Is Botswana Butchery New Zealand's answer to Rockpool?

• Terry Durack reviews Botswana Butchery, Sydney

Can we just get this out of the way? The name Botswana Butchery is an odd choice. The restaurant – originating in New Zealand, newly opened in Melbourne, and with four locations across both countries – has almost nothing whatsoever to do with the small landlocked country in southern Africa from which it takes its name.

The food and decor are about as un-African as you can imagine. Indeed, one of the restaurant's best qualities is the use and highlighting of Australian products. The vibe in the multi-storey venue is all clubby steakhouse chic, a tad bland, perhaps – you could be anywhere in the world in this room of muted tones and velvet accents, except, possibly, Botswana.

The explanation is that one of the chefs who helped to open the original location in Queenstown, NZ, in 2007, was part-Botswanan. Probably also that it sounded good.

But let's move on. Is the food any good? Does the service run like a well-greased machine, headset microphones on the black-clad staff? Is the wine list broad, varied and even intermittently affordable? Yes, yes, yes.

The idea of an upscale restaurant chain isn't particularly well-established in Australia, although my guess is that will change in coming years. Restaurant groups are already opening venue after venue, and they'll discover that it's far easier to simply replicate an already successful concept than dream up new personalities for each new opening.

This is already happening, Rockpool being the obvious example. Indeed, Botswana Butchery has lots in common with Rockpool, including a culinary director for the group in Australia, Angel Fernandez, who used to work there.

The original Botswana Butchery made its mark by offering fresh seafood, premium steaks and a smattering of creative dishes – think the New Zealand version of Rockpool, with a smidge less formality. That formula is pretty much exactly what they've brought to Melbourne, albeit with the input of head chef Andrew Zdravkovski.

This is one of those places where you can get everything from caviar service ($140-$390) to a bowl of goulash ($26), a 1.6 kilo grain-fed tomahawk steak ($320), whole rock lobster (market price) plucked live from its tank, or fried chicken with gravy ($35).

In this vast world of choice, I was especially grateful for the Alaskan crab leg ($39), a staple of international steak and seafood houses that's particularly hard to find here. Zdravkovski, who most recently worked at La Luna Bistro in Carlton North, serves it cold with remoulade, shredded iceberg lettuce and a house-made milk bun, allowing you to make your own tiny lobster roll with the soft bread, if you so wish. At first I was wary of the expense, but I can see myself stopping by the bar for this dish and a glass of wine and calling it dinner.

Zdravkovski's talent is most apparent with the more creative appetiser dishes: steamed spanner crab ($39) served with a layer of woodfire-grilled eggplant and agedashi tofu; venison tartare ($32) that comes over a umami-rich anchovy cream and a sunflower seed cracker, its deep meaty flavour a revelation.

Speaking of meat, the selection here is seriously good, and there's a wide choice of pasture and grain-fed cuts from around Australia. Zdravkovski breaks out some culinary tricks even with something as simple as steak – my medium-rare Stone Axe wagyu oyster blade ($90) was perfectly cooked all the way to the very edge of the meat, so uniformly medium-rare I thought it must have started its journey in a sous vide machine. I was wrong – the kitchen just knows how to handle these steaks with a skill level that's uncommon.

The bearnaise sauce ($5) that I ordered on the side had been aerated in a syphon – basically a whipped cream cannister – rather than being made the traditional way. This is a piece of cool kitchen magic, and is more foolproof than doing it in a pan, but it does lend the sauce a slight texture of fluffiness almost like scrambled eggs. It tastes great, though, so no harm, no foul.

Aside from the name, if I have any problem at all with Botswana Butchery it's that it lacks personality, specificity, in other words, soul. But I can't think of a better place for a business lunch, especially one that includes folks who might have disparate tastes.

There is something here for pretty much anyone – anyone with the considerable amount of cash required, that is. Perhaps not all restaurants need soul, especially if they're as well-presented and well-run as is Botswana Butchery.

Vibe Clubby steakhouse chic, with accents of cleavers everywhere

Go-to dish Alaskan crab leg, $39

Drinks Creative cocktail menu, really nice wine list with some great finds

Cost $220 for two, plus drinks