Meatmaiden

We started with the burnt ends which were most delicious. My wife had the brisket and I the Porterhouse mid-​rare. We agree that the meat tasted wonderful although my steak was undercooked, coming out rare. In the end, having it rare was just fine although at home (in the States) I likely would have sent it back to be refired, I thought perhaps mid-​rare means something different here. And being American I wasn’t used to the steak being pre-sliced…back home that generally isn’t done; steaks come out as a hunk of meat to be subsequently sliced by oneself and devoured.
The mash and gravy as well as the peas side dishes were delicious. We thought overall the value vs. quality was spot-​on, but we still can’t figure out why alcohol is so expensive in Australia., however, our check was reasonable for what we enjoyed.
But, this was not a «steakhouse» by any measure so does not garner 5-​stars. No linen tablecloths or napkins, very loud hipster vibe, nor is there the cut selection of a traditional steakhouse. Fine place to dine casually on a hunk of meat or go on a date (maybe too loud for the latter), but if you are wanting the true 5-​star steakhouse meal, go elsewhere.

Lobster Mac and cheese, brisket and pickled veg. That’s my jam. Have had the burnt end sandwich for lunch too, it was really good. Struggle not to eat here every night when I’m in town for work. Friendly staff as well

Avant de quitter l’Australie je voulais déguster aux spécialités de ce grand pays. Mais je voulais une certaine maîtrise (cuissons, respect du produit)
Durant mon séjour en Australie, j’ai questionné plusieurs personnes à ce sujet, mon chef à Perth, des amis, des familles australienne chez qui nous avons séjourné… Pas facile de répondre à la question qu’elles sont les spécialités australienne ?? Il y en a pas autant quand France et les bases des recettes né sont souvent pas australienne. Mais on peut citer différent plats que les australiens ont su s’approprier et sublimer tellement leur matière première sont de qualités (viande, légumes, poissons…)
— Tourte australienne (souvent à base de viande)
— 7 hour lamb
— 20 hour wagyu beef
— Pull pork
— Cheese and mac
— Pork belly
— Huîtres
— …
Il est difficile de trouver un restaurant australien. Mais un Unilocaler de Melbourne m’a indiqué le Meat maeden… J’aimerai le remercier.
Un peu trop lounge pour nous, vous allez y croiser des hommes d’affaire, des jeunes branché… Nous avons été un lundi, le restaurant était calme et le personnel à l’écoute et très souriant.
Nous avons donc opté pour les spécialités que j’ai cité plus haut (20 hour beef fumé, le pork belly, le mac and cheese, huîtres aux fenouils, le thon cru, et un dessert à base de peanut butter)
Le repas était presque parfait et incroyable.
— Le bœuf était tendre et son odeur de fumé était incroyable. À tester !!
— Le mac and cheese, un gratin de pâtes à la béchamel et du fromage fondu. Si vous né connaissez pas vous pouvez essayer mais plat très simple et très populaire.
— Tuna cru était excellent. Il est snacké rapidement avec du poivre pour lui donner un côté croustillant mais reste cru à l’intérieur
— Le pork belly mon préféré accompagné de pomme et d’une sauce au cidre INCROYABLE
— Pour finir le dessert avec un gros comme ça, normalement je né suis pas fan du sucré car peut de restaurants savent vraiment proposer de bon dessert. Alors nous prenons le seul dessert qui n’est pas français. Un dessert au beurre de cacahuète. Je pense qu’il va être lourd et pas adapté au menu. Finalement le chef est vraiment fort et malin !! Une mousse fine et fraîche au beurre de cacahuète avec une boule de chocolat !! Bluffé c’était trop bon !!
Le restaurant aurait presque obtenu un 5 étoiles !! Si les plats n’étaient pas aussi cher, il manqué du pain pour saucer, les sauce sont incroyables et on né peut pas en profiter. Il manqué des garnitures avec certains plat !! Sinon parfait

Nearly perfect restaurant and food. I’ll explain my reasons down below. If there was 4.7 stars, that’s what I would give.
Meatmaiden lived up to its hype and my expectations ever since I bookmarked it in Unilocal.I finally made it out with friends and colleagues and everyone was very happy when we left.
We started with a plate of burnt ends and a plate of tuna with avocado and horseradish. The tuna was out of this world good. The burnt ends were excellent too and confirmed my dinner order for the 20 hour smoked waygu brisket.
The brisket came out and was obviously from a woolly mammoth by the size of the meat on my plate. I love brisket and could eat it everyday of my life, but I was somewhat disappointed when it wasn’t the best I ever had. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to be mind-​blown and all I got was heartache. It was like getting excited for a movie after watching the trailers and then watching the movie and realising that the trailers, or in this case, burnt ends were the best part.
Our table also ordered chips, mashed with gravy, and the feta peas. All were superb!
The waitstaff was top notch and on top of everything. Great atmosphere, very clean, definitely on the noisy side, and decent wine and an ok beer list. I’ll definitely be back again to try other things.

Great experience here. My friends and I had a buck’s party in Melbourne over the weekend and made this one of our stops. We’re all American except for one Irishman and the buck lived in Austin, Texas for a while and we all came away impressed.
The venue is setup like a small bar but super sleek with meat on display. We made a booking the day before and got a late table but it was no big deal, as you could have the table as long as you wanted.
We ordered smokey old fashioned’s all around, and the Maiden’s mood.
Pickled heirloom veg, chilli & goat curd: ⁴⁄₅
Southern fried chicken ribs, tequila mayo: ⁴⁄₅
Devilled Eggs: ⁵⁄₅
Brisket: ⁵⁄₅
Lamb ribs: ³⁄₅
Pulled Pork: ⁵⁄₅
Lobster Mac and Cheese: ⁵⁄₅
Service was great and attentive, so if that’s not your style you may not enjoy it.
Dat Mac and Cheese though…
Price is definitely on the expensive side, especially cocktails, but it’s a great experience.
Overall 4.5÷5

Another hidden gem for carnivores.
Think southern US style meaty goodness, hidden away in a basement.
A group of us went here for an after-​work function — wow.
We were half munted so of course we ordered waaaay to much food. Seriously, a pride of lions couldn’t have digested the food we ordered for 5 people — whoops!
The meat was all fantastic — the ribs were seriously to die for, and the hipster staff and fit out well done. We gave it a good nudge but at least one of us took home enough meat for a meal for her Rottweiler.
Wish I could tell you more but obligingly they helped us get totally munted so the details escape me.
Sure to love it…

If their brisket was a religion, I’d convert.
This was another place I’d heard about through the grapevine, and wanted to check out.
As other reviewers had suggested, the prices are quite high. I was dining on my own, and a $ 61 bill for two courses and two non-​alcoholic drinks was on par with Perth-​level prices for dining out.
Sadly, the sides ordered with the main just didn’t stack up. I’d heard a lot of people rave about their Mac and Cheese, but it didn’t hit the mark for me. It was more mac than cheese, and the cheese they were using just didn’t shine through in the dish. Their chips also left a little bit to be desired, not being consistently crisp.
Also, I just don’t understand serving drinks in Mason Jars. I’m sorry, this is just silly, and it was made worse by having a metal rim on top of their jars which could run the risk of cutting someone’s mouth. Just serve me a drink that was in a bottle, in its bottle.
And service staff were over-​attentive. You don’t need three staff all asking you how the meal is going all within 5min of each other — this was just excessive and interrupted the dining experience.
But back to some positives please, and the brisket — this was impressive. It was a 20-​hour Rangers Valley Wagyu brisket, with Tasmanian pepper berry rub. It was melt in your mouth fantastic.
Another positive of this place is the décor. It has an industrial feel to it, which may be off-​putting to some, but for this venue and location it works well.
So, there’s some good points, and some not so good points. I’d be happy to return, but there’d need to be an improvement in the sides they offered to make it worthwhile.

We took some visiting family and friends to dinner here. Really tasty BBQ. They’re a bit on the pricey side, but with the cost of beef going up and the length of time it takes to cook low and slow, it’s understandable. You’re getting value for quality not quantity.
A few things to note: They only accept bookings for 6 or more. They’re only accessible via stairs going down. If you tell them you’re gluten intolerant, they’ll tell you what they recommend and make anything gluten free for you, so really helpful in that respect. If going in a group, it’s easy to order a bunch of the sides and share them around. I ordered the peas, chilli and feta and it was so popular at our table, I never got any myself!
The brisket was tender and the burnt ends… I’ve been thinking about them ever since!

Went here on a Friday night and the place was packed. Loud but a good vibe and nice fit out. Very masculine den-​like feel. We ordered the Chefs choice, but despite this our excellent waitress accommodated my request for ‘no black pepper’ food allergy thing (yes it’s infuriatingly inconvenient). I don’t think think the food rates as highly as other places with respect to the BBQ side of things, but considering the total experience, it is a good place for a meal. Much prefer this place to Meatmother!

Tastier than I expected without feeling like I gorged on a pig. The décor doesn’t take itself too seriously with big slabs of meat in glass cabinets. Get the set menu w lobster Mac and cheese!!!

This was place is okay, but not great. I won’t be going back. Brisket is a BBQ staple, but this was almost inedibly salty. The pickled veg are great, but why is it almost all cabbage? The lobster mac and cheese is just mac and cheese with a lump of lobster on the top, it doesn’t infuse the whole dish (and is not worth $ 22). The hot sauce is not even vaguely hot, a big misstep. The pickle martini had cornichons, not pickles, what?!? The chipotle mayo with the fries was completely lacking in the chipotle zing it should have.
On the up side, the lamb was great and so were the other cocktails. The service was outstanding.
I’ve been to many BBQ joints in the US, and this was not up to scratch and at times totally missed the point.

Yet another visit to one of my favourite style cuisines: American BBQ. Even though this restaurant is not branded to an American style restaurant, it still sells all of your favourite slow cooked BBQ style meats, and sides like Mac & Cheese, and even extends to the dessert menu with Peanut Butter & Jelly Parfait. A very contemporary hip style restaurant located in a basement within the Melbourne CBD.
We chose the Maidens Mood which is a banquet for a minimum of two people. It is a little unfortunate that you cannot select which items you want from the menu in this banquet, however the chef’s choice will not leave you disappointed. The meat just falls apart on your plate– a little confused why they give you such a big knife as you can slice your meat with a spoon. I won’t spoil the menu items in the banquet, however highly recommend it. Service was great to go along with the melt in your mouth food. A+ in my book.

This sleek basement restaurant oozes just the right balance of fur-​coated sophistication alongside a casual charm, the perfect ambiance for either getting to know a date or catching up with friends.
The menu is simple and unpretentious, my favourite dish being the Lobster mac cheese… DEE-​licious! The waygu brisket was extremely tender but a tad too peppery for my liking, nevertheless still enjoyable. The tequila mayo added a fun tangyness to the southern fried chicken. Cocktailwise, I found the Smoke Old Fashioned very intriguing. It was as if I was smoking a liquid cigar over a BBQ grill, and I became mildly intoxicated from its intense, masculine fragrance as opposed to the actual alcohol content itself. Great way to top off a fabulous meal!
By the way, the service was impeccable, but probably because I went on a weeknight when it wasn’t busy.

Follow the path way through the door down the stars into a dark den where meat heaven awaits! We had a gorgeous time here on Valentines day. My partner looked like I was the most amazing woman in the world finding this spot. Ladies your partner will love this place. Generous servings of delicious cuts that melt in your mouth. Great wine list and attentive but not pushy wait team. We have told loads of people about this spot and we will be back. Felt like I was back in NYC for the night!

Took me awhile to finally visit. But I finally made it here and boy am I glad I made the effort.
Before gettin here just looking at the menu got me excited. So walking in I was ready to go. The lovely waitress’s took care of us and found a nice booth to sit in and explained the layout of the restaurant and how it works.
We ordered the $ 10 mystery cocktail, and it was very nice. Then onto the food, we ordered a fair bit. Got some oysters (which were delicious and blew my tastebuds out of the water), mash and gravy (nothing special it’s just mash and gravy, get the chips instead of this), Cajun tuna (delicious and so fresh), iron steak from the grill (deliciously cooked and so tasty), beef brisket (tender and so smokey was just outstanding) and finally the lobster mac and cheese (could of done with a few more lobsters, however the Mac and cheese was really tasty)
At first we thought portion size was small, but once we started getting through our mountain of food we then realised that portions was fine.
Well done guys way to go, worth the check out :)

Enter through the dark and nondescript door and wind your way down in to the stairwell to enter a den of all things meaty. If you’re a carnivore then Meatmaiden will delight you with it’s selection of slow cooked and smoked cuts of meats. From quail and prawn to brisket, there’s a protein to suit everyone. Well, except the vegetarians of course. There’s vegetable dishes don’t get me wrong, but they’re hardly going to suffice as a main for someone who shuns eating animals.
The wine and beer list is snappy and the cocktail menu leans towards the boozy to help cut through the meat. It’s all rather relaxed, great for groups of friends wanting to fuel up but less appropriate for romantic dates when sucking on bones is probably not the seductive look you’re after.

I feel that I have been robbed because I didn’t know about Meat Maiden sooner. And, it was a visiting cousin that told me about Meat Maiden! This is the sort of place you should be taking visitors to show off what Melbourne has!
As others have said, meat is the star here, hell its almost the entire solar system.
We did the chef’s choice, with the lobster mac, which included most of what we would have ordered anyway. Despite being hungry there was too much food for the three of us.
The brisket was tasty and tender and the peas with feta were a great side that helped to balance the meat dishes. Other standouts were the crispy chicken wings and the pulled pork.
I loved the industrial feel of the basement dining room though this meant and I had no phone service (& couldn’t check in until we got outside).
Unfortunately our table was seated in between two flows of the air con which meant we were a little chilly however that would come in handy if working up a sweat making your way through the menu!

Meatmaiden may be the ‘daughter’ of Meatmother, but as the second venture for this American BBQ eatery, this lass appears to be sleeker and more grown up than the Swan Street original.
Like most cool Melbourne restaurants, Meatmaiden is hidden in a basement — look for the painted door and make your way down the stairs to find it off Little Collins Street.
I gave Meatmother a pretty glowing 4 stars, because I loved the food, but it was clearly more targeted toward the carnivorous male in my life. Meatmaiden rocks the best of both worlds. Incredible slow cooked meats but loads of delicious and varied options that cover meat eaters, pescatarians and even vegetarians.
My favourite dish was the cajun seared tuna with horseradish cream to start. Perfection. We got to order a good mix of the heavier and lighter stuff, opting for the barramundi and some beef brisket. The beef brisket can be ordered by the 100grams — which at $ 10 per 100g is not only a great deal, it means you get to taste it without overloading on so much steak that you can’t try anything else. When it came out, we actually enquired as to whether or not we were given too much — it was a decent amount of brisket for $ 10 and totally enough for the two of us.
Which bonus; left room for dessert! This almost never happens to us. So we went for the ‘crack mom apple pie’ (with real crack… ling noises from what appears to be some sneaky pop rocks buried in there — you can hear it on the plate!).
The restaurant is spacious and geared towards groups. There were loads of groups here, but it wasn’t obnoxiously loud, making it a calm and enjoyable night. They only take bookings for 6+, so definitely a good one to bring your buddies to. We ate at the bar, which was fine, but the stools are not made for anyone with thighs… so doing the full stint there was pretty uncomfortable. I’d recommend asking for a table when it becomes available.
Perfect for: date night (not many BBQ joints fall into this category!), dinner with friends, groups, meat sweats.

As a vego, I couldn’t give this place 5 stars. Really though, what an awesome restaurant! We went with a group of friends who indulged in the meaty banquet, and the staff were more than happy to accommodate little ol’ me; bringing out a delicious mushroom burger while the rest of my party ate the sweet, sweet animals. The fries are tasty as well, and the little crisps they give you as an appetizer while you’re ordering drinks are stupidly good for something so small. The wine list is extensive, which always makes me happy, and the beer list was rather long itself!
Well decorated and warm interior, friendly staff, and tasty food. Good times :)

Wow! First up vego’s stop reading and go elsewhere. Meat is the star here. reminds me a bit a nieue Amsterdam, maybe it’s the American influence. Or maybe I just don’t see brisket on menus much. Everything we ordered was spectacular. No question. Staff are professional and lovely. If you think of yourself as a foodie you MUST dine here. We ordered oysters for 2 to start, brisket, pulled pork, chicken ribs, mash with gravy and a salad with orange cucumber and pomegranate. Devine! All that shared by 3. We had leftovers. so much food! I had 2 glasses of sparkling and my share was around $ 50. That might sound a lot but for this quality it really isn’t.

A spin off from the «mother» ship in Richmond, Meatmaiden* was on our ‘must go’ list as soon as we heard of its opening, and it did not disappoint.
It’s different enough than Meatmother — both in décor/​atmos and menu — to be new and interesting, while still retaining some of the staples of the original.
We got the banquet, which for $ 45 – 50 will definitely please both your taste buds and stomach — but should you be able to put away everything that comes out then dessert is waiting and pretty impressive also.
Only slightly disappointing thing was that the banquet seems to change day-​on-​day, and this particular night did not include the ribs, which we know from Meatmother are amazing (even if they do leave your clothes smelling like a bonfire).
Another key difference is the sides at Maiden were a lot more healthy/​vegetable focused (no mac and cheese), but this is a good thing as you don’t risk filling up on breads and pasta and save that room for more meat. We also had a veggo among us, and contrary to what you might think considering the name of the place, they were not shunned and turned away at the door, but they enjoyed quite a few options.
Wine (by the glass) and beer list is on the simple side (no overwhelming drinks bible) but all impressive choices.
*May contain meat.