8 Fort Lane,
Auckland Central
Auckland,


(09) 379 7815

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3 out of 5

The Angus Steak House looks exactly the same as when it was established in the 1960s.

It occupies the same low-ceilinged room, set below street level, whose décor is inspired by a television western set in New Mexico.

And, although the building is to be demolished in the autumn to make way for apartments, the restaurant will be resurrected somewhere nearby, for sure.

Vegetarians who are not deterred by the name will wish they had been since the nearest thing to a non-meat meal here is chicken.

The paper placemats feature a diagram of a bull segmented and labelled so you can see where your steak originated. On the night we were there, the salad bar didn't even run to tomatoes and many of the ingredients, like corn and beetroot, came from cans.

Better (or worse) still, you get to pick your own meat (for the sissies there is chicken, lamb, venison or ham steak) from a chiller shelf, and take it to a man at a large indoor barbecue who will cook it to your liking.

The meats are all one price (they just went up from $28 to $29) and the menu notes that the price covers "one steak per person" which is unnecessary since most steaks are as thick as the Auckland phone book and half as big.

They were maybe a bit better than average—for great steaks, check out the Jervois Steak House—but as the old saying goes: "Never mind the quality; feel the width.” Angus is that sort of place.