Restaurant Review: The Butcher Grill, 92 Main Street, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

Just like almost all of you reading this I have working molars and eye-teeth and I like to use them. I’ve never understood why a significant number of Irish people want their steak ‘as soft as butter’ — I want meat to get my teeth into, the texture is where the flavour is found.

I’ve been re-reading Mark Schatzker’s book Steak about the author’s worldwide quest for the best tasting beef. This is not a simple subject but I was pleased to see that he comes down firmly on grass-fed and busts the myth that fat-marbling is everything. Yes Irish beef is often finished on cereal but the bulk of their diet is grass and it shows in the texture.