And so it came to pass, that in those days a decree was sent out by my boss that we should go to the Hawksmoor to eat our weight in beef. All out 2010 events have been and gone, most have been paid for and it was high time we had something that wasn’t a Pret, Eat or Tesco sandwich for lunch! We duly informed the boss’s boss that we may not be returning after lunch, and at 2pm we trundled out of the restaurant and off to Hawksmoor.
In we went and were hit with the mouth-watering smell of steak. We’d looked a the menus before going and I don’t mind telling you that I was somewhat intimidated by the size of the cuts of meat on offer. I’m greedy but with the smallest cut of meat being 300g I was worried. This worry and intimidation was totally unfounded – more on the meat later.
First up was a rather tasty bottle of Thienot Brut that readied our appetites for the meaty wonders that awaited us. At 2.30 the-day-before-the-day-before Christmas the place was heaving and extremely noisy. I feel I should mention (for no particular reason) that the ratio of men to women was extremely out of whack. It is a steak restaurant so the ratios are always going to be a little off but with cuts of meat at 1.1kgs you’re always going to get more men than women.
Our steaks arrived, mine a rib-eye and the others’ rumps. We opted for a pot of ‘Triple-cooked chips’ each and a couple of pots of brocoli between us. I went for Bearnaise, my colleague; Hollandaise with Stilton and my boss; peppercorn. The only low point in this entire list was the peppercorn sauce which was more like gravy and not the creamy sauce that we were all expecting. My steak was utterly divine, it was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. Just thinking about it makes me hungry even though I’ve just had lunch. If I could have made one change I would have ordered the Beef dripping chips.
Lunch came to about 100 quid between 3 of us. We didn’t, I repeat, didn’t have any red wine, so that saved us about £30. But I did discover that Champagne and steak go really really well together.
I would highly recommend Hawksmoor – it’s been hyped up and lives up to the hype. The steaks are scrumptious and the atmosphere fantastic. Well worth a visit – if you can find it.
We’ve yet to make it to Hawksmoor ourselves. Although there is so much hype about the place, I don’t find the prospect off-putting. I mean, how off-putting can a huge melt in your mouth ribeye be? I’m writing this comment feeling ever-so-slightly sorry for myself after getting ill but this just about made me feel hungry again! Steak with champagne though, can’t say I’ve tried it but I assume a robust pinot-noir centric little number would do the trick.
It was really good, and the meat from The Ginger Pig is utterly gorgeous!
Get Well soon Keith, hope you’re better in time to have a fab New Year.