Roger's Review - The Door

It was a treat and a pleasure to receive a special guest invite from Brad to The Steak Club, my first such outing into the world of steak appreciation - and a very enjoyable one at that, despite experiencing one of the worst hangover's on record the next day following calls for extravagant tequila consumption at the end of the evening. My alter-ego 'Frank the Tank's surprise birthday drinks gathering resulted in me being banished to the spare room on the home front....I blame 'Frank' for my downfall, but it's in the past and I'll get used to my new room : let's get onto the important matters - a review.

I had heard about 'The Steak Club' from Brad during social gathering's but must admit I didn't realise how much time and effort the members were putting into this, so was impressed looking at the blog site as to how many venues had already been covered and the extent to which the club was ensuring that it kept going with the blog and purpose of the club. The quality of reviews are certainly at a high level. The ratings system and ranking table make interesting viewing, having myself not been to many of the previously rated venues. So as a guest invitee, I want to congratulate the guys on what they have achieved so far with this club - it's impressive, well done.

The evening kicked off in a bar near Burough market by London Bridge with a few well deserved ales in the outside evening air. After my second pint, I already felt warmly welcomed into the fold as the new guest, and it was good to see some faces I hadn't seen in years - but these impressions were quickly put in their place by a stupid question on my part and what I assume to be Steak Club guest rule one: never assume you are anything more than a guest, and certainly don't ask to be a fully fledged member at your first gathering. Doh! Point taken - no harm done.

Having left the bar and jumped into a cab over to Bank (a clever decoy on Brad's part), we arrived at The Door which was our venue for the evening. It's a convenient 2 minute walk from Bank station which is a plus for anyone getting there by tube, or who works in the city. The venue itself has been decorated to a very high standard and is immediately impressive on entering the front door as you are greeted by a warm, cosy and sophisticated atmosphere. The bar with it's backdrop of floor to ceiling optics and bottles was unique, and the layout though on the smaller side did not feel crowded. The staff welcome was fine but not outstanding or standout in nature, just enough not to require passing critical comment. I really like the venue though so my rating is a very respectable 8.5 (which takes account of errors on the part of the service though this is also reflected in the waitress rating).

The starter steak of Waygu at £42 a pop was a let down. Yes, it was tasty and juicy and obviously worked on in terms of preparation but a little on the fatty side for my liking, and over priced for the overall taste experience. For a main I ordered the Sirloin which again was not as tasty or tender as I would have expected or hoped for from that cut of meat. It was a tad bland and lacked that 'zest' that goes with a really great steak. So all considered I have to give the meat experience, the main focus of the club of course, a very average 6. Coupled with the eating experience was a very nice (well chosen by Brad) Malbec red wine that although not at the top of the Malbec tree was enjoyable and pretty good value. The wine lifted the evening's gastronomic experience and gets a credible rating of 7.5 in my books.

The menu for the evening was well presented and it's simple layout and uncluttered feel made it a pleasure to order from, but the pricing was on the expensive side which is fine for this area (being the heart of the city) and top market segment they are targeting, but then you have to deliver on service and top quality food to match which was not the case. So my menu rating is 8 but value for money is a 5.

Last but not least, the waitron rating: well, given that we had a male waitron, which was disappointing for a boys only evening (and I make no apologies for any sexual bias on that front), he was pleasant enough, friendly and informative. Though he lost us for a while when one of the orders was mixed up, it was the manner and style in which the situation was recovered that impressed and ultimately made up for any mistake. A bottle of wine on the house was a nice touch. Often how a restaurant recovers from a mistake can be as important, if not more so, than good service itself. I'm therefore giving a waitron rating of 8 on this occassion for a tricky situation handled well.

In summary, a very enjoyable social event and I want to thank the regular members again for inviting me along to experience their club. Though the after dinner drinks and 'strafdops' session was perhaps a bridge too far for most of us ('Frank the Tank' enjoyed his birthday) it didn't detract from a fun evening - and nor did the slightly disappointing quality of the steaks.

The Door is a high end place with obvious top end of the market ambitions and high society credentials, definately worth a visit. But they do need to bring the quality of steaks up to their lofty pricing standards and, given the standards and choices available from competition in this part of the city, they better do it fast.

Venue = 8.5
Wine = 7.5
Steak = 6 (x 5) = 30
Menu = 8
Value = 5
Waitress = 8
Total = 67