According to Jan Braai, there are a few quintessential tips to grilling the perfect steak. The meat should be at room temperature when you cook it; you will need plenty of heat; the steak must be kept on the grill for a total of 7 minutes; and you must turn using tongs, not a fork. Only baste after the meat has sealed, and perhaps most importantly, steaks should be done medium rare.

It’s rather a complicated affair if you’re going to do it yourself, which is why going out to a steakhouse is one of the most fun things you can do in this country. There are so many excellent meaty eateries at which you can enjoy juice dribbling down your chin, proper steak knives, an array of rich sauces and sides, and no arduous fire-making or washing up. What’s not to love?

Here are our nominees for the Best Steakhouse, the winner of which will be announced on Sunday 25 November at the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards.

Johannesburg

Butcher Shop & Grill
Eat Out recommends: Giant beef kebab, lamb wors, Wagyu sirloin from Tasmania or rump from Australia, ostrich fillet, game of the day or venison pie. They serve only mature aged meat, three days on the whole carcass and between 21 and 40 days thereafter in large joints.

Gray
Eat Out recommends: Some excellent grills, such as the superb rib eye with béarnaise sauce.

The Grillhouse (Rosebank)
Eat Out recommends: A cut of well-hung meat with an accompanying sauce. The ribs and lamb cutlets also make a good choice, as does the homemade burger, which is a real bargain.

HQ
Eat Out recommends: a green salad comprising lettuce, Grana Padana cheese and toasted pine nuts with French vinaigrette, followed by grilled sirloin topped with a rich Café de Paris herbed butter sauce and crispy pommes frites. (This is the only thing on the menu!)

Karoo Cattle and Land (Rosebank) (now closed)
Eat Out recommends: The Blondie burger, topped with steak, bacon, egg and cheese; oupa’s peri peri steak strips; or the Karoo starter platter that features chicken wings and livers, mussels, calamari and black mushrooms make great sharing options.

The Local Grill (Parktown North)
Eat Out recommends: Pork belly roll with curried quince sauce and poached apples; oxtail with mash; or loin-cut lamb saddle cutlets, rubbed and grilled. Choose between high-quality Chalmar or Greenfields free-range beef cuts, dry or wet aged.

Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse
Eat Out recommends: The Chateaubriand for two, which comprises a fillet / tenderloin, oven-roasted with coarse salt and black peppercorns, flambéed with Cointreau, and served with Dijon mustard.

Thundergun
Eat Out recommends: Sirloin with a coarse mustard seed and rosemary rub, or the T-bone, which comes in mini, super or mega sizes.

Turn & Tender (Bryanston)
Eat Out recommends: The Argentinean style steak (choose your cut), which is spiral cut and served with a chimmichurri marinade that’s refreshing and zingy. For something different try the starter of lamb tails braised in thick tomato sauce. The staff will make recommendations of what is the best hung meat and cut on a particular day.

Wombles
Eat Out recommends: Beef fillet on the bone with red wine and porcini sauce. (All meats are Halaal.)

Mpumalanga

Pioneers Butchery & Grill
Eat Out recommends: A variety of super-aged grain-fed beef cuts, including the Mozambique rump, which comes topped with peri-peri chicken livers, fried egg and anchovy.

Free State

The Phatt Chef
Eat Out recommends: A rump, sirloin or fillet steak with mustard mash and one of the rich sauces, such as roasted garlic and parmesan, avocado and Dijon, or gratinéed brie and red onion marmalade. (All meat is aged for 28 to 35 days.)

Eastern Cape

Flava
Eat Out recommends: One of the dishes on the smallish menu, which is rich in imagination and quality. Chef-patron John Burger ages the steaks himself, and cuts and trims each on order.

Cape Town

Barristers
Eat Out recommends: The Barrister’s Fillet Rossini of beef fillet served with mushrooms in a red wine reduction and chicken livers.

Carne SA
Eat Out recommends: The 1.2kg Florentine beef steak; intricately flavoured hangar steak; the mixed game skewer; or meltingly tender shoulder of lamb stuffed with spinach and pine nuts.

Cattle Baron – The Grill House
Eat Out recommends: Chargrilled steaks, such as the his or hers Chateaubriand, or the 1kg ribs.

HQ
Eat Out recommends: The only main dish of sirloin steak with salad and fancy fries. Your only choices will be how you want your steak done, what you want to drink with it and which of the two or three desserts you might like.

The Hussar Grill (Camps Bay)
Eat Out recommends: Beef matured on-site; spare ribs that fall off the bone; lamb shank; or the meltingly delicious oxtail (if on the menu). Cuts are displayed on a platter and explained to customers before ordering.

Karoo Cattle and Land (Eden on the Bay)
Eat Out recommends: 1.2 kg T-bone; the Karoo braai (a modern riff on the retro mixed grill); or Karoo lamb tails. The grill specialities are marinated in olive oil and bay leaves and the homemade chakalaka at the salad bar ensures repeat visits.

Durban

The Grill Room at The Oyster Box
Eat Out recommends: Steak tartare; braised oxtail pot pie; or pork rib-eye wrapped in bacon and served with a ginger sauce.

Havana Grill
Eat Out recommends: The Havana Experience, which can feed up to four people. It includes 1.5kg of rump, prime rib and fillet with a selection of sauces. Or go for the ostrich fillet au poivre, served with Madagascan green peppercorns, cognac and cream sauce.

Joop’s Place
Eat Out recommends: Rumps, fillets and rib-eyes. However you like your steaks, you will find former-butcher Joop Moll frying, flipping and flambéing the best cuts to perfection in the open-plan kitchen.

Steak & Ale
Eat Out recommends: Fillet, rump steak or their signature pork belly, served with mash and drizzled with honey and mustard sauce.

Pretoria

Karoo Cattle & Land
Eat Out recommends: Traditional boerekos with a twist. Order lamb casserole, sosaties, Karoo pie, pork belly roast, lamb chops, ostrich steak and bobotie.

If you still want to braai your own steak, use our store search to find a butcher near you.