The Meat & Wine Co Sydney CBD Castlereagh St — Restaurant in Sydney

Took my little brother here for an early 30th birthday dinner. He is a butcher and knows his meat so I told him he can have whatever he wants from the menu. Of course he picked the Aged New Yorker MB9+ 400g, I opted for the 300g Wagyu Rib Eye MB 6+.

We also had the pork belly and South African sausage entree and both of us opted to sample the Glenmorangie Whisky Tasting Flight.

We both ordered our steaks medium with a side of chips but then the waitress comes back to inform us that they ran out of the 400g New Yorker but still have one 600g New Yorker left. My brother opted in for the bigger steak and I commented that I hope he shares some of that with me as I had never tried a dry aged MB9+ before. Somehow that comment was misunderstood to be that I no longer wanted my Wagyu Rib Eye and that we were going to halve the 600g New Yorker.

The manager came to our table to tell us that the chef had already flashed my Rib Eye and asked if it was ok that they still had to charge me for it. I told them I don't understand what they mean of course they should charge me for it, as it is what I ordered, I still want what I ordered, after this confusion the entrees arrived which were really nice.

During the entrees the waitress came back and asked if she could remove the wine glasses, I said that was fine. She made a snarky comment along the lines of "Yeah I can tell your not the type of people to order wine". Look I get it, the name of this place is the Meat and Wine Co. It's not the typical restaurant we go to but it was a special occasion and I have been known on occasion to have a glass or two of wine but I felt like sampling some scotch whisky would be nice with some high end steaks this time around. However the comment from the waitress left me in a bad mood, judging a book by its cover and insulting your customers is not a good move especially if you expect a tip at the end of service.

My wagyu came out cooked perfectly medium as I like it however it was very salty like I was becoming after the customer service. My brothers steak came out Medium Rare not how he wanted it and they honestly must be joking to say that was 600g, would have easily had 150g of fat on it and after that was removed it was no bigger then my 300g Wagyu. Chips were perfect though.

Total bill came to over $480, didn't tip due to poor service and the fact we aren't in America, staff should get a...

The restaurant is quite beautiful, without access to windows they have done a marvelous job of creating a wonderful atmosphere that is extremely cosy and could be very enjoyable.

On the night we visited (Wed 4th Sept, 2024, Approx 8:30pm) we turned up without a booking. The dining room was approx half full so that didn't seem to be an issue. However we were seated next to an incredibly loud group whom were clearly drunk. Normally I wouldn't judge a restaurant on its guests but one of them was either the owner, very good friends with the owner or very good friends with the manager.

This group shouted across the room as if they were in a loud bar (Yes, everyone in the dining room took notice and were equally unhappy) and the manager/staff seemed perfectly OK with it, engaging with their loud banter and not putting a stop to it.

After they left, another friend of the manager or owner turned up and sat on the other side of us making loud sexually charged comments to his partner and equally loud disparaging comments about others in the restaurant.

After being seated we were seemingly forgotten about several times. We were finally offered water and brought a cold glass bottle that we thought was just a serving bottle, it turns out that they opened and charged us for premium bottled water. We had to dispute this at the end because we were unaware, they didn't argue and happily removed it from the bill. (Kudos to the team member for assisting).

The Bruschetta did not fail to satisfy, perfectly done and consistent with other locations we frequent back in Melbourne. I had the Beef Burger, it was overcooked and dry. The edges were quite charred and I was VERY unimpressed. My partner had the Chicken Breast, it was also quite dry but generally better than the burger. Normally we get Skewers and/or Steaks, so we took a chance deviating from the strengths of MWC and it was apparent.

This was ruined by guests that were clearly 'sponsored' by the management, and unfortunately I wouldn't see myself giving them a second chance. Very...

So our food was okay - I’ve had better experiences in other Meat and Wine Co venues but this fell below expectations.

Firstly, it is absolutely freezing cold in here. We asked 3 times to turn the A/C down but no one ever confirmed to us that it would happen or has happened, only that they would ask. We had to sit and wear our jackets at the dinner table as your staff will be able to confirm. I want to stress that you don’t read this and dismiss it as overly pedantic guests - It was truly unfathomably cold in the restaurant.

Next, unfortunately one of our guests food came out both undercooked and cold. He asked for the beef skewer medium but it came out rare and thus can probably explain why it was cold. We sent it back and it came back well done…. Really poor.

The other 3 of us had a fine meal, no complaints. Steaks were cooked to our liking and the sides were nice. The hassleback potato was flavourless however and not worth ordering.

The drinks - We had the rose and lychee spritz and the queen of clubs. They’re decent but very overly sweet guys. Just lacking a bit of balance - More sugar does not mean it’s a better drink.

Service - This was the only real positive. Our waitress was attentive and very polite. When we went to pay our bill, the manager came over and raised our concerns with us about the undercooked dish. This was nice of him as we didn’t have to raise it ourselves. He was a nice guy and understanding - He didn’t charge us for it and gave us a 10% discount.

All in all, the experience was mostly tainted by the truly crazy temperature in this restaurant. I’ve never felt anything like it. It won’t stop me coming back to Meat and Wine Co again, but I won’t come back to this particular...