A Steakhouse for Melbourne's South-East
Wood & Bone is a wood-fired steakhouse in Melbourne's bayside south-east, at 4 Tabbita Street, Moorabbin. We are ten minutes from Brighton and six from Bentleigh, serving Sher Wagyu, porterhouse and scotch fillet over timber — with free parking and no city surcharge.
You do not have to drive into the city for a proper steak
Melbourne's steak conversation happens almost entirely inside the CBD. Rockpool at Crown, Grill Americano at the base of 101 Collins, Meatmaiden in a basement under Little Collins Street. They are very good restaurants and they are also forty minutes, a parking bill and a set of city prices away from anyone living south of the Nepean Highway.
Wood & Bone exists for the other Melbourne. The bayside stretch from Bentleigh down through Cheltenham, Mentone and Mordialloc, out to Brighton and Beaumaris — a catchment of several hundred thousand people who would rather not spend the first hour of dinner on the Monash. If you have been looking for the best steak in Melbourne and quietly meaning the best steak you can reach in fifteen minutes, this page is for you.
What a bayside steakhouse ought to be
Not a pub bistro with a steak special on Tuesdays. Not a white-tablecloth exercise in tension where the waiter describes the provenance of the butter and the bill arrives on a silver tray. A room where the grill is the point, the wine list has been chosen by someone who actually eats here, and the total at the end does not require a discussion in the car park.
The room is loud enough for a birthday and quiet enough for a business dinner. That balance is harder to build than it sounds and it is the reason people come back.
What we put on the fire
Sher Wagyu, from the Victorian producer that supplies half the restaurants on the best-of lists. Porterhouse with the fat cap left on, because rendering it over wood is the entire point. Scotch fillet for anyone who wants marbling without the wagyu price. Eye fillet for the table's one person who does not want to work for it.
Everything goes over timber. A wood-fire crust is deeper and slightly sweeter than what a gas grill produces, and the smoke is in the meat rather than sprayed on afterwards. That is the whole difference between a steak restaurant in Melbourne and a restaurant that sells steak.
Cuts and weights shift with what the supplier has. We would rather serve the better piece of beef than the one that matches a printed menu from last month, so ask the floor staff what came in this week — they will know, and they will tell you honestly which one is eating best tonight.
On marbling, briefly
Marble score measures the intramuscular fat running through a cut, graded roughly from 1 to 9+ in the Australian system. Higher is richer, not automatically better. A marble score 9 wagyu is extraordinary in 150 grams and exhausting in 350.
This is the single most common ordering mistake we see. If you are having wagyu, order less of it than instinct suggests and put the difference into a side and a better glass of red. The people who order the biggest wagyu steak on the menu are, with some consistency, the people who leave a third of it.
How to order, if you want our opinion
Porterhouse, medium-rare, no sauce for the first few bites — taste what the fire did before you cover it. Share a smokehouse plate across the table before the steaks land: brisket and a rib, something to argue over while you wait.
Rest matters more than most people think. A steak that comes to the table immediately off the grill has not finished cooking and will lose its juice onto the plate. We rest ours properly, which occasionally means a slightly longer wait and always means a better piece of meat.
And order one more side than seems sensible. Nobody has ever regretted this.
The practical case for driving south instead of north
Parking is free and it is directly outside the front door. There is no city surcharge on the bill. A table of six here costs meaningfully less than the same table in Southbank, and the drive home takes twelve minutes instead of forty.
None of which would matter if the steak were not good. It is the reason the argument works at all.
See Sher Wagyu, porterhouse and scotch fillet cuts on the full dinner menu, or the smokehouse plate alongside it. New to wood fire? Start with how to order steak, cut by cut, or read what marble score actually means before you order wagyu.
Closer to home, find the nearest steakhouse in Highett, Bentleigh, Cheltenham, Ormond, Mordialloc, Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham, Mentone or Beaumaris. For a private function, hire the full venue privately any Sunday to Tuesday.
FAQ
Where is the best steakhouse in Melbourne's south-east?
Wood & Bone in Moorabbin is a dedicated wood-fired steakhouse serving the bayside south-east, minutes from Bentleigh, Cheltenham, Brighton and Highett, with free on-site parking.
Do you serve wagyu?
Yes. We serve Sher Wagyu, a Victorian producer known for consistently high marble scores, cooked over wood fire.
What does marble score mean?
Marble score grades the intramuscular fat running through a cut, roughly 1 to 9+ in the Australian system. Higher scores are richer and are usually best enjoyed in smaller portions.
Is Wood & Bone expensive compared to CBD steakhouses?
Prices sit below comparable CBD steakhouses. There is no city surcharge and parking is free.
How far is Wood & Bone from Brighton?
About ten minutes by car. Bentleigh is roughly six minutes and Highett around four.
What makes a wood-fired steak different?
Cooking over timber produces a deeper, slightly sweeter crust than gas, and the smoke penetrates the meat rather than sitting on the surface.
Which steak should I order?
Porterhouse for a classic wood-fired crust, scotch fillet for marbling at a lower price, eye fillet for tenderness, and Sher Wagyu for richness in a smaller portion.
Do you take group bookings?
Yes. Larger tables are welcome Wednesday to Saturday, and the full venue can be hired privately Sunday to Tuesday.
