Eye Fillet

Eye fillet is the most tender cut you’ll find in the whole beast, taken from a small, lightly-worked muscle that runs along the inside of the backbone — which is exactly why it barely needs a knife once it’s on your plate. We trim it fresh in-store rather than pulling pre-cut portions from a box, so you’re getting a genuinely lean, evenly-shaped steak with almost no fat or sinew to work around.

How to cook it

Because it’s so lean, eye fillet cooks fast and rewards a hot pan rather than a low, slow approach — get your pan or barbecue properly hot, sear it hard for a couple of minutes each side, and pull it off while it’s still pink in the middle. A rare to medium-rare finish is where this cut really shines; push it much past medium and that famous tenderness starts to disappear along with the moisture. Let it rest for five minutes under foil before you cut into it, which keeps the juices in rather than pooling on the board.

Because it’s naturally quite plain in flavour compared to a well-marbled scotch fillet, eye fillet loves a bit of help from the outside — a compound butter melting over the top, a rich red wine jus, or simply a generous crack of pepper and good salt just before it hits the pan. It’s the cut steakhouses reach for when they want to serve something impressive without a knife fight, which makes it a great choice if you’re cooking for guests or want to make an ordinary Tuesday feel a bit special.

Because it’s such a prized cut, we recommend grabbing it fresh rather than freezing it if you can — though it does freeze well if you’re planning ahead for a dinner party. Whether you’re marking a special occasion or just want to treat yourself to the best cut in the case, our eye fillet is cut fresh, in-house, by butchers who know good beef.