Squires Loft, South Yarra

Don't you just hate it when things don't go your way? I certainly do. A few days ago I had to rush to get my dad, uncle and brother's visas to China. They were scheduled to leave next week but mum had forgotten all about the visas! So she filled out the forms and stuck on the photos and I went happily on my way to the Chinese Embassy. I waited in line for over half an hour and when I finally went up to the counter, I was told the forms had changed just a fortnight ago! Great. It was already 1:30pm and my stomach wasn't happy. Why didn't anyone tell me about this at the door? I dragged Yuye out of the car and after another half hour battling with form filling and bad Chinese writing and 20 minutes in line, we finally finished and headed out for lunch. The Mexican restaurant on Toorak Rd, South Yarra that we had wanted to go to was closed so I was overjoyed when I spotted popular Squires Loft across the road open for business.

Although I'm undoubtedly a carnivore, I've never really been a big steak eater. The fact is, most of the steaks I've had in the past were either too tough or just plain not tasty enough. This is with the exception of top wagyu which is also in a totally different price category (like the $200 F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. wagyu I had in Las Vegas). However, Squires Loft just redefined what I see in steaks. I'm not kidding when I say that they might serve the best steaks in Melbourne.

We were seated at the front of the house where we were surrounded by wine bottles, a warm heater and logs right next to my chair. It was a very comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

Before I could complain to Yuye how hungry I was, we were given 2 pieces of beautiful complimentary sour dour bread. One butter was enough between the two of us and I chowed mine down as if I hadn't eaten in a week.

Complimentary sour dour bread

I convinced Yuye to order a wine to go with the meal. He's doesn't usually drink alcohol when we're out but I wanted him to enjoy a good meal that day. He ordered a 2004 Zema Estate Merlot from Coonawarra for $10 which was quite tasty and easy to drink. I'm not fond of wines that are too dry but this one was fine and it went very well with the steaks.

Zema Estate Merlot 2004 (Coonawarra) - $10

I got my usual boring lemon lime & bitters, except this time, it came in a cool glass. It had great proportion between bitters and lemonade and was oh so refreshing.

Lemon Lime & Bitters - $3.50

The drinks weren't the stars of the show though. Our steaks were! My steak to be exact. I don't have a huge appetite normally so I figured I might as well get a smaller but nicer cut of meat. What can be better than a 200g eye fillet? A 300g eye fillet that's what! Well, I regretted just that little bit at the end for upsizing my steak to 300g, but it was just so beautiful that thought went away instantly. I was pretty darn full though. For $45, I got a melt in the mouth and fabulously tasty eye fillet with a side of baked potato. I thought the baked potato was small compared to Yuye's chips but really it was quite big when I dug in. I also got a $4.75 Danish Blue Cheese sauce to go with the steak but I realised as soon as I tasted the steak that it didn't really need it. The steak was perfectly salty and flavoured already. But BOY was the sauce good! I've had blue cheese sauce before but never this rich and intense! Blue cheese lovers, this is perfect for you!

300g eye fillet - $45, Danish blue cheese sauce - $4.75

Look at the grains of that meat! It was a very good looking eye fillet and when I asked for rare, rare is what I got. So the tasty steak is a combination of fresh, beautiful ingredients mixed with experience and good skills. Even when it got a little cold, the meat didn't go tough. Simply superb.

Yuye was also hungry and wanted to get something different from me so decided on a 400g rib eye on the bone for $41. It looked a lot bigger than mine but I thought mine was better. Ok fine, his was fantastic too but in comparison with my eye fillet, it was outshone. Yuye asked for medium rare and he really got medium rare and it was still perfectly tender.

Rib eye on the bone - $41, creamy garlic sauce - $4.75

Yuye also ordered a $4.75 creamy garlic sauce which was also unnecessary but it was so beautiful that I think I'll order it next time anyway just to dip the chips in.

We didn't stop there! We ordered a side salad for $6.50 after considering that there weren't any salad on the steak dishes. However, it was barely touched. The only things we ate were the cherry tomatoes. Although quite fresh and full of healthy ingredients, I didn't find it very exciting, at least not in comparison with the steaks and sauces. We were also so full that we couldn't fit in anything else so, sorry greens!

Side salad - $6.50

The service was also fantastic. One of the waiters offered to take photos for us but really I was only interested in the food. :P

Yuye and I left with happy stomaches and feeling a lot better than when we went in. It's a wonder how food can comfort someone and change your mood completely. Squires Loft isn't the cheapest place ever but a little bit of indulgence in such a great meal is totally worth it. If you like a good steak, Squires Loft is there to please.

The original Squires Loft was opened in 1992 in Brighton and later moved to South Yarra, where we had the meal. They have changed their business model and is now a non-traditional franchise with 4 other locations across Australia - Melbourne CBD, Country Victoria, Brisbane and Gold Coast. As I haven't been to the other locations, I can't comment about them but I do wish to try all of them one day so I can compare.

So has any of you had a bad day before and good food cheered you up? What kind of food was it?

Squires Loft South Yarra
Phone: (03) 9824 0999
166 Toorak Rd, South Yarra 3141
http://www.squiresloft.com.au

Did you enjoy this post? If so, why not share it with your friends?

Share |