Butcher Block Steakhouse located in the Hillcrest Corner Shopping offers excellent steaks, really good service and a very pleasant ambiance.
Over the past few years I find that I have varied my diet and eat less red meat than I did twenty years ago. However, when I do want a steak, I want the very best on offer. It is for this reason that I visited Butcher Block.
I was on a business trip in the Hillcrest, Durban area and had heard from the locals that this restaurant serves very good steaks.
When I arrived at the door I could see that the restaurant was packed (always a good sign) and was shown to the bar until a table was available.
This gave me an opportunity to peruse the menu and have a look around the restaurant. The décor is all about comfort and creating a pleasant eating environment.
There are five seater booths against the wall and, thanks to the artfully placed wine rack, the restaurant is divided into different parts. The chairs are comfortable and the square tables can easily be joined together to make a setting for a large group.
The waiting and bar staff were excellent. I watched them interact with the kitchen and with customers. They always had a smile for the customer and they worked well as team to sort, serve and clear tables.
The manager, Serge Bechard, came and chatted to me at the bar and assured me that I would be given a table forthwith.
The menu at The Butcher Block
The menu is large and varied with a good mix of traditional favourites and house specialities. The Starters Menu has over 20 options and there are six different options on the Salad Menu. The Poultry Menu offers chicken in all the favourite forms from schnitzel to espetada.
The Combo Menu is vast and basically allows you to mix anything from the poultry, seafood and grill menus. The Land + Sea menu offers popular South African dishes such as bobotjie, oxtail, lamb chops, calamari, game and chicken and prawn curry to name but a few.
My attention was drawn to the Choice Cuts menu and I asked Serge what steak he recommended.
“Our steaks are all sourced from one farm in the Free State so that we can be certain of having top quality. Our steaks are really good. If you are steak connoisseur then I recommend the Rib Eye. This steak has excellent marbling and doesn’t need any flavour enhancements,” said Serge.
I followed his advice and asked for it to be prepared medium to allow the fat to melt into the meat and I ask for a side order of the house salad.
The wine menu is substantial too and offers wines that complement each of the dishes. I chose a glass of Hermanuspietersfontein Posmeester Merlot. To be honest I didn’t know this wine but liked the name and new that a dry red would work will with a well marbled steak.
Well, between Serge and myself, we came up with one of the best steak meals I have enjoyed. The steak was superb and I used the crisp green salad as a palate cleanser between each mouthful of steak and sip of red wine.
Serge also let me know that there is a very popular lunch special available from Monday to Saturday between 12-3pm. The new special will be launched mid-January and is only R95 with 5 meals to choose from and is served with a complimentary glass of KWV Laborie red or white wine. There is also an excellent carvery every Sunday for R159 per person and is available for lunch and dinner service.
I’ll be back.
To make a reservation at Butcher Block Hill Crest call 031 765 8820 or visit them at Shop UK06, Hillcrest Corner Shopping Centre, Old Main Road, Hill Crest. Find them on Google Maps here.
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