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Related Editorial Content
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User Reviews on Charcoal Grill on the Hill
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 comments
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| Overall |
  
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 8 |
Value 7 |
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So it was my birthday and I wanted a nice steak, so I asked around on the forums and got recommended to the Charcoal Grill on the Hill. Made a booking and went. Looked at the menu and wow was the wagyu expensive! Gosh I really sweated over spending that much on a piece of meat. Will it be able to stand up to all that expectation? Anyway, I took the chance and ordered the 300g wagyu.
When it came out I got a fright, there it was all by it's lonesome self, just a piece of steak on a plate, nothing else! Well nothing for it but to pick up the knife and try it now! Ah the first bite, chew, hmmm was it worth it? don't know. The 2nd bite, chew, wow there's something special here! Many bites and chews later, Yes yes yes, this was one good steak and next time I feel rich and after a nice steak, I'll be back!
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Orion1632 -
See my reviews 2 , 15 November 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 8 |
Value 6 |
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You're coming here for the steak and the wine list. Both are great, if a little bit expensive. But it's a lovely restaurant that does its thing perfectly. I haven't had a better steak in Melbourne and it compares with e.g New York. Service usually really good too. Overall experience far better than others.
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madmick -
See my reviews 4, 14 October 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 6 |
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I was thoroughly impressed with the food and service here. It's expensive. You pay for your steak and get a side of a basic coleslaw and some tasty steak fries. There are no sauces, it's all about the meat although you can have your choice of mustard. The steak was absolutely delicious, so worth the money. I just recommend you go here when you've either got the money to spend or you are having a special night.
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blade_chic -
See my reviews 10, 21 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 6 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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Being a beef and steak person, I have eaten all kinds of beef cuts, whatever type of fed, whether they are below 1 year of age to 600 days old wagyu, Australian, Japanese, USA Prime, Canadian Prime, Brazil, Argentinean, etc.
When it comes to steaks, Melbourne is honestly disappointing. It's partly to do with the fact that Australian beef isn't all the great and is too lean. Wagyu from F1s to 100% however can sometimes be overwhelmingly greasy and lacking the beef flavour. Forget all the hype about feeding programs, 3-4 weeks ageing process, etc. When it comes to the real deal, lets face it; Melbourne's steaks when served onto your table are disappointing. For various reasons:
1) High price. Too expensive to eat steak in Melbourne, for the quality you get.
2) Lack of meat flavour. What most of us want, is sometimes a little bit of marbling, but not as full on as a wagyu. Unfortunately, US and Canadian Prime grade beef are much better in this respect, or Argentinean ones. Of course on the rare occasion, a non-marbled piece of meat will still be awesome which brings us to the next point.
3) Lack of Dry Ageing. The flavour complexity of a well aged piece of meat is indescriptible. It stays in your mouth and gives you the wow factor, it's sweet too, and it lingers around just as a good wine does the same. The tenderness is also greatly affected. Unfortunately, a lot of places boasts of Dry Aged beef but the end result is not that great, some even terrible.
4) This is very important. Cooking. How hard is it to cook a piece of steak? Everyone can chuck one on a Barbie and get it right, can't they? And that's the funny thing. Most restaurants get it so wrong.
5) Common problems for a bad steak thus being overcooked or undercooked. Not enough charcoal grilled flavour. Beef not tender. Beef itself does not have flavour and relies on seasoning or bad sauce. In Melbourne, I would say the biggest problem is that the steak is often too hard or too tough, even when you pay an amazing $35-40 or even $55-90 for a simple piece of steak that would cost you $7-40 to buy at the market.
I am so relieved that we have Charcoal Grill on the Hill. I did not use to like them much in the past few years, but recently they have improved to the point that I would put it as serving the best steaks in Melbourne. Try the Scotch Fillet, it is amazing.
Just to give you a clue of what I am comparing it to, other places I went for steaks before including Lamaro's (also great), The Point when Ian Curly was still there, Rockpool Bar &Grill (good yet ho-hum for the hype), Waterfront at Crown, JJ Bar, Stefan's at Balwyn, Vlado's, the now finished Lazaar Grill, Botanical, Paris Go, France Soir, Bistro Thierry, the new Cumulus Inc., Meat and Wine Co., Morning Star Estate, Yering Station and definitely a whole lot more that I will remember if I see the name.
I will only eat at Charcoal Grill, Bistro Vue, Lamaro's, Paris-Go (only the steak, I dislike everything else there) or Bistro Thierry's Eye Fillet if I have a craving for a steak. Botanical has some great steaks too with great sauces, but I still think there is room for improvement.
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Iruka -
See my reviews 88, 04 August 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 6 |
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Great food, a little overpriced but worth a visit if you want great steak. Had staff function and business meetings there, we were always well looked after.
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foodandcoffee -
See my reviews 3, 13 March 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 7 |
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Had a really nice eye fillet here - simple food, great quality steak with very nice french fries and salad. Would definitely come back here again next time.
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sweeper -
See my reviews 3, 01 January 2008
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 10 |
Value 9 |
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Divine! Consistently good service, food and wine list.
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finnski -
See my reviews 2, 09 October 2007
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 8 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
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Great Steaks, the staff really knew their cuts. Entrée didn't meet to the steaks level but service was good and wine selection good too.
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Wendy J -
See my reviews 1, 30 July 2007
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 10 |
Ambience 10 |
Service 10 |
Value 10 |
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Great food, fantastic wines, perfect service.
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irisstobbe -
See my reviews 1, 19 April 2007
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| Overall |
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Highly Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 8 |
Value 9 |
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Extremely impressed with this restaurant. Went here for a 'fathers / groomsmens' dinner a few days before my wedding and was a perfect venue. Fantastic steaks, great wine and very good service. The only criticism was my entree - a duck sausage with brocollini. The brocollini was dry and almost ornamental. The steak for the main however more than made up for this blemish.
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rivolijg -
See my reviews 38, 13 January 2007
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