The Steak Exchange - Gary's review

Steak Club is always up for a challenge and with that in mind I welcome Andre’s spicing up of pre-drinks with a little game of hide-and-seek. His selection of Brasserie Rocque in Broadgate Circle is not the easiest to find for the uninitiated, and this resulted in quite a bit of somewhat aimlessly wandering around until I finally stumbled upon the cunningly hidden pub.

Fortunately I’d left enough of a time buffer and made it within the 15min cut-off to avoid further adding to my alarmingly high strafdop tally. Others were less fortunate, with both Stacy and Brad getting fined for late arrival.

A few pints later and Andre led us off to Steak Club’s first 2012 outing. Given the freezing temperatures, the walk felt like an expedition rather than the short four minute walk that it actually was. So it was a massive relief when we finally arrived at The Steak Exchange and got out of the cold.

The Steak Exchange as a venue is actually quite pleasant with décor suitable to a proper steakhouse, stylish in keeping with the corporate surroundings yet not too formal. Being a Friday night I was a little surprised that it wasn’t busier, but I guess that could be the effects of the cold weather keeping people at home.

The menu has all the basic cuts, but quite disappointing with the sizes on offer. I’d have expected larger versions on offer for some of the steaks (such as the sirloin). Brad even resorted to ordering two steaks to sate his hunger (and it says something that the waitress didn’t bat an eyelid at this request – it obviously happens fairly often).

For me though, it was to be the old faithful – a T-Bone, at a respectable 600g and ordered rare.

When my steak arrived, it was probably more bleu than rare to be honest. This didn’t really bother me, but might be a bit off-putting for others so its worth being cautious when ordering rare.

Unfortunately the quality of the steaks was a let-down, with none of us being too impressed with the meal. Very average with respect to taste, tenderness and texture so not too much to talk about sadly.

Our wine for the evening was the 2008 Mount Brown Pinot Noir to start with, followed by a 2010 E.S.Vino Malbec. The Pinot Noir was unfortunately relatively bland and I wouldn’t recommend it. Fortunately the Malbec was better (though not fantastic). I think Andre was just unfortunate as several of his wine choices were out of stock so he wasn’t able to order his first choice (which no doubt he had extensively researched beforehand!)

The waitress was a strong positive for the evening (Andre’s winning streak on the “waitress” category continues!). Not only was she a “she”, but also was friendly, attentive and was actually quite knowledgeable about steaks. Higher marks in this category would have been scored, had our waitress not waited until after we’d finished our meals to offer advice on which wine would have gone best with the steaks…

After the meal, we hopped into a taxi and headed to bar called “EV” near the Cut. There were big debts to pay off on the strafdop front, and EV pretty much only stocks the cheap stuff so nasty hangovers all around….

Steak = 5.5 x 5 = 27.5
Venue = 7
Menu = 6
Waitress = 7
Wine = 4
Value = 7
Total = 58.5

The Steak Exchange - Stacy's Review

After a 2 month break it was time for the first Steak Club of 2012 and Andre’s turn to kick off the New Year. We met for pre drinks at Brasserie Roque in Broadgate
Circle near Liverpool Street which sounded easy enough when I left work. Armed with my paper printout of the location I proceeded to get hopelessly lost given that the venue wasn’t on a road. Fortunately I found the place without having to call anyone, unfortunately I arrived after the strafdop curfew.

After a quick catch up and what felt like being in an episode of The Only Way is Essex it was time to head to the main feature. It was a chilly evening with the polar bears following us on Andre’s walking tour of the area he works in which ended at The Steak Exchange.

We happily entered a warm, inviting and pretty smartly decked out restaurant and were promptly shown to our table, the largest one for the evening. It felt a bit like Valentines evening with most tables being for two but I guess it changes depending on the bookings for the evening.

The menu had a good selection of cuts available but unfortunately weren’t flexible on the sizes we could order. This didn’t stop Brad who promptly ordered two cuts, the rump and the ribeye.

My approach to choosing what cut to go for this time around focused on what Andre was going to order as I would make sure I had something different. It seemed like the steak gods always seemed to favour him whenever I chose the same cut. Luckily he went for the T-bone which meant I could have the rib of beef which is what I had my eye on. I ordered it medium as I had been told this is the way it should be done when on the bone. It sounded like I chose well as everyone else didn't seem overly excited about their choices. Mine was pretty good although next time I won’t be swayed by the bone and will order it medium rare.

On the wine front we lucked out a bit with the first one being a NZ choice. It was quite light and almost tasted diluted. We were hopeful that the second choice for the night would be better but unfortunately it must have been a busy week as they were out of Andre’s favoured choice. After some time the third choice arrived being a Malbec which was better than the first but still not great. It probably would have helped if we had drunk it during the meal and not towards the end.

Andre once again delivered on the waitress front. We had a very good waitress who was very efficient, pleasant and knowledgeable and to top it all off she asked whether any of us had a Taste card which softened the blow of the bill. All in all very good service.

We decided to wrap things up before catching up on Strafdops so we caught a taxi and headed to EV’s near The Cut where all carry overs were cleared. We had quite a range of shooters and a good few beers before heading home so thankfully we had the weekend to recover.

I probably wouldn’t head back to the Steak Exchange and not sure if I would recommend it either but I guess it is always worth trying somewhere once, you never know, it could be a different experience on another night of the week. Nevertheless I had a good night and it was good to catch up with everyone.

Thanks Andre.

Steak = 6 x 5 = 30
Venue = 6
Menu = 6
Waitress = 8
Wine = 5
Value = 7
Total = 62

The Steak Exchange – Brad’s review

Our last steak club before this one seemed like and age due to Christmas holidays and the delay of getting a date in the diary we could all make. I was in one sense really looking forward to a good quality steak to remind why I love being part of the steak club so much, and in another sense rather nervous as we had loads of carry-over drinks and steak club was being hosted on a Friday.

Andre directed us to a pub in Broadgate Circle, which for some reason a few us struggled to find... including myself. Consequently, I was late for pre-drinks that just added to my nervousness that it was going to be a really large evening. For once, Warren wasn’t late, but was up for a big evening with at least 10 strafdops pending his consumption. After a few quick drinks, Andre walked us around the corner to a steak restaurant called ‘The Steak Exchange’, which just happens to be in sight from his office window (how convenient). Being smack bang in the middle of a lot of large corporate I was expecting high prices and hopefully really good quality.

The menu was quite extensive with most cuts expected covered, however they really lack many options of nice big cuts for guys wanting big steaks. After much deliberation, reviewing what the other guys had ordered, comparing size and price, I decided I would break the traditional mould of ordering and ordered two small cut steaks (A rib-eye and rump – to try different cuts and get the quantity desired). My rating for menu is 6.

The two cuts were SMALL alright. They were both rather tender, but lacked the taste and quality we have learned to expect from steak club. The other guys did not seem to be raving about their steaks either. The cooking methods seemed to be inconsistent and not exactly as per the order. Gary ordered his rare, as he tends to do, and in my opinion it was barely blue. The other steaks were overdone on the edges and underdone in the middle. Not up to the standard of other steak club reviews. My rating for steak is 5X5=25.

The first impression of the venue was positive. It has a nice stylish yet informal atmosphere. The one thing that they definitely got right was they had really nice big non-serrated steak knives. The rating for venue is 6.

The first wine Andre ordered was a 2008 Mount Brown Pinot Noir from New Zealand. I quite enjoyed it, but it was very light and probably not the best option for eating with steak though. The second wine was a 2010 Vino Malbec. This was quite a bit heavier (especially after priming the pallet with the previous wine), which I did not enjoy that much. Andre did however have to order 3 times before they could actually bring him a wine they had in stock. By the time the second wine actually arrived, most of us had almost completed our steaks, which defeats the point somewhat. The rating for Andre’s wines that eventually were available is 5.

Andre always seems to get waitresses. I think he requests them when he books the table. She was really good in my opinion. She was knowledgeable about the different steak cuts, including their characteristics (tenderness and flavour), and wines that complemented the different cuts (unfortunately the stock take abilities of the restaurant did not support her enthusiasm and advise). Before she brought the bill, she proactively asked us whether we have a Taste Card (even though this could potentially reduce her tip). My rating for waitress is 8.

And finally, the value of the evening actually turned out to be rather reasonable at only £56 per head. This however did not include shooters at the end of the evening, as they were too expensive, and they took the taste card which got us the cheapest steak free. The rating for value is 6.

Menu=5
Steak= 5x5=25
Venue=6
Wine=5
Waitress=8
Value=6
Total=55

The Steak Exchange - André's Review

For the second event running I played the part of Gary and turned up first at the pre-drinks. Although this time it wasn’t due to being unemployed with time to kill, it was due to me choosing a bar about 2 minutes away from my office and a pub that apparently was quite difficult to find for the other first timers at the pub.

The economic downturn was evident at the bar with less than usual number of gold diggers making the trip into the city with an overnight bag. Or maybe it’s just that their usual attire didn’t suit the artic conditions.

A few drinks and a few steak restaurant guesses later and we took a walk a couple of minutes to arrive at a very welcome indoor venue – the Steak Exchange.

Venue – 6
Anything away from the cold was a good venue that night (and most nights lately in this Siberian winter). The restaurant was pleasant with a highlight being it’s steak knives. Not serrated, which is where so many steak knives go wrong. Is it a sign that the knives are the standout point of a venue. I think this has more to do with the soon to be added knife category.

Menu – 6
The menu covered most cuts but didn’t allow for any changes in size to any of the orders. Brad got around this by ordering both the rump and the rib eye.

Waitress – 6.5
Again the overall score of a restaurant I have hosted (see that this is not a personal thing) will gain some credibility by the fact that we were served by a waitress. It seems to be a trend although I’d much rather the trend was for restaurant’s with great steaks. She was quite knowledgeable and did recommend a steak v wine match but only a little after the fact (see below).

Steak – 5.5
The 2 options it really boiled down to if you weren’t on a wedding diet was the 600 gram t-bone of the 400 gram rib of beef (effectively rib eye on the bone). Gary and I ended up going for the t-bone. I don’t know if Gary has spurned many t-bone opportunities if you look back through the archives. I don’t think it will be long before the first fillet is ordered and eaten. Stacy went for the rib of beef making sure that he didn’t order the same dish as me and get the overdone steak. Wassie went for the sirloin, which was a little on the small side but helped both his wedding diet and the overall value for the evening. Brad went for a combination of the rump and the rib eye, usually two separate orders. My t-bone was good in parts but overall lacked the caramelisation from lighly charring the outside and seemed like it had been standing too long before being served – maybe something to do with the cold evening. Hard to say which was the steak of the evening. I don’t think there was a standout steak.

Wine – 4.5
The first wine was a 2008 Mount Brown Pinot Noir from New Zealand. As great as New Zealand’s white wines are I will stick to South Africa the next time I decide on a Pinot Noir. I found this very watery but this did make it an easy wine to start off with. The second wine was a 2010 E.S.Vino Malbec. I’m still not sure if the Vino is actually part of the name or not. It was not a great wine but was better than the first. Unfortunately this wine was the 3rd choice after the first 2 were sold out. As a result of this the wine eventually arrived quite late so it didn’t help when the waitress said that the wine goes really well with the rump just as Brad had finished his rump!

Value – 8
A bill of £56 is definitely on the low end of a normal night out for Steak Club. But this value was helped by a number of things 1) Wassie on a wedding diet, 2) Brad’s taste card and 3) the restaurant not having the good (and expensive) bottle of wine I wanted for the main course.

Other:
• The sides were nothing to write home about.
• The “shooter” menu wasn’t priced worth staying for so we headed to EVs on the Cut near Southwark. I had a very frustrating time ordering a round of 4 pints, a Magners, 5 tequilas and 5 vodkas from an Italian guy with a language barrier. The guy next to me who courteously let me order first rued that decision for the next 15 minutes.
• Fortunately the barmen couldn’t make a flatliner so Gary and I were spared


Would I go again? Unlikely
Would I recommend it to a friend? No
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? No

Steak – 5.5 * 5 = 27.5
Venue – 6
Menu – 6
Waitress – 6.5
Wine – 4.5
Value – 8

Total – 58.5

Steak Club Map Updated

View Best Steak in London (thesteakclub.blogspot.com) in a larger map

Maze Grill - Wassie's Review

Gary was in the hot griddle seat for Steakvember and think he had it in for me from the start.  Pre-drinks were in Marlebone at the Golden Eagle Pub.  Twists and Turns, packed streets, impossible navigation on a Blackberry and I was 1 minute after the cut off time.  Brad was first to remind me that I was late, but was joined by a chorus with Stacy and Andre.  (Welcome back Andre, you have tall boots to fill after Roger brief taste of SC).  Enough time for a pint and then off for a taxi pickup, hopefully right outside the pub and Gary has a poor track record for making us work for our steak.  Tonight was no different with us walking back to Hyde Park before Gazza got to flag down a cab!  Gazza does have bad luck with cabs, but usually good luck with venue's so, we're in for a treat if this holds true.

A flight of stairs leads up to Maze Grill, just off Grosvenor Square.  Mands and I had been to the restaurant side of Maze before for a 7 course taster menu that was really good.  I'd been very keen to try out the grill side.  We were greeted warmly, handed in our coats and were taken through to our table.

Maze Grill is a modern finished elegant restaurant that's all about quality and service.  We were well impressed when the waitress handed Gazza an iPad that was the wine list!  We couldn't order using the iPad, but perhaps Maze will sort that out in 2012.  I'm late in my review, so it's best to get the wines we drank off "always first with his review Stacy".  I'll still give a good score to wine options and The App.

Again we've missed the opportunity to sit at the Chef's table that overlooks the kitchen.  We asked about the Chef's Table and it has an 8 course set menu - although it had steak as it's main cause, I couldn't see cinnamon doughnut and hot chocolate getting any points in a review.  One day we will get our Chef's Table.

As straight talking as Ramsey is, so is the Maze Grill menu.  Steak is the order of the day and they have steak from all corners of the globe...Casterbridge grain fed, Hereford grass fed, Aberdeen Angus grass fed, Creekstone prime U.S.D.A. corn fed, Wagyu ‘9th grade’ Gold style.  There are good options, but the sizes are quite limited, being 8 to 12oz only.  The rest of the menu goes a bit off piste from the steak with quail eggs, lobster, challots.

I ordered the Aberdeen Angus Rib eye 10oz for £30.00.  It was a really good choice and probably the order of the night.  I am getting good at that.  There weren't many offers initially for tasters of other members' steaks so I think everyone was pretty happy with theirs.

The clientele was quite interesting with a mix of very new money and older money.  It's not as expensive a you may think and came in at just over £70 per head.  This didn't include any shorts as they weren't flexible on offering a good deal to finish off the night.  They did however say we may be able to arrange something on the Maze Restaurant's side where there is a bar.

The waiter and waitresses (as we had various at our table) were friendly and attentive.  When we said we were interested in their steaks, they brought out a raw steak board for us to peruse.  I did get a surprised look from one of the waiters when I returned from a convenience break to sit down at our table ready to eat only to find that my steak knife was dirty.  This was most odd as I removed it from a paper sleeve to find oil on it.  I looked over at the other guys and theirs was fine.  When I complained to the waiter, the rest of the table couldn't hold it any more and the pranksters gave up that they'd rigged it!

Steak – 7.5 x 5 = 37.5 (could have larger size options)
Venue = 7 (what you'd expect from a Ramsey restaurant, but personally like a more raw steak feel to my SC nights)
Menu = 7
Wine = 7
Value for money = 7
Waitress = 7


Total = 72.5


Go to Maze Grill if you want a good steak, restaurant your misses will like, and everyone the next day to ask whether the fowl mouthed celeb was there.

Maze Grill - Gary's Review

One of the best things about Steak Club is finding a hidden gem of a restaurant – a venue serving great steaks that none of us had previously heard of. Nevertheless, we can’t very well claim to be Steak Club if we ignore the big names amongst the steak establishments. And so it was that I chose Maze Grill for Steakvember’s venue.

Steakvember was to be extra special as we welcomed Andre back to the fold following three months of South American adventures.

The usual last minute online search of pubs in the vicinity yielded up the Golden Eagle. Its quite a small pub. But fortunately it wasn’t too full and we were able to find space inside. For once, I managed to time it well and wasn’t the first to arrive – that “honour” fell to Andre. But yet again, Wassie decided to score himself a free strafdop by arriving late - well after to 15 minute grace period (maybe he’s keen to rack up the straffies as practice for his bachelors?)

For some reason I was expecting the Maze Grill to be quite formal, and was a little wary of this. It turned out to be definitely quite classy but still maintained a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Upon arriving we were certainly not starved for attention, with three friendly staff greeting us, taking care of coats and backpacks and showing us to our table.

The return of Andre to Steak Club clearly was clearly an omen – usually we end up with male waiters when its my turn to host but this time we were served by a French waitress. She was very friendly and attentive and quickly caught our attention by bringing out a display of cuts and talking us through each steak on offer.

There is a wide selection of steaks, in terms of origin, grass-fed / grain-fed / corn-fed, aging etc so certainly no complaints about the menu.

I chose a medium rare Creekstone rib-eye (corn fed and aged 35 days) and thought it was a superb steak. I wouldn’t go as far as to say this was the best I’ve ever had but it was definitely delicious, with great flavour, texture and tenderness. After sampling the other SC members steaks, I’d definitely recommend the Creekstone rib-eye.

Forest Whitaker is apparently in the employ of Maze Grill as the sommelier – a nice touch is that they give you an iPad to select your wines instead of the usual wine menu. Unfortunately they do want it back much to my disappointment. To start with I went with the Bianchi Malbec which is a great wine – a perfect companion for the steaks. The Izadi El Rigalo Riocha was the second wine of the night – a good wine but perhaps not as good as the previous Malbec.

“Value” is always going to be difficult category for a place like Maze Grill. The pricing is certainly not cheap but I do think that Maze Grill offers that premium experience. All-in-all I can’t really complain at £71 per person (though I was unable to negotiate any good deals on shooters)

I have no hesitation in recommending the Maze Grill and without doubt would like to go back there. Another great evening – thanks guys!

Steak – 7 * 5 = 35

Venue – 8

Menu – 8

Waitress – 7

Wine – 7

Value – 6

Total – 71.5

Maze Grill - Stacy's Review

It was Gary’s turn to host the November edition of the Steak Club which coincided with welcoming Andre back to the fold after 3 months of travelling. Given that we are all mates and that Andre had been unemployed and backpacking I was expecting (and Andre desperately hoping for) Gary to look for a venue that scored highly on the value front. Gary being the good mate he is opted instead to protect his reputation and decided that we would be dining at the one and only Maize Grill on Grosvenor Square.

Our pre-dinner drinks were held at the Golden Eagle in Marylebone. Given the location it wasn’t what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised as it was a small traditional pub on the corner of a quiet lane. It wasn’t overly busy so we were able to organise a table and catch up over a couple of drinks. I am getting tired of sounding like a stuck record but once again Wassie’s watch wasn’t working and he arrived after the pre-drinks cut-off time...another needless Strafdop.

After a shortish cab ride we arrived at Mr Ramsay’s offering to the steak gods. Things started off well when we seemed to each have someone assigned to us to take our coats and check on our booking. After checking in we were taken through to the restaurant which I was pleasantly surprised by. I guess with it being a Ramsay restaurant and having such a reputation I thought it might be very posh and pretentious but to the contrary it was stylish in a minimalist sort of way with a relaxed vibe. There is also a special area called the Butchers Block (aka the Chef’s table) which would have been great to celebrate Andre’s return but probably just as well for our wallets we didn’t.

When it came to ordering our steak, in addition to the menu, we were presented with a smorgasboard of all the steak cuts available which included a Waygu cut (Interesting to see the differences in marbling). The menu was very good with the usual variety of cuts but with a great range of meat from different areas and different ages. I went for the Aberdeen Angus grass fed 28 day aged Ribeye. Given the reputation of the restaurant I was expecting to be blown away by my steak which unfortunately didn’t happen. That said it was still a very good steak with great flavour but maybe my expectations were just too high.

On the wine front both bottles we had were good but the first one (Bianchi Malbec) was the clear favourite for me.

On the waitress front we had a nice French girl serve us with the occasional appearance of Forest Whitaker. Our waitress was very pleasant and attentive and let us get on with our meal without too much disruption. Taking into account the personal assistant at the front door we were looked after very well.

When we realised we were dining at Maze Grill I think we all swallowed quite hard and the £ signs started to flash. The story of the clubs dinner at The Palm sprang to mind but we didn’t need to worry as the bill came to a respectable £71. Still expensive but reasonable by the clubs standards. This was helped in part by not having any shooters.

Moment of the evening has to be Wassie’s “oiled knife” and even my blatant repeated comment of “my knife is so clean and shiny I can see myself in it” didn’t help him smell a rat.

We had our usual post dinner drinks at a pub in the area but for once the Strafdops didn’t make an appearance so our next meeting could be quite heavy with fines and celebratory drinks carried over.

One disappointment for the evening was no appearance by Mr Ramsay and not even the rants and outbursts from the kitchen I have seen so many times on TV. This might be a reason to go back and visit again although I’d probably head back to try the Creekstone Ribeye that Garry & Wassie had. I would recommend the restaurant to others.

Thanks Gary.

Steak = 6.5 x 5 = 32.5

Venue = 8

Menu = 8

Waitress = 7

Wine = 7

Value = 5.5

Total = 68