Cheek - CBD

On a random Wednesday night a group of us decided to pay Cheek a visit. It is the sister restaurant of Dexter, one of the best restaurants in Melbourne, in my opinion. It is fair to say, I had high hopes. Located smack bang in the CBD on Swanston Street, an unassuming set of stairs leads you to the restaurant which can be accessed via a sliding door on the left. Our group of 6 ordered plenty of small plates, large meatier portions and sides to share.

Almost walked past the entrance!

Sweet n sour Cauliflower

To start, we ate the battered sweet n' sour cauliflower with miso ranch ($15). It looked very inviting but would've preferred a bit more crunch. The miso flavour was very prominent and definitely packed a punch.

Meat Donuts

I was super excited for the meat donuts. It is such a standout dish at Dexter so I had really high expectations for Cheek's version. They sold a Sichuan hot meat donut with mango jam. It was pretty underwhelming. Meat donuts are such a novelty that is fun to eat but I was expecting a lot more spice and a lot more flavour. Thank-you, next.

Daily Tacos

The daily taco ($8ea) was a chicken and avocado combo. The taco itself was a tad too hard and the double shelling was overkill.

Beef Tartare

Our next starter was the plum leaf tartare with Korean pickle ($18). Quite a small serving but quite tasty. There was a very prominent sesame flavour throughout it.

New York Strip Steak

Time for mains! One of the large dishes to share was the New York Strip Steak (300g) with bone marrow sauce ($37). I would've loved more bone marrow sauce because that is liquid gold but the meat itself was tender. Pretty good standard steak for its pricepoint.

Kurobuta Pork

The rare breed kurobuta pork (350g) ($33) was the dry aged special of the night. It was exquisitely tender and the apple slaw was a nice touch.

Smoked Short Rib

The winner of the night was the smoked short rib (650g) served with a sesame caramel ($65). It was the most tender piece of meat and packed the most flavour. I loved that it was paired with thin ribbons of kolrabi (I am guessing). This is a must-try at Cheek.

Bone Marrow Mash

To accompany our mains, we couldn't not order the mash and gravy ($9). Just as great as the original bone marrow mash at Dexter. Bottle this bone marrow up, it is that good.

Dirty Cream Corn

We also got the dirty cream corn ($17), which was topped with XO, creme fresh and lime. On paper, it looked divine but I guess the flavours were a bit strange to me. Corn that didn't quite taste like corn, probably not worth a try.

Onion Rings

The onion rings ($9) were a winner. They were very thinly sliced and the batter gave it a great crispy texture. The red eye mayo was fab.

Smoked Eggplant ($16)

Mixed Leaf Salad ($8)

My friend, who is a Vegetarian bravely came along to the meatiest joint out, and ordered a few of their vegetarian-friendly options above.

Overall, I had an enjoyable meal at Cheek. Some dishes were better than others. I was told by the waitress that Cheek was a more refined version of Dexter but I couldn't justify the cost for its prime CBD location. It was quite pricey as the sides come separately. Service was fine but I just would have preferred that the dishes all came out together rather than one at a time. It was literally one in one out. Still dreaming of that bone marrow mash tbh.


Taste: 7.5/10
Presentation: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Value for Money 6/10