As Mat's birthday weekend continued we went for out for a real treat to somewhere that is reputed to have the best steak in London. Hawkesmoor now has three restaurants around London and we headed to the one in Covent Garden, as it makes a change going out in central London. As we stepped out of the tube we remembered why - tourists everywhere, blocking the pavement so we hurried straight to the restaurant and as soon as we walked in and the heavy wood doors closed behind us I felt like we were transported to a bar in old school New York. Oak panelling, dark lighting, exposed brick walls and glass desk lamps, the place is buzzing but in a very relaxed way that makes you feel you are in an episode of Mad Men.
We skipped the bar and went straight to our table as we were starving and this is the same reason we skipped a starter. We are not very knowledgable about red wine (apart from Malbec, we know we like that) so are usually guided by price, which is one of the great things about Hawkesmoor they wines start at a reasonable £20. We went for a Rioja, priced at £25 it was lovely not amazing but very easy to drink. I did love the flying pig on the label though.
Our waitress was very helpful and went through the different types of steaks we could have, either to share or separately and explained that if you go for one to share you pick a weight from on the blackboards dotted around the room and they then mark it as being sold, a really nice touch. We went for the porterhouse steak at 900g to share, and cooked medium rare as recommended. About 150g is bone and the cut includes fillet and short-loin. It arrives cut from the bone and already sliced in a metal skillet with the bone place on top (incase you want to go all cave man and get off every last piece of meat). It was amazing, one of the best steaks ever. I think I was expected slightly more meat but with all the sides we had we were stuffed.
The sides were in season asparagus, irony creamed spinach and beef dripping cooked chips, which were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside, again some of the tastiest chips I have had in a while. For me, the star was the roasted bone marrow, a gluttonous treat but it just brought out the flavour of the steaks. Oh, and don't forget the sauces - a classic peppercorn and a Stilton hollandaise, both great but for different reasons, the slight spice of the pepper and the creamy kick of Stilton, my mouth waters thinking of it.
Then on to the desserts, I was surprised by how great these were for a place that specialises in meat and those things savoury. They choice was pimped up classics - sticky toffee puddings, crumbles and sundaes. I went for the peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel ice cream, two of my favourites things (the excitement was almost too much tom bear), it was more delicious than I imagined it to be. The shortbread was swirled with soft crunchy peanut butter, which didn't taste like shop brought stuff either and served warm with ice cream on top. Salted caramel may be my new favourite thing. Mat went for the sticky toffee sundae, we he seemed to enjoy immensely as we both went very quiet for this part of the meal as we got stuck in.
It was a great meal but a bit pricey than I thought it would be. Definitely worth it but only as a special treat.
No comments:
Post a Comment