There’s no denying that these steakhouses are still great – but now there’s a new wave of meat emporia.  Steakhouse 2.0. Cape Town has the jump on Joburg with places like Belthazar, Carne – and HQ, the quintessential steak restaurant.

It’s pretty bolshy, opening a place where the menu reads “salad, sirloin, chips,” and that’s pretty much all you get, besides a small wine list and a very brief (forgettable) dessert menu.  HQ is the new extension to the Heritage Square collection of eateries that are operated by the Caveau team and it’s a steakhouse of a very single-minded kind – serving only sirloin, no rump, no fillet, no T-Bone. But this is no ordinary sirloin, it’s well-aged, grass-fed beef that’s thick-cut and served with a decadent Café de Paris butter. It comes with skinny fries and is preceded by a simple green salad with a beautifully weighted vinaigrette. That’s it, but, done right, it is enough.

HQ is based on the L'Entrecôte restaurants of Europe. These have a formidable reputation, largely built on the secret recipe for the Café de Paris sauce that HQ is also pretty tight-lipped about.  It will impress you. Your only choice is how you would like your steak cooked – and just try requesting well-done. Besides one of the owners being French – and the French consider well-done a crime much worse than foie gras – the quality of the steak begs for a juicier grilling.

Steakhouse 2.0 also has a sexy interior, and a fantastic cocktail bar. On hot nights, you can sit alfresco in the courtyard. Steak is hip again.

For more on restaurants go to www.rossouwsrestaurants.com – the independent guide to eating in South Africa. The full Rossouw’s Restaurants 2009 guide is available at leading bookstores and delis, and from the website.