Chop Shop, 1st February

I do love it when a Time Out offer comes along and coincides with a place I’ve had on my List anyway. And thus I got to try out Chop Shop on Haymarket for the princely sum of £25 for three courses and a cocktail. And trust me, with the food they are serving, this was a hell of a steal.

I booked for 7 pm which happened to be happy hour so we started with a cocktail that was not included in the set menu for half price. I had the creamy Rosemary’s baby – a cocktail subtley laced with rosemary and bulked with ‘custard’. A creamily good start although I would ordinarily order something like this later in the night.

However, it did work very well with the smooth and creamy artichoke and truffle mousse I ordered to start. It came with lightly toasted sourdough, and for once I felt there was enough bread to go with the mousse, without ending up with loads to eat on its own. I have had artichoke veloute before and thought it was wonderful. This was similarly so, with heady truffle making it feel very special indeed.

Stephen’s hamhock scotch egg was fabulous – the yolk golden and soft, the meat pink and slightly salty.

We both ordered the steak for our mains and made sure to order different sides and sauces. The choice on offer was impressive – rosemary fries, creamed spinach, mashed potato, cheesy leeks. Finally we settled on fries and leeks, and we ordered béarnaise and red wine bone marrow sauce to accompany it.

Those leeks – oh my! They came in a thick, almost béchamel sauce into which their oniony flavour had seeped and on top was a layer of grilled cheese.

I could wax just as lyrical about the bone marrow sauce which had a deep, glorious flavour and I gladly sloshed it all over my meat which was cooked to a perfect medium rare as requested and had a slight char about it which was very pleasant.

The béarnaise was had a lemon tinge we both appreciated and the chips were perfectly crunchy and seasoned. This was a faultless meal so far.

The desserts, in my mind, did not quite live up to this. They were both very heavy and felt a little ordinary compared to what we’d had before. I dived into the brownie sundae first and then tried the butterscotch pudding which I thought was bland. But it was just more delicate compared to the chocolate and in the end I much preferred it and ended up eating quite a bit more of it than I had intended given how full I was.

Service was perfect throughout – attentive and friendly but not cloying. We left with a very high estimation of Chop Shop indeed.

Flat Iron, Denmark Street, 28th August

Many moons ago, Flat Iron arrived as a pop-up in the Owl and the Pussycat on Redchurch Street offering some nonsense about affordable steak but only in one cut - the underused Flat Iron. I liked it, Stephen thought it smelled weird. I also liked the restaurant they had created and the other dishes on the menu.

Not too long after their stint at the pub, they opened a permanent place in Soho which I added to the list but before I got a chance to go there, they opened a second place just behind Tottenham Court Road on Denmark Street. (Denmark Street - I'm watching you - what with Fernandez & wells also popping up, you better not push out all the music shops to turn into another foodie enclave.)

We fancied a quick bite and headed over at about 6:30. The place was pretty empty but judging from hearing the waitresses and the phone calls they were fielding, it was likely to get pretty busy later and as we were leaving it was filling up.

Flat Iron are basically offering the same as what we had on our first visit, but with the addition of specials, which are typically, their burger with bearnaise sauce, and another cut of meat. Today, it was onglet at £15. The flat iron steaks are still £10, and sides and desserts are still a very cheap £3.50. Cocktails start at £5. FIVE POUNDS! In SOHO! This place is seriously cheap.

And, I think, seriously good. I ordered the flat iron to see if it still tasted the same, Stephen got the onglet. We had a couple of fries and the delicious aubergine 'lasagne'. The flat iron seems to have lost the odd smell it had before, and tasted lovely - light, delicate, and tender, cooked to pink. Stephen's onglet however, I must admit, stole the show. A chewier meat it had more of a char to the outside, though was very tender in the middle and felt more like a 'proper' steak experience. For the extra £5 I would definitely plump for this one over the other.

Stephen had already had like, five cakes or something in the day so no dessert for him, but I had to order their sundae. Flat Iron knows what works - chocolate, cream and caramel (salted of course). Last time I went they combined this in a mousse, this time it was a sundae. Each time was delicious.

The place still has that slightly cowboy vibe to it, with plenty of reminders about the meat you're here to eat. 

Yes, cows in the toilet

I really like that there is somewhere casual where you can have a steak dinner if you really fancy some meat but without all the faff and large expense. Portions are moderate - you'll have satisfied your hunger when you're done but you won't feel bloated and guilty. Yes, Flat Iron's still got it. And they've still got those cute meat cleavers too (no stealing!)

McQueen, 5th September

I love it when things transpire in my favour (who wouldn’t?). McQueen was on my list and then lo and behold, a couple of months ago, Time Out had an offer for a discount on a meal there! What better excuse could I need to finally go and check it out?

I stumbled upon this place during one of my strolls through London and was intrigued by its location slightly off the beaten track of the Shoreditch triangle, and also its sleek look. I investigated what was on the inside and decided I wanted to try it.

McQueen, named for Steve McQueen has the lot – a restaurant, a bar and a downstairs club. Its design is supposed to emulate American cool, in homage to the coolest of cool cats, Steve McQueen himself. I think they do achieve the look they’re going for, the space is pleasing to be in, and the odd quirky, slightly gothic touch such as the candelabra or bizarre human tree sculpture gives the place a bit of personality. I do wonder if the clientele it attracts are quite what they had in mind – there were a lot of City types in there; young guys doing Sambucas on a Wednesday night and then patting themselves on the back after each one. (Well done guys, you can take a sugar hit.)

Sorry, poor quality picture!

The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there at a little before 7, but it did get busier through the course of our meal. Our voucher was for a meal for two, for £25 for three courses and a bottle of wine. What a bargain! It was of course a set menu, basically one choice for meat eaters and one for the veggies, so Stephen and I had the same as each other for our starter and main. This was, a salmon and haddock fishcake on a bed of lentils, and then the bavette with thrice cooked chips and a turnip puree.

The fishcake was good – nice and crisp batter on the outside with big flakes of fish inside, the lentils were cooked perfectly for me and it all tasted great. I could have eaten more of it. 

The bavette was decent but not the best steak I’ve ever had; it will take a long time for anything the beat the bavette at Vinoteca. We weren’t convinced that the chips were triple cooked, but they were fine as far as chips go, a little on the thin side. What really stole the show was the turnip puree. What a discovery! It was incredibly rich and pungent tasting, reminding me almost of truffles. Definitely miles above your normal creamed potato. When spooned onto the steak, it added a touch of luxury to every bite. This should be on more menus.

For our desserts Stephen and I diverged on choice. I had the chocolate fondant and he had the pecan pie. At first he proclaimed his very good, but then he decided that it could have been more moist. I certainly didn’t have that problem with my fondant, which oozed as a good fondant should, the moment I pierced it with my spoon. Stephen had food envy and with good reason. My dessert was rich, gooey, warm and tasty.

I asked for the bill even though we had prepaid and she said ‘no bill, you’ve paid already’. I had thought they might present us with one so that they could charge us for service and I was interested to see if it would be 12.5% on our voucher price, or what the meal would have cost normally. The fact that they did not even give us a bill was a big plus for them, and inclined me to leave a tip anyway.

We then went next door for a drink. The drinks were a leetle pricey but not too far above the average for Shoreditch. I enjoyed the setting despite the Suits, and we had a couple of seats at the bar, which is my favourite place to sit. The only seats available in fact as even though no one else in the bar was sitting down, they had festooned all available sitting surfaces with their bags and accessories. We only stayed out for one drink, as we had unexpectedly ended up drinking both the night before and the night before that so the visit was brief but enjoyable.

I don’t know if this will make it into my repertoire of regular drinking establishments, but it is very close to XOYO so good to bear in mind for drinks beforehand if I’m going there. And of course, they have clubnights themselves which I plan to try out some time as well.   

Flat Iron, 27th July

Flat Iron is a new pop-up restaurant above the absolutely lovely Owl and the Pussycat pub. Ever since I had heard about it on Twitter, I had been dying to go. It is only in residence for six weeks (but this could be extended if it proves popular) and I was pleased to be able to go in the first two weeks and feel like I was slightly ahead of the pack.

It’s another place specialising in only one thing, and another place that doesn’t take reservations. We decided to go on Friday, when hopefully everyone would be elsewhere getting ready to watch the Opening Ceremony, and we went straight from work to be doubly sure we would avoid queuing for ages. We were, in fact, the very first two people in there and we didn’t have to queue at all! An excellent start. I don’t know if we were just lucky, or if it is always so easy so early in the night. Quite a few people had trickled in by half an hour later, but it wasn’t packed to the rafters, and, while we decided to leave after we’d eaten and finished our drinks, we could easily have stayed for another one or two drinks without feeling like we we were taking up valuable space.

So what is Flat Iron’s handle? Well, it’s aim is to make steak affordable for the masses, and they have done this by serving one type of steak – the Flat Iron – which rarely gets used and is thus cheaper. After the first night of opening, the next day I waited with baited breath for the reviews – but almost more importantly – the prices. I wanted to know what they considered ‘affordable’ considering steaks in the good places (Hawksmoor for example) can go for around £30, sometimes more depending on the cut. Good reviews were flooding in but no one was mentioning the price. Why? I was suspicious. Someone reviewed it on their blog, again without mentioning the price, so I asked. I could scarcely believe her when she said that steak and a salad was £10. That was unbelievably good value. And it doesn’t stop there. Sides come in at a mere £2.50, and cocktails are also very reasonably priced at between £5.50 and £7 (most places start at £7.00).

The restaurant space is also delightful. It has a bit of a rustic, slightly Wild West feel to it. As we went in fresh horseradish was being pounded in a pestle and mortar. There’s a lot of dark wood. The place feels relaxed and comfortable. But it is clear that great attention to detail has been given – from the mini-cleavers that take the place of steak knives, to the little jars of ketchup and mustard, to the way your bill is presented at the end of the meal – on small but heavy letter presses. This sort of thing might not be strictly necessary but for me added to the enjoyment of the experience.

Flat Iron asks, please don't steal the cleavers!

But what of the food? Well, I enjoyed it. The chips were tasty, though not mindblowing, and we were also persuaded by our very lovely and knowledgeable waitress to split a side of roasted aubergine (at these prices, why on earth not?) which was absolutely delicious. This may be verging on blasphemy to say so, especially coming from a meat lover such as myself, but I think it might have been my favourite thing of the night!  Seriously, seriously good. I wish I’d had a whole one to myself. For vegetarians, this is what you get as a main dish so you shouldn’t feel at all short-shrifted. 

The steak itself is also good, I think. Stephen wasn’t too enamoured with it. It has a ... how shall I say this? ... distinct... smell to it which is not overly pleasant, and Stephen thought it leaked into the taste, which he didn’t like. To be honest, for me it wasn’t exactly STEAK. I think people who go out for a STEAK will know what I mean. It’s not a thick, juicy porterhouse, with chewy, bitter char on the outside giving way to melt in the mouth meat in the middle. The steak at Flat Iron is altogether more delicate, laid out on the board almost like a charcuterie delicacy. I liked the taste – it did taste different to other beef, a little bit gamey. And I thought it was cooked beautifully (medium rare as standard though they will cook it to your liking if you request otherwise). But I couldn’t help but feel that if I was in the mood to go out for a STEAK, this wouldn’t have satisfied and I would still probably head to Buen Ayre, or Hawksmoor and pay the extra. I want to feel like a man when I eat STEAK.

But if what you want is expertly cooked meat (or steak with a lower case ‘s’) at a truly affordable price in a completely charming restaurant, then head over to Flat Iron. The cocktails were tasty (and created especially to complement the steak) - I had a smoked thyme bramble which was lovely and yes, very smoky and thymey, and the wait staff are incredibly friendly. I think it would make a lovely addition as a casual place you can drop in with a group of friends before a night out or a few jars downstairs. Even the presentation is geared towards a convivial group sitting as you can fit several portions of steak on each board, to then pass between you. 

Meat for two with bloody mary sauce and bearnaise

They are also currently serving for dessert (again at only £2.50) a scrumptious chocolate caramel ‘mousse’. Nevermind that the consistency of it was completely different to any mousse I’ve ever had (it was thicker and more solid, heading towards ice cream territory – maybe like semifreddo), the taste was amazing. Our waitress put them down before us and took a pinch of sea salt and crumbled it over the top. It went perfectly, which will come to no surprise to anyone who has tapped into the current salted caramel craze. We really do need to put more salt into sweet stuff.

Flat Iron is only around for another four weeks as it stands. I really like what they’re trying to do and the amount of effort that has gone into the place. They're not just making steak affordable, they're making eating out in general affordable. Everyone go and ensure it makes the transition from pop-up to permanent. 

Press presenting your bill

The Eagle's Steak Sandwich, 5th July

The ‘eagle-eyed’ amongst you (geddit) may have noticed that the Eagle pub features on my Food List and not my Drink List. It is on my Food List for one reason alone – the Bife Ana, or steak sandwich, as recommended by Time Out’s 1000 Things to Do in London. It was on my List when I read it, and then I went to the Eagle and saw someone order it and knew it belonged on my List.

So yes, I had actually been to the Eagle once before, but was either a) trying to save money, b) trying to lose weight or c) going to the gym which has the added benefit of achieving both a and b. This meant I only had one drink and no food. But I had seen the steak sandwich, couldn’t get it out of my mind in fact, and was glad when we needed to kill some time last night before the Shard laser show as it gave me the chance to finally try it.

The Eagle itself is a rather shabby looking pub on Farringdon Road. It is credited with being the first ‘gastropub’ in that it started serving decent food, but was also a pub. By today’s definition of gastropub (all big fireplaces, kitchen and restaurant in the back, brass fittings) it wouldn’t really deserve such a title. It’s affiliated with Great Queen Street and the Anchor and Hope, which I hear are very good (and may need to go on the List) and their ex-cook has gone on to work at the Canton Arms which I know first-hand is fabulous. So it has a high food pedigree.

When you go in, you see that half the bar is converted into a cooking area. Fresh bread is cut on the bar, and vegetables to be used in the dishes sit on top of it. The menu is chalked onto boards above this area, and you order and pay for the food at the adjacent part of the bar where you also get your drinks served. Normally when I eat somewhere, I try to have something different to everyone else so that we all try as much as possible. Not this time. Two steak sandwiches were ordered and I handed over my £20 (they’re £10 each). We already had a couple of drinks on the go which we finished off while waiting for the food. Very, very reasonable prices in here. My wine was actually less expensive than Stephen’s lager, which is almost unheard of in pubs these days. Granted, it was a medium (175 ml) glass but I think my point still stands.

As Stephen was waiting at the bar to order another round, the waiter came over and plonked our behemoth sandwiches down. He then noticed Stephen waiting and told him he would bring our drinks over as the food was served and clearly it wouldn’t do to let it get cold. I thought that was very thoughtful of him. Because there’s really only half a bar in this pub, any more than a few people waiting and it takes quite a long time to get served. Stephen asked about mustard but we were firmly told that we didn’t need any of that.

I think they were right. This is the best steak sandwich I’ve had in a long time. I can’t really think of a better one. I’m not saying it’s the best steak I’ve ever had, don’t get me wrong. But it’s the best way steak can be served in this form. It is sliced and cooked probably medium well. It comes in a crusty Portuguese-style (or so I think) roll and sits on a few large, robust lettuce leaves and is all doused in chimichurri sauce (again, I think), which gave it a very Latin American taste. It also made it quite slippery and difficult to eat, and you can tell that a firmer bread is necessary, as even with this one, by the end, the upper half was getting soggy.

It was actually bigger than I remembered. I took the approach of cutting it into three and then picking it up with my hands. Stephen’s method was a little more avant garde, deconstructing it and building it again in smaller pieces to eat his. I enjoyed every bite of mine. Before attempting my last third I asked Stephen if he would like some of it, but my greed got the better of me and I finished the whole thing. The only downside was that the crusty bread did cut my mouth a little. Maybe I have supersoft gums.

I’m not sure how crazy I am about the pub in general. There’s a wide range of people there – people having a drink after work, young girls sharing bottles of wine and bread and olives, and even families. It was all a bit chaotic and incredibly noisy. Not the place to go for a romantic drink, and I think if a drink is all I want I’d probably go to other places in the area. But it wasn’t a drink I was after, it was a steak sandwich and I was very much more than pleased with mine.

NB. The Shard laser show was a bit crap, but what did you expect? It was only the completion of a building, not the Queen's Jubilee or anything.

Vinoteca, 23rd November

This entry is actually found in the 'Drink' List but I ended up going for lunch here in order to celebrate the launch of an app I had been working on. We were dining on our company's dime and one of my colleagues suggested Vinoteca. I immediately seconded that suggestion as it was somewhere on my List and my other half had said the steak looked good every time he walked past and spied on the diners. 

We also happened to be going on my last week of work and so it was sort of a goodbye meal as well. Which made it feel even more apt that we take the chance to have a glass of wine - I mean, the place is called Vinoteca, clearly wine is something they should do well.

A couple of my co-diners had been there before and one of them recommended the steak. How could I refuse? So I had the bavette (served medium rare only) with amusingly named black trumpet butter, chips and smoked ketchup. For each meal they recommend a wine to accompany it, and, placing my faith in their wisdom, I went with their suggestion. Most of us in fact had the bavette, or the pork belly. One eschewed the meat peer pressure and went for langoustine. She asked if she could have some chips with it as it only came with a salad and was informed that 'they don't do that'. Tsk tsk, how dare she ask for some extra food! So that was a bit of a black mark for them.

But then the steak came and blotted out all memories of any slight lack in service. How can I describe it? I think this sums it up nicely: Mmmmmm mmm hhhhmmmmmmmhhhh. *gurgle*. Sooo good. The chips were amazing. The ketchup was indeed smoky and the butter I can only assume was properly trumpety considering they got everything else right.

Mmmm close up

I swapped with my friend a piece of my meat for a bit of pork belly and that was pretty amazing too. And they weren't shy in the portion size, nor did they serve up a bit of belly that was mostly fat. 

I think the only meal that was a little disappointing was the langoustines. They certainly looked impressive on the plate, with their long claws stretched across it, but there were only four or five of them and though they took as long to eat as our slabs of meat, they weren't anywhere near as filling for my colleague. I pitied her for her lack of chips. This is why I tend not to order shellfish - too much work for too little reward. Plus I find de-shelling them a bit gross.

I got a glimpse of Vinoteca's Christmas menu which was pretty mouthwatering. Especially the desserts. Something we didn't try when we were there. 

I'm no wine expert so I can't wax too lyrical about my glass other than to say it was eminently quaffable and put me in a wine drinking state of mind, which sadly I had to extinguish as we were going back to the office. 

I'm sure I will be back at some point when I can spend longer sampling some more vino varieties. 

Santa Maria del Buen Ayre, Tuesday 27th September

We hadn't managed to get to Shochu the night before and I desperately wanted to show Alison it's sleek glamour that made you feel like you were part of the elite (the steep cocktail price helps a lot with this as well) so we went for one in there before heading up to Hackney. We both of course had to go for cocktails with Shochu in them, I went for a Tanuki Peach (the green one, surprisingly) and I can't remember what Alison had! It was pink and fruity but mine was better!

I'd heard of The Dolphin as a bit of a late night Hackney party venue, so it was on my list, and very close to Buen Ayre, also on my list. It made sense to head there for one before going for dinner to see what it was like.

What it was like, was a dive. No one was in there and the jukebox karaoke they keep tweeting about was clearly not being used. But with a few more people in there I can imagine it could have a certain dishevelled charm to it. We only had one drink as we had to get to our reservation but I want to come back here, at a later time, maybe even on the weekend to see exactly what this place has to offer and give it a fair shot. They seem friendly and didn't scowl when Alison and I asked, like pretentious knobs, to try their house wine, or get miffed when we subsequently decided to order something else. Cider, if you're interested.

Anyway, off we went to Buen Ayre. This place has a sister restaurant in Clerkenwell (which is a little pricier and didn't get such good reviews) and is also possibly linked to the Santa Maria del Sur in Battersea. My boyfriend had been to that one and thought it was great, so we had high hopes for this one. I was not disappointed. It's right on Broadway Market and is quite small - you could easily walk past it and not know it's there. Someone had cancelled on me, so there were three of us not four, and we were asked if we minded moving to a smaller table. We didn't. Especially not with the food and service we received. We were waited on by a guy named Chico (I'm not making this up), an exuberant person of Latin descent (so exuberance came as standard). We all decided we had to have steak as that's what it is famous for, and we all went for the sirloin. Even though we suspected the portions would be sizable, we also ordered some empanadas to start. They were tasty but not the main event. We debated about how many portions of chips to order and Chico told us one each would be too much - go for one or two. We all really appreciated his honesty about that, and it was good advice. The steaks were massive (I couldn't picture what 14 oz actually translates to on a plate) and probably would have made a meal on their own. Not that I didn't appreciate the chips - they were great too, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. We got one portion plain and one with garlic and parsley.

Did I mention the steaks were massive? Massive and FANTASTIC! We all got medium rare and they were perfect for me. Nice char on the top, lovely and tender in the middle, and the chimichurri sauce didn't go amiss either. I couldn't eat all mine. Neither could Alison. My boyfriend, being the strapping lad he is, did finish his, but there were still chips going spare. We declined dessert. I think this is the best steak I've had in London and I'm placing it as #2 in my just now invented list of best steaks, behind the porterhouse at Peter Luger's which I don't think anyone will ever beat. Apologies for the very amateur photographs.

Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato