If you've hit the slopes of Bondi in recent decades you'll probably be familiar with the concept of churrasco – the Latin style of grilled meats served tableside and carved directly from giant skewers. It's particularly popular in Brazil and now, of all places, Newcastle.
Folks, we'd like to introduce you to Meet. An outstanding and refined offering on Darby Street that's a little less the "beg-for-mercy" style of churrasco you might have been burned by before. This carnival for carnivores is churrasco with compassion; the skewers are largely replaced by generous plated portions, and the consumption of mid-meal Caipirinhas is raucously encouraged to prime your palate for more, more, more.
Things kick off innocuously enough with grilled Yamba prawns, malagueta chili oil, coriander, and lemon, beautifully butterflied in a moreish puddle of liquor. Roll your barbecued corn around the leftovers and you're in for a good time.
The tone gets a little more serious with a whole grilled local flathead with sweet paprika butter that yields to your fork with just a little resistance, no mean feat considering everything coming from the kitchen is cooked entirely over a woodfire and myriad variations of grills. Pan across the restaurant floor and it will take you a solid 20 seconds to pass the dizzying expanse of cooking paraphernalia dedicated to smoke and heat.
As is expected the dry-aged sirloin and rib-eye (or cube roll, as it's known here) are supremely delicious. Black bark on the outside, tender and rested and perfectly pink on the inside, and the addition of roasted garlic and the crunch of rock salt makes for one of the most perfect bites you'll find in all of Newie. At this point, you'll want to grab another Caipirinha for digestive purposes – you'll need it for the surprise hit of the night: whole grilled pineapples served on skewers with caramelised sugar and cinnamon. The sharp, tart, and squashy soft sweetness is a beautifully refreshing finish to a marathon of eating.
The heady scent of smoke and meat isn’t the only thing luring diners through the black iron doors though. A contemporary fitout swaps cookie-cutter Central American ranch interiors for contemporary bar stylings, muted and earthy greens, crinkled linen drapes, chocolate leather banquettes and Portuguese tiling that helps to offset the would-be cavernous bones of a former warehouse that's all polished concrete, soaring ceilings and terraced dining zones.
The combination of outstanding food, friendly and excellently fun service, a drinks list of almost entirely Australian wine with classic cocktails, and an interior that is at once comfortable, chic and nods to Newcastle's industrial past mean that Meet is a triumph that we can't wait to meet again.