Yes, my family and I embarked on a crazy mission as we trooped from country to country – to taste the local steak at every stop so that we can find out which country produces the best grilled beef. Hang on, before you think I’m some flesh-hungry female (*cringe*), this idea actually bore fruit from the MALES in my family. But for the sake of Youth.SG readers, I decided to be selfless and sacrifice my figure in order to dish out yummy food for you to see! And the great thing is, with four people in the family, we get to taste four different dishes each time. Brilliant, no? 

Disclaimer: The steaks I tried are in no way representative of the standards in the respective countries, because we dined at random restaurants along the streets, and not necessarily the best, duh! 

Let’s tuck in, shall we! :D

France: Hippopotamus

We were attracted to this restaurant because it looked the most attractive and cosy at the same time. It was decked out in red and the waitress who served us looks like Eva Longoria (hot!). The menu offers beef from many different types of cows, from many different parts of the cow and cooked in different ways. We decided to order steak for four pax of 1.4 kg in weight to share, instead of four separate dishes (because it’s more economical this way). We had ZILCH idea just how much 1.4 kg was until we saw this: 

Let’s just say the meat was pretty tasty, but many parts of it were so raw that we were slightly turned off. And that was after we asked for the beef to be done medium well and after we sent it back to the kitchen to be re-cooked once. I’m not exaggerating, but the interior of the steak was all red and had blood oozing out all over the place. On the whole, not a very pleasant experience. We think the food would have been great if the beef was at least grilled properly. 

Price:
Approx. SGD$175 in total (84 Euros) 

London: Scotch Steak Houses

I wanted to be different and so I tried one with red wine sauce and grilled asparagus:

Looks pretty good, no? Unfortunately, my dad and brother ranked this restaurant the worst because this time, the beef was SO hard they got irritated cutting and chewing it. It was SO overcooked that there was no smooth texture to speak of. I guess the lack of gravy also contributed to the distastefulness. I thought mine was however, much softer and tastier (because of the gravy perhaps). The guys grudgingly agreed. Moral of the story? Scottish cows are tough. 

Price:
Approx. SGD$50 (18 pounds) 

Address:
53 Shaftesbury Ave
London W1D

Barcelona: Gran FOC  

No, the food is definitely nowhere near Free-Of-Charge in this bar cum restaurant. We landed here out of convenience – it’s just next door to our hotel. It has a great ambience, though I think the lights are a tad too dim to be comfortable. There is a huge screen hanging from one side of the wall showing a pseudo bonfire like this:

 

Fantastic, I’d say, as it sufficiently gives customers a warm and cosy feeling on a cold winter night. We ordered steak with a few martinis to go with.

My brother rated his T-bone steak (on the left) the best as the beef was just nicely done. The texture was extremely smooth and the meat was tender and tasty too. It is particularly satisfying when you slice the flesh and you can see a healthy brown colour on the outside with a pale tinge of pink on the inside. This standard is especially hard to achieve when the piece of meat is thick. But the steak was fresh and succulent. Scrumptious! I enjoyed myself because I got to try alcoholic cocktails for the first time too!

Price:
Approx. SGD$39, Sirloin Steak (19 euros)
Approx. SGD$52, T-Bone steak (25 euros) 

Address:
Roger de Lluria, 23
Barcelona 

Switzerland: King’s Cave

We searched high and low for this cave because it was recommended to us by our tour guide who brought us up to Mount Titlis earlier in the day. The restaurant is found in the basement of a hotel, hence the name. When I first stepped into the restaurant, it made me feel like I was in a cave because of the stone walls and dimly-lit candles. However, there is an element of royalty too because the decoration is done brilliantly and very intricately. It had a peaceful and romantic ambience too. Because it was a recommendation, we harboured high hopes and thankfully, the food did not disappoint us.

The steak came with bread, salad and French fries or grilled potatoes. Unlike all the other restaurants, my steak was already nicely cut up, saving me all the hassle. The serving was a bit too large for me though and I was cringing at the visible oil. Fortunately, not only was the meat soft and tender, it was extremely juicy and tasty too! The basil garnishing gave it such a unique and strong taste that I absolutely loved it. My conclusion? The steak at this restaurant is the best among all I’ve tried.

Price:
Approx. SGD$58 (45 CHF), Bio Entrecote Royal
Approx. SGD$54 (42 CHF), Bio Entrecote
Approx. SGD$50 (39 CHF), Entrecote Queen 

Address:
Hotel Central Plaza
Central 1
8001 Zurich 

Guess what, we even had Singapore-style steak too! Haha, Grilled beef in Red Wine Sauce was served on the plane on our journey home. Quite good! So says my bro.

 

There. You’re either feeling nauseous from that overload of meat or you’re drooling and dying for steak now. No matter what, Mission Completed!

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