Mmmmm… steak…red meat. Like fish, a good hunk of beef deserves to be served almost naked — no spices other than salt and pepper, no sauces (or on the side). Great meat and great heat mean carnivore red light at night. It continues to amaze how an elegant and sweet rib steak can be reduced to shoe leather by a wanker grill boy.

Here are the three places you should go for mooo:

Absinthe Café Resto Bar

Chef/owner Patrick Garland turns out consistently excellent food in a wide-open super-cool room that rocks when it’s full. Chef makes steak and frites the French way (no, I don’t mean sullenly) with an exceptional marinated hanger steak and hot, hot fries.
1208 Wellington St. W., 613-761-1138, absinthecafe.ca

Luxe Bistro

It’s downtown in the Byward Market area of clubs ’n’ pubs, but Luxe is the go-to for the biz boyz. Really great steak and other French bistro goodies expertly prepared by executive chef Duane Keats. Superior martinis, excellent wine list. Book early, and ask for a banquette or a window seat for people-watching.
47 York St., 613-241-8805, luxebistro.com

Sterling

If you want a really classic steak-house experience, then cross over to Gatineau. It’s a $10 cab ride from Parliament Hill and housed in a big beautiful building that’s all wood and light, looking out over the mighty Ottawa River. Ask for your steak charred, because a good steak house will always be putting out more BTUs than your barbecue. The wine list is reasonable, and the service is attentive.
835, rue Jacques Cartier, Gatineau (Hull sector), 819-568-8788, sterlingrestaurant.com