Pravda

 

Rating : 0/ 10 Complaints - Delicious, Steak, Sides, Fancy, Lenin, Wagyu, Espresso Martini, Wine

Mr Karenson, weary of cooking me a rare steak every full moon, surprised me with a wonderful birthday dinner out to Pravda with our two best mates. This is a place I've always wanted to try but never had the occasion or the spare cash you will need for a fulfilling evening at this restaurant. 

Pravda is the sort of fancy restaurant that you've probably seen represented in movies and cartoons. It sort of has a classic old school feel with elegant surroundings, dark wood and floral displays, all of which I vibe with on a deep level. I was so excited to try the steaks here as I'd heard great things about them, and was not disappointed. There is a massive banner on the wall of Comrade Lenin as well, I was a huge fan of his in high school and it brings back good memories of learning about the Russian Revolution while doodling on the back of a notepad and being disruptive (revolutionary?).

The staff here will seat you and assist, likewise in an elegant and classic style. I always enjoy and participate in a bit of banter and appreciated that our waiter was quite funny and cracked a few jokes. We came across one of our other friends attempting to host a very serious-looking business dinner with a client, and decided not to ruin his façade of professionalism with any coarse language or behaviour. 

We started off with one of our favourite espresso martinis. Pravda make these black unlike Monsoon Poon, so they're good for staying awake until dessert and give you a slightly stronger coffee flavour. Mr Karenson loves these, he would bathe in espresso if we had a bathtub and we kept ordering these. Lost track of how many we got through. Our friends ordered wine from the extensive and varied wine list. Did I mention that the espresso martinis aren't even on the drinks list and they were nice enough to make these for us anyway? That's really good service in my book.

At Pravda they will literally bring the raw cuts of meat out to the table for you to inspect and select. I'd never experienced this level of service before and felt like a fussy cat in a cat food commercial, being shown a range of treats to turn up my nose at. I selected one of the wagyu scotch fillets and Mr Karenson ordered what is known as the King's Cut at 450g. This was indeed fit for a king, as it comes with the bone in and is a gigantic hunk of juicy meatiness. I'm almost glad I didn't get the same, as the bone would have proved too tempting to continue nibbling on after dinner and I'm told this simple pleasure is considered barbaric in some circles. We ordered these rare. You also have to select a couple of vegetable sides from the menu and they have a good selection of classic veg - two or three sides were enough for the four of us in combination with the steak. 

The steak arrived and it was beautiful. Cut like butter, melted in your mouth, cooked to bloody perfection and disappeared very quickly considering it was also a pretty good size. I was taught at a young age to cook steaks using a camp fire and frying pan by my outdoorsman father, and even my steaks aren't anywhere near as good as the ones Pravda serve up.

Did I say it was a good size? We didn't need dessert but did get another espresso martini for the road. Later on that evening we headed up the road to the pool hall, where we played a few mixed skill games of pool and had a few bourbons. Best birthday ever to be honest, none of the pressure of planning a party, none of the social exhaustion of having a party and all of the good food and good friends. Will have to return to bathe in blood eat some more rare steak and sample the King's Cut.