My steak quest took me on a different path this week as I headed for Canberra’s City Labor Club.

Now I’ve been to plenty of licensed clubs around the country in my time and I know they’re synonymous with pokies, cigarettes and overcooked schnitzels with chips from the bain marie. So, truth be known, I was a little reserved about what it might serve up.

But I can tell you now I was pleasantly surprised!

Having broken bread with some of the CA Brumbies’ taller players (and Clyde ‘How Does My Hair Look?’ Rathbone), it was time to call upon some proper dinner company with someone of similar height and weight. My dinner date on this occasion was none other than fellow front rower and Warringah prop Dan Raymond.

Trust me you have never seen a person say yes to dinner quicker than Dan. I barely had time to say “steak” and “my shout”, and he was already rubbing his sausage-like fingers together in delight.

When we arrived at the City Labor Club in Petrie Plaza we checked the address to make sure we had the right place. Far from the smoky haze we expected to be greeted with, the City Labor Club is a bright, open venue that would be better described as a restaurant and lounge than a licensed club.

However, while the Labor Club chain may have taken out the Clubs ACT ‘2007 Club of the Year’, I knew it would count for little if it couldn’t stand up to my steak test.

We sat down, looked at the menu and immediately noticed how affordable the meals were. As we scanned further we finally came to the spot that interested me most: steak!

After ordering some garlic bread to kick-start the night we both got down to business at hand: ordering some red meat. Dan opted for a monster 500-gram T-bone medium, char grilled with a creamy diane sauce.

I decided on a different tact. As it was ‘$8 Steak Night’ I decided to sample the weekly special. The weekly special at the Labor Club was a sirloin steak with chips and salad for the extremely attractive price of – you guessed it – eight dollars! Talk about affordable!

However being the ‘foodie’ that I am, I was only too aware that cheap doesn’t always mean quality.

When the steak came out I noticed one of the waitress’ arms hanging lower than the other one. I soon discovered it was the occupational hazard of having to serve Dan his monster T-bone that was weighing her down. This must have been one big cow.

While my cut of sirloin wasn’t as big as my fellow fatty’s across the table, for an eight-dollar steak it was sensational.

Needless to say all talk was put on hold as we devoured our meals. The only conversation to come out of Dan’s mouth was a garbled apology for spraying diane sauce all over me as he gnawed on his meaty T-bone. (Sorry!?! Is that all he can say for making me look like a scene out of ‘Horrors of a Russian Toilet’!)

On completing our meals we both agreed that each cut was not only delicious but excellent value for money. I don’t know too many places where you can get a half-kilo monster for under $25, but we’d found one. And my eight-dollar sirloin put an end to the myth that you can’t get a decent meal for under ten bucks.

Both steaks were perfectly cooked and the sauce was nothing short of a work of art. The City Labor Club has definitely been a surprise packet in my chase for showing that it’s not all about expensive cuts and that it’s still possible to get affordable, quality meals and a relaxed dining experience in the heart of the city.

Stay tuned for next week’s review, where Brumbies star, Nic Henderson, will hunt down another one of Canberra’s best steaks!