Restaurant Review: The local Grill beefs up its reputation

Real South Africans eat steak. Unless you're a variety of vegetarian or can't chew yet, a good steak is all we locals need to hear angelic harps in our heads.

Fortunately, for Johannesburg-based harp aficionados, the best steak in the country can be found on the plates of The Local Grill in Parktown North.

For the second consecutive year, The Local Grill beat the likes of HQ in Cape Town and The Godfather in Centurion to secure the No1 place in the 2014 Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships.

The restaurant feels like the headquarters of a bovine appreciation society. Bits of cowhide are dotted across the restaurant, accenting the rich brown and white scheme.

Owner Steve Maresch, usually dressed in a chef's jacket, whirrs around like a cow-crazed Willy Wonka chatting to customers. The cuts are sourced from places all over the world, where one imagines cows cheerfully discussing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata over mouthfuls of fresh grass.

The first-class flights that the cows take en route to your plate are probably the reason why the price list can put a dent in your wallet.

This house of beefy pleasures also does prawns very well.

However, the fries fall on the opposite end of the surprises scale. They should be every steak's trophy wife. The chips at The Local Grill are thin, vacuous and not well seasoned. They are not bad - just distinctly middle of the road.

That minor gripe aside, The Local Grill is a repository of deliciousness that offers good service and steak good enough to have vegetarians question their life choice.

• The Local Grill, Parktown North. Also open now in Cape Town. Call 011-880-1946 or 021-447-0934