What do you picture when you envisage the perfect steakhouse? For us it’s dim lighting, plush furnishings, red wine and quality meat. You know those times when you really fancy a bloody good steak? This was one of those nights for us and we knew exactly where we wanted to get it.
Part of the Skycity brand, The Grill is spearheaded by Sean Connolly – a man of exceptional pedigree. Sean was previously Executive Chef at Astral which gained 5 chefs hats under his expertise. With almost all ingredients sourced locally, The Grill claim to keep things authentic and simple.
Upon entering the restaurant, to one side you are greeted by a seafood bar as well as the open kitchen and a selection of cheeses.
As we walked in we spotted one of the chefs plating up some kind of pate or parfait which looked incredible. We immediately knew one of us was going to order this. It turned out to be the Duck Liver Parfait with Pedro Ximenez Jelly and Brioche. This was a very generous portion with two huge chunks of brioche. The parfait was as smooth as silk, rich and deliciously creamy.
Our second starter was the Sucking Pig with crackling. Please note that this is only available from 6pm onwards. This is ordered by the 100g and we found that 200g was more than enough for 2 people. It was melt in the mouth tender and crispy at the same time, simply amazing!
In terms of steak there are options to choose from Savannah Angus Pasture-Fed, Wakanui Angus Grain-Fed and Wagyu. If you’re not a steak lover, there are plenty of other options including Lamb, King Crab Linguine and Peppered Wild Vension.
We went for the Savannah Angus Pasture-Fed Eye Fillet which came cooked to a perfect medium rare, as requested. This came with chunky Duck Fat Chips and the waiter was kind enough to bring us a selection of steak sauces and butters to share amongst us. They were Red Chimichurri, Red Wine Jus, Green Peppercorn, Miso Hollandaise, Garlic and Parsley Butter, Ortiz Anchovy Butter and Cafe de Paris Butter.
The steak cut like butter and was juicy and tender. The winning sauce was the classic Green Peppercorn and the addition of the malt vinegar on the table also won them brownie points with us.
However, the standout side dish was the Mac and Cheese made with both Pecorino and Talbot Forest Cheddar.There is also the option of adding truffle to this dish as well as an ENTIRE truffle menu!
Onto the dessert! We were unfortunately too full to order a full dessert but couldn’t refuse the complimentary Sweet Treats from the kitchen. A selection of chocolate & lollies provided a variety of textures in the mouth. There was a mixture of white, dark and milk chocolate puffed rice, Hokey Pokey and strawberry and lime marshmallow. The Marshmallow was sweet and sour, our favourite.
We’d also love to go back and try the Sunday Roast available from 6pm every Sunday.
So if you’re looking for a quality steak in Auckland in elegant surroundings, this is your place.
Special thanks to the Maître d’Hotel Denis who was in charge of the pass that night and was very efficient and personable!
The Grill by Sean Connolly
SkyCity Grand Hotel
90 Federal Street
Auckland CBD
Tel: 09 363 7067
