EAT > Restaurant 226, Melbourne (14/20)

Beneath the heritage bones of Invicta House on Flinders Lane, Restaurant 226 (styled II.II.VI) has turned a basement into a subterranean altar to fire, and in doing so has given Melbourne a theatrical new steakhouse.

There’s a particular thrill in restaurants that commit fully to a single idea rather than chasing trend after trend, and 226 has committed hard to fire. Everything here — the custom parrilla grill, the robata, the charcoal oven — exists to answer one question: what happens when you cook almost exclusively through flame and smoke rather than around it. The result is ambitious, a little theatrical, and mostly delivers on the hype.

It is not by anyway Melbourne’s only steak restaurant, or the only parrilla grill but given the scale of the venture, the location and success of the Ministry of Crab it was of course important that we ventured in to test the full 226 experience for ourselves.

AMBIENCE >

Descending the stairs off Flinders Lane feels deliberately disorienting: a big room that is moodier, slightly industrial with the big grills set against the back wall. There are hints of “Victor Churchill in Armadale” or even the now defunct “Botswana Butchery on Little Collins” each are or were big meat specialists and bring image and persona. By contrast Restaurant 226 feels a little like it is trying to adopt an already popular style and make it, its own.

Set within the heritage-listed Invicta House, the room trades on art deco swagger — oxblood leather booths, low blue lighting, an impressive stone bar that anchors the space, and an open kitchen where the flames themselves are the centrepiece. It’s a 115-seat room built for date nights and long, indulgent catch-ups rather than quick lunches, and the design does a lot of the emotional work before a single dish arrives.

EAT >

The menu reads as a parade of small, decadent bites building toward serious fire-cooked mains. Pacific oysters arrive two ways — one crowned with caviar, the other lifted with a lime finger mignonette — followed by caviar tartlets with horseradish and crème fraîche, and steak tartare tartlets with a sharp umami hit. Foie gras on crisp sourdough with fig jam, pickled shimeji and hazelnuts is a genuine standout, poetic rather than merely rich.

From there, yellowtail with blood orange and seeded mustard and plump Abrolhos Island scallops kissed by the grill keep things bright before the kitchen turns to its real strength: steak. The 30-day dry-aged Cape Grim Angus and premium cuts from Westholme and Mayura Station arrive charred outside, tender within, cooked over the custom parrilla under head chef Haitham Richani and executive chef Kerry Lam. Kingfish crudo and steak frites also feature on the everyday menu for those after a lighter or more casual hit.

The Glacier 51 toothfish (a personal favourite), worked through the charcoal oven with champagne, stock, herbs and blue cheese, is arguably the most technically interesting dish on the table. Basque cheesecake, finished with a touch of caviar, closes things on a suitably indulgent note.

DRINK >

Cocktails are built around the glowing stone bar, which hums on its own most nights with a DJ playing Fridays and Saturdays — this is clearly a room designed to work as a destination bar as much as a dining room.

The wine list leans local and international it is not extensive but there is probably something for most people and while it is not a world class wine list there were a couple of choices that made me happy.

CONCLUSION >

Restaurant 226 is bold and confident — a fire-first steakhouse with genuine craft behind the theatre, solid offerings from the foie gras through to the dry-aged Angus and Wagyu.

It doesn’t really need the drama it leans into, but the hit rate on the plate is high enough. There are so many amazing restaurants in Melbourne and Restaurant 226 needs to keep pushing to be relevant in an ever changing market.

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Image Credit | ALMANAK & Restaurant 226

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