Your hot tips for the best steak in London?

[Mouse]

+1 for Macellaio RC

[Toppcat]

TGLoyalty wrote:

Tarmohamed wrote:

Nusret… or Zelman Meats…

Have to be joking with that first one

Zelman @ HN was decent
Enjoyed CUT @ 45 but it was over priced (Amex offer helped)

Anyone have any experience of Blacklock? Next on my list I think.

Agree with Swiss Tony – Blacklock is great for what it is, and I would definitely give it a go, but really isn’t the same as Hawksmoor/Goodman etc etc.

[RTS]

Kitty Fisher. Forget your Hawksmoor, Goodman’s etc.

[TGLoyalty]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

TGLoyalty wrote:

Tarmohamed wrote:

Nusret… or Zelman Meats…

Have to be joking with that first one

Zelman @ HN was decent
Enjoyed CUT @ 45 but it was over priced (Amex offer helped)

Anyone have any experience of Blacklock? Next on my list I think.

Blacklock is great fun but not in my opinion high-end. The “all-in” platter is where my money’s at and makes for an absolute bargain meal. To give some context, I work on Hawksmoor being 4x the price of Blacklock.

Yup didn’t expect high end from the prices online but great meat doesn’t always need to cost the earth.

I’ll be sure to go “all-in”

[MarkSX]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

TGLoyalty wrote:

Tarmohamed wrote:

Nusret… or Zelman Meats…

Have to be joking with that first one

Zelman @ HN was decent
Enjoyed CUT @ 45 but it was over priced (Amex offer helped)

Anyone have any experience of Blacklock? Next on my list I think.

Blacklock is great fun but not in my opinion high-end. The “all-in” platter is where my money’s at and makes for an absolute bargain meal. To give some context, I work on Hawksmoor being 4x the price of Blacklock.

Blacklock is great value on Monday’s. Think it’s 50% off?

Did not like Hawksmoor at all. Ordered the Chateaubriand and it was frankly very bad.

[Waddle]

I’ve tried Goodman, Hawksmoor, Gaucho etc plus a few boutique places including one run by an ex-Hawksmoor head chef. The most enjoyable steak MEAL I’ve had is at Cau which has now closed. Don’t get me wrong, all of these places will give you a good steak. Just not exceptional.

The problem is that great steak is a 24-hour process once you’ve acquired the slab of meat at the quality you can afford. I usually dry brine my meat overnight with kosher salt, then hit it with either a 53C sous vide bath or a reverse sear in my Kamado Joe before a ripping how sear.

My recommendation is to buy the best meat you can afford and a digital thermometer. Salt your meat, stick it in an oven at 100C until the meat is up to around 49C, take it out to rest, meanwhile get a cast iron VERY hot and sear off the steak for perfect doneness.

The best steak is one you can control all aspects – quality of meat, doneness and seasoning. Don’t go to a steakhouse expecting the best steak, go expecting good steak, drinks and some atmosphere and you’ll avoid disappointment.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Waddle wrote:

I’ve tried Goodman, Hawksmoor, Gaucho etc plus a few boutique places including one run by an ex-Hawksmoor head chef. The most enjoyable steak MEAL I’ve had is at Cau which has now closed. Don’t get me wrong, all of these places will give you a good steak. Just not exceptional.

Do you know that Cau was part of Gaucho? I think they wanted to avoid the idea of a big chain steak franchise so set up smaller ones – they also own the – IMO horrific – “M” restaurants.

[Tom2]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Waddle wrote:

I’ve tried Goodman, Hawksmoor, Gaucho etc plus a few boutique places including one run by an ex-Hawksmoor head chef. The most enjoyable steak MEAL I’ve had is at Cau which has now closed. Don’t get me wrong, all of these places will give you a good steak. Just not exceptional.

Do you know that Cau was part of Gaucho? I think they wanted to avoid the idea of a big chain steak franchise so set up smaller ones – they also own the – IMO horrific – “M” restaurants.

Cau closed when Gaucho went into administration a few years ago. Was a necessity rather than choice.

[TGLoyalty]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Waddle wrote:

I’ve tried Goodman, Hawksmoor, Gaucho etc plus a few boutique places including one run by an ex-Hawksmoor head chef. The most enjoyable steak MEAL I’ve had is at Cau which has now closed. Don’t get me wrong, all of these places will give you a good steak. Just not exceptional.

Do you know that Cau was part of Gaucho? I think they wanted to avoid the idea of a big chain steak franchise so set up smaller ones – they also own the – IMO horrific – “M” restaurants.

Cau was the more casual restaurant with more affordable pricing.

The chap who started M left Guacho to start the new chain and it’s only under the same ownership because they merged after Gaucho was bought out by private equity

[MarkSX]

Please don’t order the Chateaubriand at Hawksmoor. Terrible quality for its price.

I like Quality Chop House.

[JDB]

MarkSX wrote:

Please don’t order the Chateaubriand at Hawksmoor. Terrible quality for its price.

I like Quality Chop House.

Or ideally don’t go to Hawsksmoor at all; it has somehow got a name for itself so most people like to say it’s really good in case it reflects badly on them.

We went to the Air Street one once when they had some offer. The steaks were really poor; at home we buy better ones and cook them much better. Their béarnaise sauce bore no relation to the real thing and another guests’s pepper sauce was split. Wine list not very good and grossly overpriced as is the menu generally.

They are also now selling meat on Ocado that we had at a friend’s house – they were incredibly embarrassed when they served it as it was totally awful – odd taste and strange texture.

As many have said on here, steak is something easily done at home better than most restaurants and can be accompanied by suitable wine that would cost over £100 in a restaurant which I am reluctant to pay. We prefer to go out to eat food that require great cooking skills and resources we don’t have at home.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[omicron]

After having tried a lot of overrated places I think my choices would be Colony Grill Room (formal) or Sophie’s Steakhouse (more casual), depending on what mood you are in.

[JdeW]

For me, there is only one option for excellent steak in London: Goodman City in Old Jewry. Consistently good and top quality selection of meat (USDA, Irish, Scottish A Angus grass fed etc). Combine that with friendly professional staff, an excellent wine list (overpriced perhaps, but where in London isn’t?) and one of the best Dirty vodka martinis in town and it all makes for a superb meal. Have never been disappointed.

[modestpointscollector]

I’d be very interested to hear if all these bad Hawksmoor experiences were at Air Street. Certainly the 2 not as good experiences that stick in my mind recently were both there, and echo the sentiments of JDB above – While i had no major issues with the meat i’ve definitely had better at other branches, the bone marrow sauce i received was certainly not as good, and the peppercorn sauce they delivered by mistake the last time that I was there (I never ordered it) was also very thin and just a bit poor. Had I actually ordered it I would have requested another for sure!

The best steaks i’ve had in the last few years have been Hawksmoor Guildhall and Goodman City. I will have to investigate Sophie’s for sure as the location is definitely better when meeting friends at the weekend.

RE: Cau and Gaucho – I was always mystified by this play, I’d been to both 3 or 4 times in the space of a year and found Cau was the same or better at a much lower price point! Perhaps it’s the Cau was not aimed at people with expense accounts? Who knows!

[Ruralite]

Went to Hawksmoor, Air St, yesterday. It was our sons choice for his birthday & I have to admit I was a bit dubious after reading this forum. Order was a fillet, a rib eye & a porterhouse, all cooked medium rare & I have to say they were perfectly cooked and very tasty, as was the crab on toast 2 of us had for a first course. Other starter was potted beef with Yorkshires which our son enjoyed. All in all the food and service was spot on. We were in around 5.30 & it wasn’t very busy, but packed out at 7.45 when we left & they were turning people away as fully booked. It is overpriced, especially for someone coming from ‘Up North’ (I hate it when basic fries & salad/veg with a steak have to be ordered as an extra side rather than being included) but as a special occasion we enjoyed it.

[modestpointscollector]

Ventured out to Hawksmoor Wood Wharf the other week and had a reservation for 2 but a couple of people decided to tag along when they got wind of where we were going, and unfortunately they were unable to increase the reservation in the main restaurant upstairs. Only main downsides of this seemed to be the inability to order the Mac n Cheese from the menu upstairs and no cuts from the chalkboard, in addition to a number of our usual starters being unavailable.

This did however inspire us to go totally off piste, in particular the coronation cauliflower bites were excellent (so good we ordered them again before the steak) and for my main I had the small fillet steak done bleu/blue which is a bit odd for myself but well cooked and very tasty. Service generally was excellent and we were impressed by all the dishes we had. Given this particular outing was un-sponsored, the savings for not going for the full Hawksmoor experience were also appreciated!

There is also an Amazon Fresh store across the road which was handy to pick up some bits before going back to my hotel in the city on the 135 bus – Pretty much as soon as I stepped out of the shop they sent me another £10 voucher to use at Amazon Fresh, not sure if that’s for all first time customers?

Now we’re being forced back into the office regularly, I suspect the next visit will be Blacklock City or Shoreditch on our own dime again and really looking forward to the all in platter, so thanks for all the suggestions, I aim to work my way around them in the rest of 2022!

[Richie]

BTW there’s a newish Blacklock in Covent Garden for the westerners who won’t go further east than the ROH.

[Michael C]

Richie wrote:

BTW there’s a newish Blacklock in Covent Garden for the westerners who won’t go further east than the ROH.

Went to Blacklock CG on Saturday.
Buzzy but no way full (half?), so the half-hour wait after the 15-min wait for orders
to be taken was all a bit mmmeh (especially with hungry child).

The house pale ale and the cheesecake both fabulous: I’d go back for an afternoon and just order that.

The main dishes just made me think that Flatiron was around the corner for something simple, and that
the Hawksmoor pre-theatre menu is such a good deal.

[George K]

Maybe we got lucky, but had a meal at Coq D’Argent during the weekend and tried their Argentinian sirloin steak (recently swapped from USDA) which was excellent.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Michael C wrote:

Richie wrote:

BTW there’s a newish Blacklock in Covent Garden for the westerners who won’t go further east than the ROH.

Went to Blacklock CG on Saturday.
Buzzy but no way full (half?), so the half-hour wait after the 15-min wait for orders
to be taken was all a bit mmmeh (especially with hungry child).

Wow. Was at the one in the City/Philpott Lane on a Saturday night just a couple of weeks back. It was packed out, which 1) was surprising given the location and 2) even more so given how quiet the two bars that we went into for a drink afterwards were.

Big question though – did you order the all in or go a la carte?

[Michael C]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Michael C wrote:

Richie wrote:

BTW there’s a newish Blacklock in Covent Garden for the westerners who won’t go further east than the ROH.

Went to Blacklock CG on Saturday.
Buzzy but no way full (half?), so the half-hour wait after the 15-min wait for orders
to be taken was all a bit mmmeh (especially with hungry child).

Wow. Was at the one in the City/Philpott Lane on a Saturday night just a couple of weeks back. It was packed out, which 1) was surprising given the location and 2) even more so given how quiet the two bars that we went into for a drink afterwards were.

Big question though – did you order the all in or go a la carte?

À la carte! had also been to Soho, which was indeed rammed (in fact hard even to book). Maybe CG is still cranking up?

Will be interested to hear more about the new Hawksmoor C Wharf – hoping to do cocktails and a sunny (?!) lunch
with MIL in Aug.!

[Clem Fandango]

fluffymitten wrote:

Macellaio (there are two branches if I remember correctly) is a lesser known but brilliant option. I’ve been to the one in South Ken and it’s a small place but the service is excellent and the food is great. My partner (who is a huge foodie) was in raptures over their meat fridge.

+1

Not cheap, but worth it IMHO. If you really love steak you could get a huge piece, eat nothing else, and nobody would bat an eyelid.

[hugog]

I am quite a fan of the steakhouse in the casino in Leicester Square – it is a bit cheaper than ones like hawksmoor but very decent quality

[iamlost]

iamlost wrote:

It used to be CUT, now I’d say it’s Colony Grill Room.

I stand by what I said. The Colony Grill Room never disappoints.

[VickyTM]

Sophies