommendation. The meat was served plain with a soy dressing but I also ordered a bearnaise sauce. The steak was amazing. I had it cooked to medium and Moo Moo achieved that perfectly. I can’t help but notice the blushing shade of pink matches me nails...

Yummy close-up

That aside, it was just a beautiful, juicy piece of meat with the fat marbelled through keeping it tender and luscious. I always find wagyu deceptively filling and what looked like a smallish piece of meat became too much for me to finish. The bernaise sauce was too sour for my liking so I found myself using Marc’s mushroom sauce instead.

F1 wagyu sirloin - with mushroom sauce

Marc and Don both chose the other F1 wagyu, the sirloin cut. Marc thought his steak was cooked exactly as a steak should be. Don questioned the slightly burnt exterior but Marc didn’t mind. As mentioned above, I loved Marc’s mushroom sauce and so did he (so he was probably hoping I would stop stealing it). Marc also describes the sirloin as the ‘perfect man size’, so maybe it’s no coincidence that both men at our table ordered it.

Eye fillet special - with garlic beurre blanc and scallops

Elaine was looking for an eye fillet cut on the menu but there wasn’t one. Luckily, it was featured as a special of the day, served together with scallops and a creamy sauce.

Sides (L to R): tempura onion rings with smokey bbq sauce, fat chips with black pepper aioli, green beans with caramelized onion and almond flakes

I’ve always been a fan of the truffled parmesan fries at Moo Moo, once travelling to the Gold Coast location for nothing but fries and beer. This time, we chose the fat chips and I was delighted to discover that they were at the very least, just as good as the fries. The chips had a light but crunchy, seasoned coating, and the inside was hot and fluffy. I really enjoyed the sauce that they came with too.

The beans were just beans. They were tossed through butter and almond flakes. The almond flakes gave it a nice texture but other than that, there was nothing to write home about. I didn’t love the onion rings because the seemed kind of bland to me and the sauce was overly sweet. Marc thought they were good but agreed they could have been crispier.

We were all nice and full after our meal and surprised at how long we actually spent in the restaurant. I didn’t think that much of Gold Coast Moo Moo (aside from the fries) but I did really enjoy my steak at Brisbane City Moo Moo. It would easily be amongst my top wagyu experiences. The chips were also a standout for me.