If you’re looking to impress clients with a high-end dinner in one of Hong Kong’s most iconic locations, you might want to book a table at 37 Steakhouse & Bar. This modern new restaurant puts an upscale spin on your average steakhouse with great cuts of beef, a sophisticated design, and – if you book the right table – views of the Hong Kong skyline.

Steakhouse with style

The first thing you’ll notice is just how big this restaurant is. 37 Steakhouse & Bar seats up to 115 guests over 7,000sqft, and – ideal for working meals that require a little privacy – there’s a lot of booth seating available, along with a semi-private VIP room with views of the city skyline.

Award-winning Japanese designer Yasumichi Morita was given free rein to create interiors here, so expect to see stylish touches – think brass and chandeliers – alongside more traditional steakhouse décor like oak and cowhide, and a curated art collection.

We were there during the restaurant’s soft-opening phase and there were a few minor service hiccups which, hopefully, can and will be easily rectified. At one point, there was a little confusion as to what cuts and types of steak were being served. And when I ordered wine, it took two requests before it was brought to the table, and later, the empty glass was taken away without my being asked if I wanted a second.

Meat and more

The menu here has an extensive range of meat, and a few other dishes for those wishing to avoid red meat. The trick, though, is to know what to order.

The Fresh Oysters 3 Ways – served with Champagne, caviar or tamarind – and the Italian Red Prawn Carpaccio were fine starters, if a little uninspired. The Hand Cut Steak Tartare with Hollandaise sauce was much more impressive, though it sported a decidedly Japanese flavour thanks to the inclusion of Hiyama beef. Equally well done was the Hokkaido Sea Urchin and Crab Meat Barley Risotto which was rich yet surprisingly light and delicate.

Of course, steak is the centrepiece of any meal at 37 Steakhouse & Bar. Japanese butcher and supplier Hiyama provides its signature Hiyama Kuroge Wagyu Beef to the restaurant, and the chuck roll and flat iron cuts we sampled were great, though the chuck gets the advantage for better showing off the meat’s fine grain and marbling. Your biggest problem here will be choosing what steak to order – USDA Prime Black Angus, Australian Wagyu, and dry-aged Belgian are just a few of the types of beef available here, and all come in a range of cuts.

There are desserts on offer here, though you may want to skip the Mountain of Fire. While it’s visually impressive, the concoction of candy floss, meringue and three types of ice cream is overwhelming in its cloying sweetness. Instead, head to Mina House, the dessert-focused concept that sits next to the restaurant. Though more casual, the desserts are much more the thing. We tried the deconstructed cheesecake and a lemon tart, and both were light, just-sweet-enough ends to the meal.

Need to Know

If your meeting’s going well and you need to continue negotiations, you might want to grab a corner of the wood-panelled bar next to the restaurant’s entrance. The deceptively simple setup stocks the full range of quality sakes by Sawaya Matsumoto, a renowned brewery that traces its beginnings to Japan’s Edo era.

For those that prefer wines, an extensive selection of great labels is available; the 2016 Catena Zapata Malbec I tried was the perfect accompaniment to the heavy meats.

The Last Word

37 Steakhouse & Bar is designed to impress with aesthetically pleasing interiors and peek-a-boo views of the city, though you’ll want to make sure that your clients and cohorts are happy to have steaks as their mains before you make the trek up to the Peak.