That said, I did enjoy a recent meal I had at the Lygon Charcoal Grill & Steakhouse (120 Lygon St, Carlton) a lot more than I thought I would.

In nearly all respects, it’s your typical Melbourne steakhouse, with slabs of meat on display in a glass cabinet, ready to be turned into the steak of your choice – in terms of cut, size and doneness. The menu also includes the obligatory seafood, sausages, chicken and strawberry pancakes, along with (surprisingly) risotto. Not sure why you’d order risotto at a steak house, but whatever floats your boat.

I chose a porterhouse done rare. The steak itself wasn’t overly flavoursome for a porterhouse, and was closer to medium rare, but was tender enough and not overcooked enough that I’d send it back. Particularly given that, at $31.50 for around 450 grams, it was fairly priced. Like all steaks, it came with some spinach and potato, which was absolutely delicious thanks to liberal use of butter.

The others two people I were with ordered the scotch fillet and the rib-eye, and spoke very highly of them – and the sides.

While I can’t see Lygon Charcoal Grill & Steakhouse gracing the pages of the Good Food Guide any time soon (it actually did feature in 1995 and 1996), if you’re looking for a reasonable steak, at a reasonable price, with friendly service, in the inner city, it’s recommended.

Muttis is part bar and part restaurant, and is set up really well to serve these dual purposes. There are a few tables outside in a semi-sheltered space, which I imagine will be popular in summer. Inside, out the front, there’s a moderately sized, tastefully decorated casual dining/drinking space, housing a mix of standard restaurant tables, along with some high, bar-style tables, perfect for drinking. Out the back, there’s a much larger space, full of dining tables.

The style of food is Austrian slanted, with dishes such as goulash, schnitzel and strudel. Don’t let that turn you off, however, as the quality is certainly a cut above some other venues that concentrate on this cuisine, and there’s nary a lederhosen or stein in sight. In addition to the Austrian style dishes, the menu branches out to other parts of Europe.

We tried the goulash, which came a sort of pasta, and the twice cooked ox cheek, which was served with a rich, wine-based sauce and soft polenta. The goulash is fairly traditional, starring the key ingredient of caraway seed, which gives it its very distinctive flavour, and some hot paprika to give it a bit of kick. Likewise, I suspect, the pasta, which has an unusual texture that some may find an acquired taste. Together though, they work really well, and are very well cooked, using good ingredients, and very generously proportioned.

The ox cheek was equally good. Wilted spinach and parmesan sat atop three of four large pieces of cheek were cooked until they could be flaked apart with a fork. The meat, in turn, sat atop soft polenta, which was surrounded by a beatiful, rich red wine sauce.

Both of these very filling dishes were great value, at less than $25 each. A side of perfectly cooked beans in butter and garlic, was much bigger than you might expect for $6.50.

There are 3 or 4 well chosen German beers on tap, including a couple of pilsners and hefeweisens, along with quite a number of bottled beers, and a reasonable wine list.

With a couple of 500ml beers, the bill only added up to around $70, including a tip for the good, and friendly, service. What’s not to like.