Why is getting a rare steak such an impossibility in Ireland?

Homelander

I don't have an issue with it, I just don't understand it, they are not the same thing. Mostly I don't get it because well done it tends to be chewy and dry.

I would feel the same about over-cooked chicken, pork, lamb or whatever. Wouldn't get that either

Potential-Monke

Ah, but there's the problem. Most "chefs" probably don't know how to cook a well done steak properly. The hotel in Bunratty could do it, my brother (self trained chef who subsequently got his credentials) can do it. But it's not cooked the same (according to the brother). Seared for a few minutes, then wrapped in tin foil and bunged into the oven for x amount of time. Perfectly brown throughout, not dry or chewy. It's completely possible, but I get the feeling that some "chefs" think they are better than they actually are.

As mentioned many times in this thread, I wouldn't expect a perfectly cooked well done steak from a place that sells a steak for €15. You need to pay for quality, regardless of where you go. I'd be fuming though if I paid top dollar for a steak and it wasn't cooked well done perfectly. And because of the above, I just don't usually order steaks. Prefer chicken, pork (shoulder) and bacon anyway.

El_Duderino 09

Homelander wrote: »

Perfect medium. Not sure why anyone would order well done, at that stage it's dry, chewy and lacking flavor.....unless for some reason they had no option but steak, and just don't like the pinkness/juice.

It holds cultural significance as a high status food. It's seen as manly, and relatively expensive signifying wealth. Liking steak is a different issue from social significance of eating steak. So if you want the social status of rearing steak ( insert caviar, lobster etc) but don't actually like things like meat juice, then get it well done.

jim o doom

Try featherblade Dawson st, they know how to do a nice steak and at a very nice price.

o1s1n

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Ah, but there's the problem. Most "chefs" probably don't know how to cook a well done steak properly. The hotel in Bunratty could do it, my brother (self trained chef who subsequently got his credentials) can do it. But it's not cooked the same (according to the brother). Seared for a few minutes, then wrapped in tin foil and bunged into the oven for x amount of time. Perfectly brown throughout, not dry or chewy. It's completely possible, but I get the feeling that some "chefs" think they are better than they actually are.

As mentioned many times in this thread, I wouldn't expect a perfectly cooked well done steak from a place that sells a steak for €15. You need to pay for quality, regardless of where you go. I'd be fuming though if I paid top dollar for a steak and it wasn't cooked well done perfectly. And because of the above, I just don't usually order steaks. Prefer chicken, pork (shoulder) and bacon anyway.

Where would you suggest does a 'proper' well done steak? I'd love to test out your above theory.

I used to eat well done when I was younger and as a result, hated eating steak. Couldn't figure out why they held such a high status in general.

Pupils practically dilated the first time I had a rare steak. Couldn't believe what I'd been missing all those years. The rarer the better for me now (which can be quite hard to get in Ireland alright)

Any well done steak I've seen has the juices cooked out and it and it's a grey, chewy lump.

Greyfox

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Ah, but there's the problem. Most "chefs" probably don't know how to cook a well done steak properly.

That's because all good chefs know that a well done steak is a waste of good meat.

tuxy

Greyfox wrote: »

That's because all good chefs know that a well done steak is a waste of good meat.

IAmTheReign

stateofflux wrote: »

I cry a little inside when i hear people ordering a fillet steak well done.

My brothers a chef and used to work in an upmarket restaurant in Dublin. Any time someone asked for a well done steak it was thrown in the deep fryer. Not like you can taste the difference once it's been cremated anyway.

Earleybird

Butchers Grill in Ranelagh in probably the best steak in my opinion. As already said here FXBs excellent as well.

Riskymove

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I don't know why ye keep saying a well done steak doesn't have flavour. It does.

yes burned meat flavour - which is fine if that is what you want

Yamanoto

Portsalon wrote: »

Try that pretentiousness in any bistro in my part of the country and you'll probably need a dentist's appointment!

Ooh, Bistro now, is it?

tuxy

Riskymove wrote: »

yes burned meat flavour - which is fine if that is what you want

The advantage to that is that you don't need high quality meat to get that flavour. If I had some really low quality meat I wanted to use up I'd leave it to cook for much longer than the higher quality stuff. That said most steak in Ireland is reasonably high quality.

Potential-Monke

As I said, I don't really eat steak for my reasons above, it's hard to get a nicely cooked well done steak. Granted, it may not have as much flavour as a raw/rare one, but it still has flavour, and you can easily tell the difference between someone who just burned it until it was cooked and someone who actually correctly cooked a well done steak. Bunratty was the only place that have got this right, but again as I don't eat steak often I can't comment on anywhere else.

As people said, it is my perogative, but well done doesn't mean burnt (hard to tell from that Ramsey video, but it looks burnt to me). Sear meat, wrap in tin foil, oven cook. Tinfoil holds the juices in. If people have been getting dry flavourless well done steak, they're being served by a chef that either doesn't care or doesn't know. I wouldn't eat in Ramseys places anyway, too expensive. And food is very much subjective.

El_Duderino 09

tuxy wrote: »

sympathetic to Ramsey in that video. What use is a picture I'd the side profile of the steak? If they wanted to discuss it, the time to do it was when the steak.was there in front of them. It was a gotcha Interview.

rgmmg

They call it rare for a reason

Kid Charlemagne

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I don't know anyone who's eats in Shanahan's more than, maybe, once a year. Even that sounds a bit much.

Whenever you get a review off someone, they'll patter on about how nice the food was but frown and say, very gravely, "It's very dear, though".

It's more famous for cost than for quality.

Its f*cking awesome tho.

sap sucispa

cant beat wagyu, its a rare medium well done

circadian

Portsalon wrote: »

Try that pretentiousness in any bistro in my part of the country and you'll probably need a dentist's appointment!

A bottle of Football Special to the side of the head, aye?

Brian?

tuxy wrote: »

At that stage a burger has much more flavor and there nothing wrong with burgers, burgers are great too and much cheaper.

Burgers ate much better cooked medium.

GHOST MGG

Loving all the experts here on meat.....The long and the short of it is you would be surprised how many people have set perceptions of what rare,medium rare,medium well and well done is.

The thing with chefs not cooking meat to your liking is that in a lot of restaurants(not high end ones) the chefs are badly trained,Plus its a laziness thing as well,its much easier for a chef to seal a steak on the planchet then throw it in the oven for 15mins and forget about it for a well done steak,where as rare steak you really have to be careful in its cooking as its a fine line between bleu,rare and medium rare in a much shorter time frame,plus the chef could be dealing with 20 dockets at once and its all down to timings.

I spent nearly 30 years working as a chef in ireland and abroad and i considered myself an expert on meat and steaks or so i thought until i changed careers and went to work in the meat science/sensory testing field and spent 5 years working with the best meat this country has to offer,and realised that for all those years i had no real clue about steak and meat and how it tastes,how its supposed to taste and what different levels of taste perception exist.

odyssey06

Interesting review of FX Buckleys Pembroke... maybe not the sure bet after all
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/foodanddrink/restaurant-review-fx-buckley-steakhouse-dublin-943065.html

Rump steak had the best flavour, beefy and rich tasting but was also a bit closer to ‘medium-well’ rather than ‘medium-rare’ as requested.
My 10oz sirloin (€32) —strictly speaking a striploin — fell the other way and rather than rare was served blue with just 2-3 mm cooked flesh.

maccored

if someone has already said 'they're rare, thats why they're hard to find', then i apologise

Portsalon

maccored wrote: »

if someone has already said 'they're rare, thats why they're hard to find', then i apologise

They have - only 7 posts above your own effort!

epicmoe

In ireland most people like their steak (chicken, burgers etc) Burnt to a ****ing crisp.
this is who the restaurants cater to, mostly.

murpho999

Deleted User wrote: »

I've had all varieties of steak, cooked in different ways, and my default is always 'well done'. I much prefer it.


Dunno why people have an issue with that.

I don't get this as all the meat flavour and tenderness have been cooked out of it.

Galadriel

glasso wrote: »

found the quality went down a lot after initially/couple years being good - unless they have upped their game again recently.

Darwin's definitely changed, I went back recently and tried it on first table, it was ok but the steak is always overcooked.

Franz Von Peppercorn II

epicmoe wrote: »

In ireland most people like their steak (chicken, burgers etc) Burnt to a ****ing crisp.
this is who the restaurants cater to, mostly.

I don’t think that’s true for steak anymore.

I do like chicken and burgers to be cooked thoroughly though.

Brian?

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

I don’t think that’s true for steak anymore.

I do like chicken and burgers to be cooked thoroughly though.

Chicken has to be cooked thoroughly in fairness, mainly because how it’s reared.

I saw an episode of Iron Chef years ago where the guest food was a blue foot chicken. Apparently it can be cooked medium because it’s so pathogen free. Not sure I’d go for it.

the beer revolu

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

I do like chicken and burgers to be cooked thoroughly though.

Yes, burgers and chicken, and pork need to be cooked through.
The Irish way, though, is to cook them sufficiently, then cook a good bit more, "just to be sure", rendering chicken, pork and burgers completely dry and tasteless.
I rarely order any of the above in Ireland unless I have confidence in the restaurant.

Brian?

the beer revolu wrote: »

Yes, burgers and chicken, and pork need to be cooked through.
The Irish way, though, is to cook them sufficiently, then cook a good bit more, "just to be sure", rendering chicken, pork and burgers completely dry and tasteless.
I rarely order any of the above in Ireland unless I have confidence in the restaurant.

Pork should be cooked so it’s slightly pink. Not medium but slightly pink. I like burgers medium, it’s perfectly safe.