Steakhouses, for many, may seem like an American institution. Some places in New York City trace their origins back to the first years following the Civil War. The menu of those times would have been familiar to modern restaurant goers, as they can get steak and hash browns along with creamed spinach. But the truth of the matter is that the great steakhouses aren’t just found in the US and Canada. Although my favorite local steakhouse is still Bâton Rouge in Montreal, there are other good restaurants you can go to that serve delicious steaks.
- São Paolo. Rio de Janeiro may be more famous, but this city isn’t just the most populous in the whole of Brazil. No other city in the entire Southern Hemisphere has more people. It’s also the home of the famed A FigureiraRubaiyat Part of the reason their beef is so tasty is that they have their own farm. Here you will find huge wooden barbecue pits over which they cook steak and baby pork ribs that will haunt your memory.
- Actually, the renowned Wadakinrestaurant is about 90 miles east of Osaka. But that’s a worthwhile journey for a steak that’s so tremendously marbled you must see it to believe it. The steak here seems like it will melt in your mouth. This place uses Matsusaka cattle, and they’re massaged like their Kobe counterparts. The farmers also give the cows beer to drink. According to some rumors, these farmers even play Mozart for the cows so they will relax.
- This may be a glitzy city, but the Aragawa restaurant looks curiously unremarkable. It can be found right in the basement of an ordinary-looking office building, and the place in itself is nothing special. But that’s not how you will describe the Sanda beef that’s been raised for about 28 months. The grilling process for this beef is so complicated that it involves 10 distinct stages. They all end up with rich steak whose taste is simply unforgettable.
- Here you will find a branch of the CUT restaurant of Wolfgang Puck. The beef here are USDA Prime, Darling Downs Australian Wagyu, and South Devon Angus, and they’re either wet-aged or dry aged. Sure you have Damien Hirst artwork to capture your attention, but chances are you’ll concentrate on these succulent steaks.
- León. In this northwest region of Spain, you’ll be able to find the El Capricho restaurant where they serve older local cattle grilled over the sweet aroma of the Spanish oak. You’ll discover sirloins and T-bones in flavors that are marvelously complex, and the whole experience goes down well with the premium Spanish red wines.
- Tuscany. In this region of central Italy the most famous steak is called bisteccaallafiorentina. The best steak of this type can be found in AnticaOsteriaNandone, which is located about 25 miles northwest of Florence. They’ll cook the beef right in front of you, and in the end you get 2.2 pounds of steak from the premium Chianina breed. It’ll be about 2 fingers thick and served on the bone. You only get a drop of Tuscan olive oil and a small pinch of sea salt so that the taste of the steak is wonderfully preserved.
- Buenos Aires. In this city in Argentina, one steakhouse reigns supreme after all these years: La Cabaña. Ever since it opened, it has played host to every president of the country, as well as luminaries such as de Gaulle, Kissinger, and Nixon. If you ever find yourself here, you must order the 1-kilo Gran Baby Beef prepared over a white-hot charcoal grill. Many critics consider this the mother of all steaks.
Of course, the world is a huge place and there are many other steakhouses that can rival these places. If you’re a world traveler, chime in and name your favorite steakhouses you’ve ever encountered on your jaunts!