Danish steakhouse A Hereford Beefstouw opens in Melbourne

Australians are familiar with flat-packed furniture coming out of Scandinavia. But a whole restaurant?

Denmark-based steakhouse chain A Hereford Beefstouw designed and built its Melbourne restaurant in Denmark before sending it here in shipping containers.

It has been reassembled inside a former office space in Duckboard Place, off Flinders Lane, with brick walls and unmistakably Melbourne views of the MCG and the Arts Centre spire from big windows at the rear of the Scandi-chic dining room.

It's a collaboration between South Australian winemaker-turned-cattle farmer Tim Burvill​ and Danish restaurateur Lars Damgaard​, who opened their first Australian restaurant together in 2011. Damgaard owns another 14 A Hereford Beefstouw steakhouses across Scandinavia.

Chef Daniel Groom, with experience in Melbourne, Sydney, London, and Denmark, is interpreting Scandinavian dishes such as sliced-to-order cured salmon and Danish open sandwiches for a Melbourne crowd.

But the menu's cornerstone is dry-aged grass-fed Australian beef, some sourced from Burvill's family farm near Lucindale, in South Australia's Coonawarra region.

Danish architect Thomas Jensen has designed the bar and dining room around a central open kitchen, with seating for up to 40 in the bar and 110 in the dining room.

Open Mon-Thu 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-late; Fri 11.30am-late; Sat-Sun 5.30pm-late.

22 Duckboard Place, Melbourne, 03 9654 8297, beefstouw.com/melbourne-australia