• Mad Cow @ The Ivy – Sydney CBD
  • By Ms. Taste

    When I was at the Merivale Winter Feasts launch party a few weeks ago, I was most impressed by Mad Cow’s GFC-friendly offering. But after a rather disappointing experience at Peter Doyle’s est., I became a little cynical about visiting the Ivy’s New York inspired steak house.

    With a little hand-holding from my girlfriend, we made a booking for Friday night. That morning, the reservations department gave us a call and offered a complimentary chauffeur ride to the Ivy for dinner. Was this the proverbial olive branch to restore my faith in Merivale Winter Feasts?

    Mad Cow

    Mad Cow


    At 5:50pm that night, a gorgeous white Bentley pulled up to pick us up. It was definitely a sight for sore eyes after a long Friday at work.

    A taste of the good life

    A taste of the good life

    While I tried my best to grill our driver, Glenn about the selection criteria for the chaffeur service – he remained tight lipped about the affair. “All by random,” he maintains. Random or not, I must congratulate Merivale for this fantastic extra – it is a point of difference that sets it apart from other top notch restaurants around the city.

    Moooooo

    Moooooo

    But was the food good enough to bring me back?

    Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes! I’m proud to stand up and say that I’m a Mad Cow convert.

    Rangers valley wagyu flank steak w/ barbeque sauce

    Rangers valley wagyu flank steak w/ barbeque sauce

    This was one of most succulent and tender steaks I’ve had in Sydney. With a marble factor of 7+, the meat melts in your mouth and has a rich, layered flavour that develops as you chew it (slowly I might add). Sure it’s an extra $5 supplement, but considering that 200g of the real deal wagyu steak costs $70, the small investment is well worth it!

    Braised wagyu beef cheeks, mushroom, celeriac, broad beans

    Braised wagyu beef cheeks, mushroom, celeriac, broad beans

    The wagyu beef cheeks are just as tender – cooked so well it almost falls apart when touched lightly. Stacked on top of a tower of mushroom and celeriac, the beef cheeks are juicy, moist and drenched with flavour.

    Shoestring fries

    Shoestring fries - $6

    Cauliflower gratin

    Cauliflower gratin - $9

    Rosemary garlic fried potatoes

    Rosemary garlic fried potatoes - $6

    Baby green beans, mint, lemon, feta

    Baby green beans, mint, lemon, feta - $8

    We weren’t overly excited by the dessert selection on the Winter Feasts menu at Mad Cow. They were very ordinary, but still a nice way to end what was a fantastic meal.

    Crisp meringue, raspberry sorbet, blueberry compote

    Crisp meringue, raspberry sorbet, blueberry compote

    Poached quince, cinnamon crème

    Poached quince, cinnamon crème

    Apologies for the appalling photos in this post – it will be the last time I leave my SLR at home!

    Note – Merivale’s Winter Feasts promotion is available Mondays to Fridays from 12-2pm and 6-8pm.

    Mad Cow
    The Ivy
    320 George Street
    Sydney City
    # 02 9240 3000
    www.merivalewinterfeasts.com

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    COMMENTS / 15 COMMENTS

    [...] been to Mad Cow, Sushi Choo and est… This week, our Merivale Winter Feasts adventures continues on to Ucello, [...]

    Ucello @ The Ivy – Sydney CBD | tasted by two added these sweet words on Jul 24 09 at 10:34 am

    [...] I Am Mad Cow As seen in the Nov/Dec issue of Tiger Tales [...]

    tasted by two featured in Tiger Tales magazine | tasted by two added these sweet words on Nov 06 09 at 10:07 am

    [...] from stuffing ourselves at the launch of March into Merivale, Ms. Taste and I return to Mad Cow to try one of their $33 meal [...]

    Review: Mad Cow for March Into Merivale – Sydney, CBD | tasted by two added these sweet words on Mar 07 10 at 8:58 pm

    Yup Mad Cow is a fav of mine too :) How fortunate u got the bentley but you should had asked if you could have driven it hee hee ;)

    FFichiban added these sweet words on Jul 13 09 at 11:45 pm

    Wow arrival by chauffeur-driven Bentley? What a lovely way to start the weekend~

    Helen (grabyourfork) added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 1:35 am

    Lucky lucky you, what an awesome treat to get the chauffeur! That would make for a great experience overall. I’ve been wanting to try here, I love the look of it! And I’m such a sucker for a cauliflower gratin.

    Steph added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 8:51 am

    Wow. How lucky of you guys!! MAd Cow is definitely on my list… love the look of the cauliflower gratin! *food envy*

    Betty added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 9:35 am

    ahhh yes the bentley ride!! but i’m glad the food held up to expectations – and dare i say it – exceeded them!

    Trisha added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 9:53 am

    Lovely steak – and such a wonderful (artery-clogging) marbling factor. This makes me want to visit so much!

    Belle@OohLook added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 10:21 am

    nice work with the free ride. did they take you back home too? good to hear the food was good. how come you had a bad experience at est.? what did you order? i enjoyed the winter feast meal i had a est.

    Simon Food Favourites added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 10:33 am

    Hi FFichiban – I would’ve loved to have taken over the wheel, but I’m not so sure Glen would’ve liked it so much. I hear Hemmes hires out his private collection of Bentleys to the Ivy. Wonder if that’s true!

    Hi Helen – I can’t think of a better way to start the weekend!

    Hi Steph – I must’ve been living under a rock because I only just discovered cauliflower gratin – delish!

    Hi Betty – I can’t say I’m normally “lucky” so this was a big treat for me.

    Hi Trisha – The food definitely exceeded expectations! Am tempted to go back just to relive my one night of luxury.

    Hi Belle – Highly recommend you visit, the steak is divine!

    Hi Simon – They didn’t take us back home, unfortunately. The good ol’ train took us the rest of the way. It wasn’t so much that the food was bad, it just wasn’t the 3 chef hat experience I had expected. I had the linguini and duck leg – both very ordinary. The restaurant lacked real atmosphere, even when there were 10-12 other tables.

    Ms. Taste added these sweet words on Jul 14 09 at 2:37 pm

    I’ve found Mad Cow to be hit and miss. As suggested by the name, the red meat options there are consistently memorable (the lamb shank I had for Winter Feast melted off the bone), whereas their non-carnivorous options appear to be lacking.

    Let’s just say recently, a friend who had ordered the pumpkin risotto did not expect it to come out of the kitchen looking like something to be found on the sidewalk early on a Saturday morning.

    Wendy added these sweet words on Jul 15 09 at 12:53 pm

    Fantastic coverage and that’s brilliant that you got chauffered there! It’s that bit extra that makes you feel pampered :) The wagyu looks gorgeous…

    Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella added these sweet words on Jul 15 09 at 8:42 pm

    Sounds great – but do they offer the Bentley service to pretty much anyone who is dining there, or was this a special favour because you were reviewing the restaurant? If the later, then I consider your review a little ‘tainted’ rather than totally independent. Surely you should be getting the exact same service as anyone else, in order to review and recommend a restaurant to them?

    David Richards added these sweet words on Aug 05 09 at 7:52 am

    Hi David, the booking was actually under my girlfriend’s name. Her partner left a nice tip the last time they dined at Mad Cow, so the reservations department must have made a note of it. Nothing to do with me reviewing for the blog!

    Ms. Taste added these sweet words on Aug 05 09 at 9:01 am

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