Ordering steak for the first time: which cut should you pick?

Steak menus assume you already know the vocabulary. Most people do not, and asking feels awkward, so they order the same thing every time. Here is the whole vocabulary in one page.

The names are just locations

Every cut name is simply a description of where on the animal the muscle sat. Muscles that worked hard — legs, shoulders, neck — are tough and full of flavour. Muscles that barely moved are tender and milder. Nearly everything about how a steak eats follows from that one fact.

Rib-eye — ฿265

From the rib section. Fat runs all the way through the muscle rather than sitting on the edge, and as it cooks that fat melts through the meat. The result is the juiciest of the standard cuts and the one most people should order first.

Striploin — ฿280

The long strip along the back. Leaner than the rib-eye, firmer to bite, with one clean band of fat along the edge rather than marbling throughout. Order this if you find rib-eye too rich.

Tenderloin — ฿310

The muscle tucked inside the back that does almost no work at all. It is the softest thing on any steak menu — you can cut it without effort. Because it carries little fat it is milder in flavour. This is the cut to order for someone who says they do not really like steak, and the safest choice if you want it cooked well done.

T-bone — ฿330

Not one cut but two, either side of a single bone: striploin on the larger side, tenderloin on the smaller. Our biggest fresh plate at 230 g. Order it if you want variety on one plate, or something to cut up and share.

Then there are the aged four

These come out of our 46-day chiller and taste noticeably stronger. See our beef for what the ageing does.

Picanha — ฿390

The rump cap, with its fat layer left on top. As it grills, that cap bastes the meat underneath. This is our best seller, and pound for pound the biggest beef flavour on the menu.

Cap rib — ฿370

The cap muscle sitting over the rib. There is only a small amount per animal, so it runs out. Rich, intensely beefy, and the cut almost nobody orders on a first visit.

Dry-aged tenderloin — ฿570

The softest cut, with six weeks of concentration behind it. Tender and deep at the same time, which is a rare combination.

Dry-aged rib-eye — ฿670, 250 g

The biggest, richest thing we serve, and the plate people drive out here for.

A short cheat sheet

• First time eating steak? Rib-eye, medium rare.
• Do not really like steak? Tenderloin.
• Want it well done? Tenderloin, and tell your server.
• Want the strongest beef flavour? Dry-aged picanha.
• Sharing with one other person? T-bone, or the 250 g dry-aged rib-eye.
• Only have ฿150? Grilled tenderloin with nam jim jaew, ฿109. It is still our beef.

Or let us do it for you — the four-question guide asks how you like to eat and points at something real.