Where "Steak and Kidney" Comes From
"Steak and kidney" (as in the pie) rhymes with "Sidney/Sydney," swapping out the city's name for the food entirely — a speaker names the dish but means the destination. Green's Dictionary of Slang dates the "Sydney" sense to 1945, sourced to Sidney J. Baker's landmark study The Australian Language.
Unlike Cockney imports such as "porky," this looks to be a home-grown Australian coinage, built on the same rhyming principle as London slang but applied to a distinctly local place name. It's endured mainly as an affectionate, larrikin nickname for the harbour city rather than everyday speech — more a novelty kept alive by slang enthusiasts and knockabout Australian crime writers than something you'd hear at the shops.
Source:
"Heading down to Steak and Kidney."
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used lightheartedly when talking about heading to Sydney — "heading down to Steak and Kidney" is the sort of phrase that gets a smile from anyone who catches the reference.
It's more of a novelty than an everyday term these days, kept alive by people who enjoy old-school rhyming slang.
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