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