I received an email the other day from Jay Huxley of HUX Grill of Roseville, “Would love to have you in for a Tomahawk! Our now well-known signature dish is a mouth-watering 1.3kg Angus Rib eye sourced from Inverell NSW.”
Jay Huxley is a young, local celebrity chef who had appeared on Master Chef in 2011 and then set up this local eatery in Roseville.
How could I resist!
To be specific, the HUX Grill Bindaree Vintage Tomahawk Steak comes from the rib of Wagyu Bull prepared by Bindaree Beef of Inverell. To make sure he has the best beef, Jay personally selects complete racks of ribs from the export quality beef that Bindaree has to offer. He then cuts a 30cm Tomahawk rib eye-fillet which is specifically 1.3kilos per serve. The remainder of the rack is then used to prepare many of his other steaks that he has on offer.
The Tomahawk is then slow-cooked “sous vide” in a 55 degree water bath for 1.5 hours before Jay sears them on his grill for a minute each side to bring out the flavour. And the flavour is terrific; a slight char flavour on a sweet, beautifully tender piece of beef, which Jay personally slices at your table. I love the theatre of having this young celebrity chef carving my steak for me at my table. A process I saw repeated three or four times at other tables during the evening.
The Tomahawk is served at HUX Grill with three sides and three sauces and is a great dish to share between two or three people. We chose grain mustard (good), Dianne (better) and soy/chilli (best) as our sauces plus some onion rings, coleslaw and a potato salad. This was a good meal with plenty of food for the three of us.
Initially a fine-dining restaurant HUX Grill had a menu with six starters, six mains and six deserts with the menu changed every two weeks, but the locals failed to flock to this establishment. Tweaking the menu ten months ago, Jay hit on a winning formula when he changed to steaks, lamb shanks and burgers. Dishes are a treat for the eye as well as the stomach.
HUX Grill serves good food, sourced locally, prepared beautifully and served promptly. Jay tries to source his ingredients from within NSW, as he demonstrates with his steaks from Inverell. But it goes much further than that, even the beer and wine is locally sourced.
If a huge steak is not what you are after, HUX has a good selection of other interesting dishes. The Eye Fillet looked superb, served on a board with a good looking side salad. There was a chicken schnitzel served with chips, chicken burgers but it was the Lamb Shanks that caught my eye; served in a large bowl with a tasty looking mash and minted peas.
Service was prompt, efficient and very friendly. We were eating on a Monday evening and the forty seat restaurant was full. Most evenings HUX Grill has two sittings starting at 6:00 and 8:00 to cope with the popularity his has engendered with his local following. It would make a great meal before or after a movie at the Roseville Cinema which is almost next door.
This is a restaurant worth checking out, but I would advise making a booking before you arrive as it can be busy. And, when you book, you should pre-order your Tomahawk so that it can be ready when you arrive, remembering that it takes Jay an hour and a half to prepare the Tomahawk.
I am already planning to return with a group of ten so that we can share the whole suckling pig as a great evening out amongst friends.
HUX Grill
108 Pacific HWY Roseville (02) 9880 8388
