SK Steak and Oyster

SK Steak and Oyster is a stunning restaurant and bar where Mad Men meets James Bond underneath the Calile Hotel in Ada Lane Fortitude Valley.

With its soaring ceilings, pale timber and glass aesthetics, giant pillars, venetian blinds, curved cream leather booths, table lamps, grand piano, and starched white tablecloths, SK Steak and Oyster takes the best of every era in fine dining and brings it together in the one thoroughly modern yet classic space. All of this blends seamlessly with the 21st century touches like a giant glass meat cabinet resembling a butcher's window and an open kitchen at one end of the restaurant.

Step through the doorway (which is on Ada Lane) to the foyer and bar area where there's a circular drinks cabinet to one side and reception desk to the other. Here you can enjoy a pre-dinner drink at the curved stone-topped bar or be escorted to your table by one of the myriad white-jacketed staff who glide everywhere attending to your every need.

True to the restaurant's name, the menu is all about seafood and steak, both of which are exquisite. Start with the signature oysters, sourced fresh daily, and served with a heavenly sparkling wine-infused sauce. Or choose from the Raw Seafood and Caviar options such as raw yellowfin tuna with smoked oyster and Oscietra caviar or Petuna ocean trout tartare with shallots, cornichons and capers.

For a nostalgic throwback there are Seafood Cocktails (but not as you remember them) - prawn, bug (Moreton Bay), lobster (Tasmanian rock) or a mix of all 3, while decadent SK Seafood Platters range from classic (oyster, prawns, bugs and mussels) to signature (oysters, prawns, bugs, mussels, marron and lobster).

For mains, there are a mix of mostly fish and steak dishes, which are equally divine. Fish options include John Dory schnitzel, steamed coral trout with ginger and shallot salsa verde, pan-fried flounder with tomato, olives and capers or Patagonian toothfish, burnt miso and cavallo nero, while steak varieties include eye fillet, chateaubriand, prime rib, sirloin or half sirloin ranging up to premium Kiawmi sirloin (wagyu) or Black Angus dry aged sirloin on the bone.

To accompany, there's a potato menu to choose from, with everything from french fries, potato and gravy, jacket potato, olive oil roast kipfler and classic mash potato to the must try Moreton Bay Bug mash potato. There's also potato salads (classic or Romanoff).

In addition to the above, there's also pasta (wagyu beef ragu or sweet corn agnolotti) and risotto available, as well as soup and salads - think crab and truffle soup, Moreton Bay Bug salad or rare beef salad.

In a throwback to the nostalgic days of the formal dining era, SK Steak & Oyster has a pianist who plays the classic tunes of last century in the evenings on the restaurant's grand piano.

Nice to know - SK Steak and Oyster is by Simon Gloftis, the savvy owner of the Calile Hotel's acclaimed upstairs restaurant Hellenika.

Need to know - You'll find the entry door at the Wandoo St side of Ada Lane.

The menu may have changed since our visit.