Scotch fillet
$58Ribeye, generous marbling through the middle
350g35-day dry aged
Fire does the talking
Dry-aged Canterbury beef, mānuka embers and a room built for long dinners. Christchurch.
We do one thing and we do it slowly. Canterbury beef aged in our own salt room, cooked over mānuka embers, in a room built to lose an evening in.
From the fire
Four cuts that carry the room, shot on the pass the night they came off the coals. The rest of the beef, and the sizes, sit in the full list below. Prices in NZD.
Sirloin
$52The steakhouse classic, clean and firm
300g30-day dry aged
The tomahawk
$138Dry-aged bone-in ribeye, carved for two
1kg45-day dry aged
The T-bone
$72Fillet on one side, sirloin on the other
600g45-day dry aged
The cuts
Whole animals, broken down here, aged in the glass-walled salt room you pass on the way in. Every steak is cooked over embers, rested as long as it cooked, and served with a sauce. Prices in NZD.
The lean and the fresh
Cooked fresh, not aged. Best of the grass-fed pasture.
Eye fillet
$54Canterbury grass-fed, the tender one
220gFresh
Rump cap
$44Picanha, a fat cap that renders to butter
280gFresh
Flat iron
$42Marbled, full of flavour, the cook's pick
250gFresh
The dry-aged bench
Hung in the salt room until the flavour turns deep and nutty.
Sirloin
$52The steakhouse classic, clean and firm
300g30-day dry aged
Scotch fillet
$58Ribeye, generous marbling through the middle
350g35-day dry aged
Bone-in ribeye
$76On the bone, richer and slower to cook
500g40-day dry aged
For the table
Big cuts, carved at the pass and built to share.
T-bone
$72Fillet on one side, sirloin on the other
600g45-day dry aged
Wagyu rump cap
$68Waipara-raised, marble score 7
250gFresh
The tomahawk
$138Dry-aged bone-in ribeye, carved for two
1kg45-day dry aged
Sauces and butters
One with every steak, any extra $5. All naturally gluten free.
- Green peppercorn
- Red wine jus
- Béarnaise
- Chimichurri
- Bone marrow butter
- Smoked garlic butter
The wider menu
Start, share and finish. Everything but the tartare comes off the same coals as the beef, and the sides are built to go around the middle of the table.
To start
- Beef tartareHand-cut, smoked yolk, sourdough crisps$24
- Charred sourdoughWhipped bone marrow, sea salt$16
- Akaroa scallopsGFGrilled, brown butter, capers$28
- Bluff oystersGFDFNatural or over the coals, half dozen$32
- King oyster mushroomsGFVWood-grilled, thyme, aged parmesan$18
From the grill
Not everyone is here for the beef.
- Akaroa salmonGFEmber-roasted, fennel, burnt lemon$42
- Market fishGFLine-caught, wood-grilled, herb butter$46
- Canterbury lamb rackGFMānuka-smoked, rosemary jus$46
- Free-range chickenGFHalf bird, lemon and thyme, over coals$38
- Wood-roasted cauliflowerGFVWhole head, burnt butter, capers$32
Sides
$14 each, all gluten free.
- Beef-fat potatoes
- Charred broccolini, chilli
- Mac and three cheeses
- Creamed spinach
- Wood-roasted mushrooms
- Leaf salad, mustard dressing
Dessert
- Burnt honey brûléeGFMānuka smoke, a thin crackle top$16
- Chocolate and whisky tartCrème fraîche, sea salt$17
- Salted caramel puddingDate sponge, butterscotch, cream$16
- Canterbury cheeseThree local cheeses, quince, oat crackers$24
GF gluten free. DF dairy free. V vegetarian. Every cut of beef is naturally gluten free. Tell us about allergies when you book and the kitchen will work around them.
Mānuka, embers, patience
The grill burns down for two hours before the first steak touches it. We cook over mānuka and old fruit-wood embers, not flame, which is slower and better, the way most things worth doing are.
Every cut rests as long as it cooked. The kitchen will not be rushed, and after the first bite, neither will you.
Aged in the salt room
Ageing is time and cold air doing the work. In the salt room the beef loses water and deepens, thirty to forty-five days, until the flavour turns dark and almost nutty.
The salt room
A glass-walled chamber lined with salt brick, held steady at two degrees with low humidity. You walk past it on the way to your table.
Thirty to forty-five days
Most cuts hang for over a month. The eye fillet we keep fresher, since it is lean and does not ask for the time.
The trim
The hard, dark crust that forms is cut away before cooking. What is left is tender, concentrated, and worth the wait.
The farms behind the beef
We buy whole animals from a short list of Canterbury farms and break them down here. These are the names really on the menu.
Rakaia Terraces
Mid Canterbury
Angus grazed on the river flats. Our eye fillet and sirloin start here.
Blackford Station
Culverden
Hereford, slow-finished on hill country north of the city.
Windwhistle
Methven
Pasture-raised beef for the dry-aged ribeye and the T-bone.
Waipara Valley Wagyu
North Canterbury
The marble-score-seven rump cap, raised on a single farm.
Akaroa Salmon Co.
Banks Peninsula
Ocean-raised salmon, landed and on the coals within the day.
Averill's Garden
Leeston
Leaves, herbs and winter roots, picked to order for the sides.
The room
One long room, low lamps, leather booths, and the grill glowing at the open end. Forty-eight seats, most of them worth booking ahead for, and no music you have to talk over.
The bar opens at four, an hour before the kitchen. Take a stool, start with a dram and a plate of marrow toast, and let us set your table around you.
- 48
- seats in the room
- 4pm
- bar opens, walk-ins welcome
Wine and whisky
A short wine list built for red meat, and a back bar built for after it. If you would rather we chose, tell the floor what you like and leave it with us.
The cellar
Glenmark Hills Pinot Noir
Waipara, poured by the glass all winter.
Kaituna Valley Syrah
Banks Peninsula, smoky and built for the ribeye.
Ashley Gorge Cabernet
North Canterbury, the list's quiet star.
The back bar
South Island single malt
Oak, honey and a thread of mānuka smoke.
The peated shelf
Twelve drams for after the steak, gentle to bonfire.
Rye and bourbon flights
Three pours, chosen with you, neat or over a rock.
The Ember Room
A private room behind the salt room, with its own door, its own bar and one long oak table. A set banquet of shared cuts, poured wines to match, and the room yours for the night. Larger parties can take over the whole back bar on a shared feast menu.
Up to 20
guests at one table
$95
per person, set banquet
Wed to Sun
from 5.30pm
Ask for the room when you book, or phone 03 366 0184.
The plates, the bar and the room
Word gets around
“The best steak in the South Island, cooked by people who plainly love it. The salt room alone is worth the trip.”
“Confident enough to keep the menu short and the room dark. Book the ribeye and clear your evening.”
“A proper grown-up steakhouse. The dry-aged sirloin and a Waipara red is as good as dinner in this city gets.”
“The ribeye arrives still whispering from the fire. Best steak I have eaten south of the equator.”
“Dark room, good bourbon, meat treated with total respect. Exactly what a steakhouse should be.”
“We booked the back room for eight and they ran the night off the shared menu without a hitch. Nobody wanted to leave.”
Before you come in
- Do I need to book?
- For dinner, yes, especially Friday and Saturday. The bar keeps a handful of walk-in stools from four o'clock, first in, first served.
- Can you cater for dietaries?
- Yes. Tell us about allergies or preferences when you book. There is always a fish and a vegetable main off the coals, and the kitchen adjusts the rest.
- What does dry-aged actually mean?
- The beef hangs in our salt room for thirty to forty-five days. It loses water, the flavour concentrates, and the outer crust is trimmed away before cooking. The result is deeper and more tender.
- Can you seat a large group?
- The Ember Room takes up to twenty at one table on a set banquet menu. For anything bigger we can take over the back bar. Phone 03 366 0184 to talk it through.
- Is there a dress code?
- None. The room is dark and a little dressy by nature, and most guests lean into that, but come as you are.
- Where do we park?
- There is paid parking along Victoria Street and in the Oxford Terrace lot two minutes away. We are an easy walk from the central city.
Book a table
Dinner Wednesday to Sunday. Tables are held for fifteen minutes past booking time, then released to the bar.
141 Victoria Street
Christchurch Central 8013
03 366 0184
Wednesday to Sunday, from 5.30pm. Bar from 4pm.