The Steak Club

The Steak Exchange - André's Review

2012-02-02T23:32:00.001Z

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

2012-01-02T21:26:00.000Z

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

Maze Grill - Wassie's Review

2012-01-02T20:56:00.001Z

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

2011-12-14T22:17:00.004Z

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

2011-12-08T00:00:00.002Z

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

Maze Grill - Brad's Review

2011-12-05T22:20:00.001Z

The hardest part of being part of the steak club is getting the reviews in as soon as possible after the night out. In fact I dread having to write the reviews, but can’t wait until the next steak club event. It was Gary’s chance to organise the event again and he asked us to meet at a rather small pub just north of Bond Street called the Golden Eagle. It was a little local pub that was quite relaxed and cozy. The strange thing though is that they don’t accept credit or debit cards. Good thing I had some cash in my wallet. Anyway, I arrived second after Andre, who obviously was getting bored at home after his long travels. Gary and Stacy both arrived quite soon afterwards and got in on the first round. As usual, Warren was late! He is really building up a nice backlog of strafdops against his name, especially now that the strafdops from this event have been transferred... Glug!

We then caught a cab who took us a few blocks away to the well known Maze Grill – Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant. It is a rather posh stylish restaurant that has managed to get the balance right between class and a relaxed environment. This is a steak venue that has been on the optional steak club venue list for quite a few of for some time, but was always going to be one that needed to match quality to the high prices. A bit of a gamble on Gary’s part. My score for the venue is an 8.

The menu (well the steak menu anyway) was quite nicely structured by cut, corn or grass fed cows and aging. They even had 2 options of Wagyu. The waitress brought out the meat board to show us the uncooked steak options available on the menu (which is a nice touch). The one thing it missed that would have made it a great steak menu, is the option of some bigger cuts (the biggest is 12oz). My score for the menu is an 8.

As usual the host orders everything but our steaks. Gary started us off with a nice smooth and light Bianchi Malbec. This was really nice. The second red wine for the evening was a slightly heavier Izada el Regalo Rioja. For my palette, I preferred the first wine, but I tend to prefer lighter smoother wine with less of an after kick. My score for the wines of the evening is 7.

Normally Andre is the king of getting good waitresses, however this time Gary did well. We had a nice young French Lady serving us. She was very polite, attentive and timely in here service. There was an incident a few tables away from us where one of the waiters lost control of a bottle of wine, which crashed to the ground and splashed on a few guests’ jackets and trousers. I suppose accidents do happen..... And it wasn’t our nice French Waitresses doing so didn’t affect the rating. My rating for waitress is 7.

We all ordered our steaks, which turned out to be a wide spread across the ages. Gary and I went for a Creekstone, corn fed, 35 day rib-eye, which seemed to be the choice option of the evening. Gary ordered the sides. The chips were a bit light in portion size and the spinach and feta side was great. When our steaks arrived, Warren had left the table to go to the little boy’s room. Andre decided he wanted to play a prank on Warren. The knives were presented to the tables in a cardboard sheath. So we took Warren’s knife out, wiped it on his steak and put it back into the sheath. When Warren arrived back, we all proceeded to cut into our steaks to take our first tasting. Warren took his knife out of the sheath and then took a long look at his knife and had a bewildered look on his face. He looked around at the rest of us, took an eagle eye look at my knife, then asked the waiter for a new knife. When Andre stopped the waiter from getting another knife, and explained what had happened, Warren had a small chuckle and replied that, ‘Oh, I thought that they had oiled the knife’. This might go down in the Steak Club book of classics... along with other great comments like Stacy looks like a referee and not a rugby player. My steak was very nice but not exceptional. It was well favoured and relatively tender, so a good steak in the greater scheme of things, but not the best I have had. My rating for the steak is a 7.

And now for the final review criteria, value. My preconceived perception of Maze Grill was that it would be expensive. It was not excessive at £71 per head, relative to the other good steak restaurants we have been too. However, the steaks were smaller than normal and we did not have any shots to chase the steaks like we normally do. My rating for value is 5.

Thanks Gary for a lovely evening. I am glad I have now been to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.
Would I recommend it to others? Definitely, with the caveat that it is rather pricey.
Would I go back? Yes, but probably only for a special occasion.

Venue: 8
Menu: 8
Wine: 7
Waitress: 7
Steak: 7x5 = 35
Value: 5
Total = 70

Maze Grill - André's review

2011-11-29T15:38:00.003Z

I now know how Gary feels arriving early at the pre-drinks venue. But then being unemployed (a theme I’ll return to) means I had to make sure that I was there first to prevent any kind of valid ridicule that would have followed if I hadn’t been first.

We ended up at the Golden Eagle pub in a rather posh Marylebone-ish area. Fortunately the tiny pub emptied a little before everyone else arrived and we managed to find some space and eventually a table to cluster around. I’ve been advised many times by my shoulder doctor and physio not to drink while recovering from my shoulder op and to date have been very good about this. On steak night I couldn’t not drink the red wine but did manage to avoid other drinks on the evening. Obviously this comes with the usual banter and looks. Part and parcel.

Despite my earlier pleas in the day to go to an unemployed budget matching restaurant like the Cattlegrid a not so short cab ride later Gary had us dropped off outside the Maze Grill! Nice one Gazza. Time to start calling in those lines of credit until my first pay day in January sometime. It’s going to be a lean Christmas.

Venue – 8
The venue is really good. Even if three people to take your coat and confirm your booking at the reception is a bit of overkill. Would have scored higher if we’d had the chefs table, even though the main man himself was away at his central kitchen somewhere. Good presentation of steaks on boards with good knives (despite being serrated).

Menu – 7
Very good cross selection of meat sources and feed (i.e. grass or corn fed beef) but a little lacking in the size selection

Waitress – 6
We were served by a French waitress from St Tropez for the greater part of the evening with the exception of the sommelier and his Forrest Whitaker in his younger days look-alike assistant. She did well enough and did bring out a meat board before we ordered but we didn’t exactly ask too many testing questions so her extent of steak knowledge remains untested.

Steak – 6.5
With the exception of a tough market bought home cooked rump steak and an Alpaca steak somewhere in the south of Peru this was the only steak I’d had for the last 4 months. You’d expect me to then score any piece of roadkill put on my plate very highly given the law of diminishing marginal utility. But that wasn’t the case. We had spoken so much in the last year about who was finally going to take us to Maze Grill that our expectations by now were really high. This cancelled out any steak abstinence over the last few months. I ordered the bone in rib eye (medium). The non-fatty meat was very tasty with the correct texture but for a rib eye the amount of surrounding fat (not the usual marbling) was startling. Not something I’d expect at a restaurant of this reputation. Gary and Brad ordered the Creekstone rub eye and these were the steaks of the evening (even when cooked rare!). My rating would have been better if I’d ordered one of these.

Wine – 7.5
The first wine was a Bianchi Malbec and I thought was very good and not too heavy to start with. The second wine we had was an Izada el Regalo Rioja and not up to the same standard as the Malbec. In hindsight the order of these wines would have been changed.

Value – 6
A bill of £71.10 is not terrible but then this didn’t include any shooters, pre-drinks, starters etc. However, I did expect an evening at the Maze Grill to burn more of a hole in the pocket than that.

Other:
• My memory of the evening will be of Wassie staring at his ‘clean’ steak knife that had just come out of a cardboard sheath on his steak board only to find that it had grease on both sides of the knife already. Unknown to Wassie, when the steak arrived while he was away from the table we (well Gary at my insistence) had rubbed the knife on the steak and returned to the cardboard sheath. Wassie’s face was hilarious and looked at his knife then looked at Brad’s to see if this was normal for them to ‘oil the knife’ – Wassie’s own words. We did have to stop him when he asked the waiter why he had been given a dirty knife.
• Shooters and celebratory drinks postponed to another evening…
• The spinach and feta side order was good but the chips were a little on the stingy side

Would I go again? Yes, to try another steak this time
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Hmm, not so sure

Steak – 6.5 * 5 = 32.5
Venue – 8
Menu – 7
Waitress – 6
Wine – 7.5
Value – 6

Total – 67

A La Cruz - Gary's review

2011-11-08T21:33:00.003Z

The Occupy Wall Street offshoots seem to be the current flavour of the month at the moment. Not to be outdone, Steak Club was directed by Stacy (to whom the Steaktober hosting honours fell) to occupy the Old Bank of

England

at Fleet Street for our own brand of protest.

Its quite a large venue with very smart décor reminiscent of the old heady days of high finance. Drinks are not the cheapest there but this seems to be a common theme in London at the moment (inflation at pubs definitely seems to be significantly above the national average right now!)

Wassie seems to be struggling to learn his lesson and again arrived later than the agreed upon 15min tolerance, adding to his already high strafdop tally.

A La Cruz itself seemed to be well off the beaten track, so when we jumped out the cab I initially thought that Stacy had made a mistake with the address. This impression wasn’t helped by some local hoodies staging their very own re-enactment of the August riots down the road.

However, inside the venue it was a different story!

The restaurant theme is dominated by an indoor firepit (and who doesn’t love a firepit!!!) behind a protective glass wall, with meat slowly roasting proudly on display. A sight to behold for any meatlover!

The indoor fire does mean that it is rather warm inside, which is great for winter but I’m not sure how pleasant this will be in the height of summer.

The menu has a good selection of steak options (both in terms of cuts and sizes), as you’d expect from an Argentinean steakhouse. I decided to go with the Cuadri (a 400g rump) rare. This turned out to be a great choice – surprisingly tender for a rump and very tasty. Despite that, I regret not being a little more adventurous and perhaps should have given the Parrilladas option.

On the wine front, Stacy started us off with the La Linda Malbec and followed up with a Tapiz Syrah (both 2009 options). The Malbec was a juicy light wine and a good introduction to the meal. My preference though was for the Syrah – a more fuller tasting wine. Special thanks go to Wassie for kindly modelling for the wine photos (see below)

Unfortunately, we had a waiter rather than waitress serve us so this category isn’t going to score well. A glitch or two in the service around the side orders doesn’t help either. Not a complete disaster by any means though…

To end the scoring on a positive note, the evening came to just under £50 a person, so definitely value for money!

All in all, I have no hesitations in recommending A La Cruz – a great evening out! Thanks Stacy!

Steak = 35
Venue = 7
Menu = 7
Wine = 8
Value for money = 8
Waitress = 4

Total = 69

A La Cruz (Farringdon) – Wassie’s Review

2011-11-01T22:23:00.000Z

Steakober it was and Stacy would be hosting this one. We were meeting in Fleet Street at The Old Bank of England. En route I past 2 steak restaurants, so had a feeling we’d be at one of those after the pre-drinks. The pub was a typical over the top bankers place, however always good to try something new. I arrived more than 15 minutes late, probably 16 and was welcomed with calls for a strafdop. Some things are hard to change. Roger came off the bench for Andre a second time and joined Gazza, Stacy, Brad and me for another adventure – perhaps we’ll have another lucky shooter at the end of the night.

Into a cab and Stacy took us on a tour of London, not to the places I’d seen around the corner, but off to Northampton Road in Farringdon. The nearest tube is Angel and is just over 10 minute walk. The cab dropped us outside and it’s in quite a remote area. A group of youths (can’t believe I’m starting to refer to kids as youths now!) were getting rowdy outside so we shuffled in quickly. It’s probably best to be dropped in a cab as close to the door as possible!

A La Cruz is a quite a large venue with ground floor, first floor and a gala room. The Argentinean Restaurant has a modern finish and one of the best features I’ve seen in all my years in Steak Club… an indoor open fire, well more like bonfire, with a glass shield between the tables and the coals. It reminded me of Bathurst Ox Braai as large lamb and beef cuts (over a meter in length) were proudly displayed next to the flames. Great start.

Stacey wasted no time and the waiter brought around the Malbec, La Linda. Really good wine to start and went down like a home sick mole. Definitely recommend it. With the meal came the Tapiz Syrah – more average.

Standard Sirloin, Rib-eye, Rump and Fillet options were available in 250g and 400g options (between £17 and £25). Something else however caught my eye, the Parrilladas mixed grill. As this is for 2 people, Stacy was happy to share the A La Cruz Parrilladas with 400g Sirloin, 400g Rib-Eye, with pork sausages, black pudding and cheese. This bad boy was £28 per person and well worth it. I remembered from pervious Argentinean outings that the mixed grill is served on a hotplate with coals underneath – our waiter confirmed that this would be the case here. This keeps the steak hot during the meal, but you need to order one level more rare than you’d usually have as the steak will keep cooking. We had the Rib-eye first (medium rare) and the Sirloin (rare) thereafter – it worked perfectly. The Rib-eye was a bit tough, but the Sirloin was fantastic. Complemented with black pudding that was second to none, this was a great meal.
* I must find out why there are two types of Argentinean, those with mixed grills and those with the option of having eggs on your steak, but never both options at 1 restaurant? *

We could have done with a waiter and also could have had all of our sides delivered without asking, so the waiter’s not getting a high score here.

Total came to £46 per head for 5.

The manager was quite chatty when we were off and I believe it’s quite a new restaurant. It’s got big potential and I look forward to another outing there in future.

As the shooters at the restaurant were so expensive (and they only give us a small discount) we headed off a few blocks up the road for a whiskey on the rocks and strafdops.

Steak – 7.5 x 5 = 37.5 (if the rib-eye was as good as the sirloin, this would have been higher)
Venue = 7 (Fire pit and size great, location not)
Menu = 8.5 (really good with all steak options, and a variety of Parrilladas)
Wine = 7.5
Value for money = 8
Waitress = 4

Total = 72.5

Go to A La Cruz for a good Argentinean, that can cater for large numbers and fantastic Parrilladas.

A La Cruz – Brad’s Review

2011-10-21T21:41:00.003+01:00

I entered this steak club meeting with vivid memories of a tray of white spirits that led to terrible headaches (for all of us). What scared me more is that the guys did not learn from this and we all got our reviews in late again. Luckily mine was only 1 week late, so only one compulsory penalty strafdop for me.

Stacy chose a really nice old traditional pub called The Old Bank of England on Fleet Street. It is a grand old pub, with high ceilings..... and very expensive beers. When did 2 pints of Peroni start costing almost £10? As usual Gazza was first. I arrived 2nd, closely followed by Stacy and Roger. Warren is starting a new trend, being the last to arrive at drinks....again. You would think that entering this steak club with 4 strafdops already accumulated, he would have been on time. Nope... he was more than 15 minutes late again. That means 5 strafdops. Oh no.... At this stage I was starting to have flashbacks from the previous steak club and the dreaded long next day at work.

As per the tradition, we all jumped into a cab and Stacy escorted us to our secret destination. Stacy, again seemed to drive us miles to a remote venue. Stacy discovered a well hidden little Argentinean Steak Restaurant in Farringdon, called A La Cruz. It had a nice simple vibey relaxed decor’ and a nice original touch to have a spat-cock type split BBQ (braai) over coals on display behind a wall of glass.

Rog left ‘Frank’ at home. I think he was still licking his wounds from his first Steak Club evening out. He did however have a hilarious realisation during the evening that he had left ‘Frank’ at home alone with his better half. What was Frank getting up to in Rogers absence? As usual, he had us in hysterics over some of his antics.

Voting time: I made a suggestion to keep Rog as a regular, which means we would increase our membership to 6 members. This poses a minor issue with cabs, however the new cabs can now carry 6 passengers.

Don’t forget to vote boys: ‘Yes’ for him to join, ‘No’ for him to be an option for an invitation if someone leave the membership.

It is amasing how Andre’ always seems to get the highest scores for Waitress. I recon he scout’s out his venues beforehand and ensures that they either have loads of waitresses or ensure they are working on the steak evening night. Tell us the secret, Andre’? Will this trend continue now that he is an engaged man? Anyway, back to the point... Stacy again failed in the waitress category as we had a hairy Argentinean Man serving us. The service was good, but as tradition goes the Waitress Scores = 5.

Stacy ordered two bottles of wine, the first was a Malbec, La Linda. This was a rather light wine but very easy to drink and smooth. The second was a 2009 Tapiz Syrah. This was also good, but was slightly heavier, but still smooth. Wine scores: 7.5

The menu was less steak focused than most of the places we have been to in the past, but they still had a reasonable choice of cuts and 2 sizes per steak. There were also two combo options to share, which Warren and Stacy actually went for. It was called Parrilladas, which came with 2 pork sausages, 2 black puddings and 2 400g cuts of Sirloin and Rib-eye. It is served to the table still on coals, so a bit of advice is to order it slightly less cooked than you would normally have it, as it continues to cook at the table. My menu score = 6.

I went for a 400g rib-eye, which was nice and tasty but tough compared to the last 4-5 steak club venues. The guys all seemed to enjoy their steaks, but I got the feeling that the quality was good but not fantastic (relative other top steak venues). My steak score = 5.5 x 5= 27.5

The steak, as mentioned above is not the best I have had, however it was certainly very good when you look at the price for the entire evening. The bill came to £46 per head which is the cheapest we have had by about £15, which makes my average steak more palatable and acceptable. My score for Value = 8.

Is La Cruz a place I would recommend? Yes. However, If you are looking for the best steak in London, this is not your venue. However, if you are looking to go out for a good quality meat feast with a vibey atmosphere, that won’t cost the earth then it is a steak restaurant worth trying. My score for the venue = 7.

As usual, we always have to end the evening with a night cap. I had already had my 1 strafdop, so I was just tagging along for a nice final social pint to close off the evening. Warren however had different plans. Another clear spirit / water roulette arrived and unfortunately I chose a horrible clear vodka and some of the guys who were still due strafdops fines got off lightly. C'est la vie...

Total = 61

A La Cruz - Stacy's Review

2011-10-18T22:51:00.003+01:00

It was my turn to host Steak Club once again and so it was time to put into practise the lessons I had learnt from my first evening as host.

We met for pre-drinks at the Old Bank of England on Fleet Street with Wassie arriving just past the 15min curfew. This is developing into a trend which I am okay with seeing that I was always the one who arrived last but unfortunately for Wassie it meant another strafdop was added to his already significant tally of 5. The pub was a grand venue both in terms of its size and prices with a beer costing £4-5. Despite this the place was busy but there was sufficient space for us to take over our own little area. Roger “Frank the Tank” Dietrich attended his second evening as a guest in the absence of Andre, and it was a pleasure having him along again despite Roger forgetting to invite Frank along.

It was time to see if I had learnt lesson #1 “Don’t organise pre-drinks too far from the restaurant especially if you have to catch a cab through central London”. Well we exited the pub and the timing couldn’t have been better as an empty cab was sitting in the traffic outside. We all piled in, unfortunately for me I felt like Pat Lambie at hooker, sitting between Gary and Roger, one of the golden rules of catching a cab that I haven’t mastered yet. The cab ride thankfully didn’t last very long so I think I can say I learnt my lesson.

Lesson #2 “It is preferable to be dropped outside the restaurant to avoid any unnecessary panic”. I had a little flutter of the panic and the same sense of dread I experienced on my first evening as host when the cab seemed to drive away from all the action of the high streets and took a couple of turns down some very quiet and almost dodgy looking streets before stopping in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The cab driver announced that we had arrived and I immediately had an OMG! Where the hell are we moment. It was only a matter of seconds though before I realised that we were right outside the restaurant so the panic was thankfully short lived.

We were greeted at the restaurant by a group of hooded youths who were acting out a session of WWE Raw, or at least I think they were acting. We weren’t going to hang around to check so we quickly entered the restaurant and were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant was laid out and decorated quite simply but with an air of refinement. We were seated in the more relaxed informal section of the restaurant in view of the open fire pit (Asador) that is a unique feature of the restaurant.

The menu had a respectable selection of cuts that you would normally expect to find but one item in particular caught Wassie’s eye which was the A La Cruz Parrilladas. This consisted of 2 x 400g cuts of beef with pork sausages and black pudding so needless to say I didn’t need to be asked twice and agreed to share this.

As part of the Parrilladas our steak was served on a small hot grill which meant that the steak continued to cook at the table. As a result we ordered a medium rare rib-eye and a rare sirloin. The rib-eye was unfortunately a little on the tough side but it made up for this with great flavour. The sirloin on the other hand was quite bland in comparison but was very tender so both steaks had their pro’s and con’s. The black pudding was particularly good but I wasn’t a fan of the pork sausages which seemed to have a lot of walkie talkie gristly bits.

On the wine front we had a La Linda Malbec to start which had a light but very fruity taste with a distinct after taste. It was a good wine to start with and seemed to go down pretty well. The second wine which we had with the meal was a Tapiz Syrah which I personally preferred. It was a much smoother wine which wasn’t too overpowering so it was the perfect accompaniment for the steak.

Unfortunately the restaurant employed only one waitress who did briefly help serve our food so needless to say I am not expecting the ratings to be generous. The ratings would be helped though if the service from the waiter was top drawer but unfortunately he didn’t really come through for us. He wasn’t particularly attentive so I unfortunately had to check with him a couple of times on orders that seemed to be taking their time. At one point we had started eating our steaks but the sides were nowhere to be seen. When I enquired about them I was immediately told that I hadn’t ordered any. After a couple of moments he suddenly remembered the order and apologised saying he thought we were another table. On the plus side the waiter was very pleasant and he did help negotiate a reduced rate for our post dinner shots.

I am not sure if it was due to the service and it wasn’t officially stated but our bill came to £46 per head which is a real steal for Steak Club. There was a gratis bottle of wine and our one round of half tot shots weren’t charged but even if these had been included the meal would still have been very good value.

After dinner we walked down Exmouth Market which had a good vibe and a decent selection of cafes, restaurants and drinking holes. In the end we settled for the “Mr. Potato Head” Pub, The Wilmington Arms, for our post dinner drinks where all outstanding debts for the evening were settled and a couple of us were conned once again in a round of shot roulette.

All in all I think I learnt from my previous lessons as host and everyone seemed to have a good night out. Unfortunately A La Cruz didn’t match up to my first venue but I would probably give the service the benefit of the doubt and give the restaurant another go. A word of warning though, only sit near the Asado if it is a cold winters night.

Steak – 6.5 x 5 = 32.5

Venue – 7

Menu – 7

Waitress – 4

Wine – 7

Value – 8.5

Total – 66

Steak Club Official Toast

2011-09-29T17:11:00.000+01:00

“Ne fidos inter amicos sit, qui dicta foras eliminet”

Steak Club Venues Updated

2011-09-27T22:40:00.001+01:00

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

The Door – Wassie's Review

2011-09-27T21:36:00.000+01:00

Taking the bull by the horns this month was Brad. After his last sterling performance, there were high expectations.

The pre-drinks venue was Brew Warf Yard in Borough Market. I was last to arrive and saw the usual suspects with one new exception, it was Frank the Tank! Roger was joining us a guest while Andre gallivants around South America with his new fiancé. As all of these big events happening with steak club members, there can only be one conclusion… there’s something in the steak! Congrats Andre!

After a few minutes, the cab dropped us off in Cornhill Road, near Bank Station. Brad walked straight past our restaurant and back tracked after he heard me say the name, The Door, so easy to miss. The restaurant’s oozing chic sophistication. Same with the clientele - I did notice a lady who was well on the eccentric side (so did Brad as she had a puzzling chat to him (not with him) on our way out.

Gary, Brad, Roger, Stacy and I jostled for seat positions and were greeted soon by our waiter, not waitress, so don’t expect many points here (good service and friendliness though). The waiter did bring to our attention that there’s a Chile Ribeye Waygu steak on the menu. “Fed on beer, corn and maize, these animals are massaged daily helping to create excellent marbling through each cut.” – what a life! We couldn’t turn this down and arranged for it to come as a starter to be shared among the boys. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away as I expected to be. £42 for about 8oz / 10 oz.

Onto the mains and I ordered the Ribeye on the bone. When it arrived however it was a Sirloin. The waiter did offer to get the correct steak grilled and brought out, but I said I’d go with the Sirloin so I could eat with the rest of Steak Club. A complementary bottle of wine soon arrived as the Door’s apology. The steak comes in with a solid score, and can’t mark them down as mistakes happen and they made amends.

Brad chose the Argentinian Malbec, Altos Las Hormigas, Mendoza 2010 (£23.50), and The Door gave us another of the same complimentary, thus only one wine review this month.
The bill including wagyu starter, 2 wines (1 complementary) steaks and sides came to £62 per head.

Afterwards we headed to the Pitcher and Paino next door to get the strafdops out of the way. Late reviews, lies (Gary not telling steak club about a big event as soon as it happened) etc culminated in 20 shooter roulette. Ouch! Being in now more jovial mood, I inferred there was a birthday in the house to which the shooter girl arranged for a special complementary birthday shooter. Let’s just say that Spur could learn something on how birthdays should be celebrated!

Steak – 7 x 5 = 35
Venue = 7
Menu = 7.5
Wine = 7.5
Value for money = 7
Waitress = 4

Total = 68

Go to The Door for an all-round solid steak showing in the City where anything could happen.

The Door - Gary's review

2011-09-15T19:03:00.000+01:00

There seems to be something in the London steaks these days with first Wassie and now Andre popping the question to their respective better halves. A big congratulations to Andre and Caren on their engagement – great news that will be duly celebrated upon Andre’s return from his travels.

With Andre away on his sojourn with his fiancé, Steak Club had the pleasure of inviting Roger (aka Frank the Tank) as a guest.

Brad was host for the evening and had us meet in Brew Wharf Yard in Borough Market for pre-drinks. Borough Market is not a area I know particularly well but I’ll definitely be exploring there a bit more often – very trendy with a good selection of drinking spots and (more importantly) good options for steak with both the Ginger Pig and Black & Blue in the vicinity.

With those two steak options right there, I had assumed we’d be staying in the area for our meal – however all too soon Brad had us finishing up our pre-drinks and rustled us into a cab to take us back into the City and we soon arrived at The Door.

The Door is quite an up-market venue with very smart décor – great to take a date to! We were warmly welcomed by the friendly staff (who were all male – an unfortunate fact for the “Waitress” rating) and quickly settled at our table. The restaurant area isn’t the biggest but its intelligently laid out so felt more spacious than it actually was. Another thing to note is the trendy bar located in the venue.

Overall service was good, though the lack of female attention means that the Waitress category has to inevitably be marked down quite severely. The waiter did mess up Wassie’s order but importantly he got mine right. Also, to be fair he did present us with a free bottle of wine as an apology – Steak Club can be a forgiving bunch when there is free wine on offer (as long as its not something ridiculous like serving our steak well-done or putting salad on our plates…).

We only got to try one selection of wine that night (Brad forgot to email out the wine details so I’ve had to peek at his review to get the name) – the Malbec, Altos Las Hormigas, Mendoza 2010. Luckily this turned out to be a great choice by Brad and is a perfect companion to a nice juicy steak!

As a starter, we got a portion of the Wagyu beef to share amongst us. It’s the first time I’ve had Wagyu and unfortunately it wasn’t quite as awesome as I’d imagined it would be. Don’t get me wrong – it was extremely tender, full of flavour etc etc but it just wasn’t the equivalent of a steak orgasm that I’d pictured it. I guess that’s the danger of building things up too much in your mind….

As a main I went for the 16 oz ribeye-on-the-bone (medium rare). It had nice flavour, though a little let down by texture and tenderness. Overall, I’d rate it as a good quality steak but not quite outstanding, especially considering the price which was a little on the high side.

Overall, I really enjoyed our evening at The Door and would be quite happy to recommend it to others. Brad – thanks for a great night!

Unfortunately it seems that we haven’t quite learnt our lesson that “This is NOT a drinking club” and we all ended up at Pitcher and Piano to clear the outstanding strafdops and to celebrate Frank the Tank’s “birthday”. Not content with plain old strafdops, the stakes were raised with Strafdop Roulette – fortunately this didn’t end as badly as it could have for me and I did score two waters in the deal. However, this didn’t save me from a very sore head the next morning (and another round of us all swearing that next time we’ll take it easy).

Venue = 7.5

Wine = 7

Steak = 6.5 x 5 = 32.5

Menu = 6

Value = 6

Waitress = 5

Total = 64

The Door - Stacy's Review

2011-09-12T22:40:00.001+01:00

The London restaurants must be injecting their steaks with some form of aphrodisiac as the number of married or engaged members has trebled in the last couple of months. A very big congratulations to Andre and Caren on their great news which I am sure we will celebrate on Andre’s return. In the interim it is a pleasure to have Roger “Frank the Tank” Dietrich along as a guest.

This is the first time I have submitted my review late and besides having to have three strafdops for this the other negative is that the details of the evening are a bit sketchy although I am not sure if this is due to “Frank the Tanks” birthday celebrations.

It was Brad’s night to organise and pre drinks started at the Brew Wharf Yard in Borough Market which was a sneaky venue as there were two potential dinner venues within view. Things got off to a wet start with a massive downpour which accounted for Wassie arriving past the strafdop curfew, I think it was an early sign that he was feeling thirsty tonight. After our usual catch up it was time for steak!

Brad had us all guessing with The Pig and Black & Blue within spitting distance. Nevertheless he lead us to the main road, had us hop in a cab and across the river we went to Bank. We had to hop out and walk a bit further and we would have had to walk quite a bit further if it wasn’t for the eagle eye of Wassie who spotted the venue without even knowing it.

Our venue for the evening was The Door which felt very posh on arrival. It is a new addition to the London restaurant scene which is a smart Bistro style venue. The restaurant section didn’t look the biggest but was laid out well and even though we were seated in the middle of the action it was sufficiently quiet and felt spacious. The well designed bar also added to the smart spacious feel of the place.

The menu we were presented with had a reasonable selection of cuts with the sizes a bit on the small side. The good thing was the choice between Argentine vs US cuts which added a bit more diversity to the menu. One item that was spotted was the Waygu (Kobe style) which we decided to share between us as a starter.

The steak had two chances to impress on this occasion but unfortunately, first up, the Waygu didn’t quite live up to our expectations at £42. Although it was very tender it wasn’t as stand out as I was expecting. I went for the Argentinean rib eye this time round and although not a bad steak it lacked the taste and tenderness I was hoping for. Brad did well with the sides, in particular the sweet potato wedges.

We had a very good Argentinean malbec to start, a perfect accompaniment for the steak. Normally we try a different red wine for our second bottle but due to the waiter getting Wassie’s steak order wrong we had the same malbec on the house. Normally this would be a no no but given the quality of the wine we were all very happy with this. It was also a good gesture by the waiter given his error which helped the restaurants cause.

On the waitress front, well we didn’t quite have one although there were a couple around. Our waiter was pleasant enough although he did get Wassie’s steak order wrong but to his credit he did follow this up with a complimentary bottle of wine and a free round of Limoncello’s at the end of the meal.

I think the meal came to £62 per head which is a steal for the steak club. This was partly due to the free bottle of wine but given we had a £42 starter the evening was very good value.

Post dinner drinks took place a couple of doors down from the restaurant at the Pitcher & Piano and has to rank up there as the best one yet. We seemed to have developed a habit of having a rather large round of Russian roulette with vodka, tequila, gin and water. I managed to avoid this the last time around but I think I paid my dues this time as I didn’t have any luck finding a water. The highlight of the evening was definitely “Frank the Tanks” birthday celebrations which we are all looking forward to at our next outing.

All in all a very good night out and I would probably venture back to The Door to give it another try.

Thanks Brad

Steak = 6 x 5 = 30

Venue = 7

Menu = 7

Waitress = 6

Wine = 8

Value = 8

Total = 66

Roger's Review - The Door

2011-09-04T14:20:00.004+01:00

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

Brad’s Review – The Door

2011-09-01T22:43:00.003+01:00

Let me start again by saying, ‘This is not a drinking club!’. We all seem to say this out load a lot, but after this event and the hang-overs across the board, we may start to wonder whether to rename this at The Steak and Drinking Club. I can however say this has been the worst drinking event so far and hopefully won’t repeat this mistake again. We were however catching up on quite a few Strafdop’s from previous events, a new invited guest (Roger – AKA: Frank the Tank, who was also celebrating a birthday) and some very very late reviews. Let’s hope the next event is only a few social penalty Strafdops. As I am writing this, I am starting to wonder whether we have however learned our lessons, as it is a few hours before the cut-off of the 2nd week for late reviews and nobody has posted a review yet...

As Andre is on long term travels, we decide in his absence, the host could choose to invite an eager honouree guest to our steak club evening. I invited Roger (AKA: Frank the Tank).

Pre-drinks started at the Brew Wharf Yard, Stoney Street. It is a nice after work type of Bar in a trendy area near Borough Market and just opposite a potential steak club venue – which I must admit had the guys guessing. The classic moment of the pre-drinks was Roger asking us, before everyone had even arrived and we had not even had a taste of a steak, whether this meant that he could now be a full time member of the steak club. If I remember correctly, he got a bit of a chorus answer with the 3 members saying together, No..... He looked quite shocked, not realising the difficulty and the desire to become a member. I think Stacey felt sorry for him and said that he could also attend the next event as he is the host and therefore he chooses the guest. Roger’s face changed from very disappointed to a large gleaming smile.

It was then time to head over to the restaurant of choice, The Door. It is part of the Door Group, which also owns The Green Door Restaurant. It has a rather posh French Style Restaurant/Trendy Bar feel to it. All in all, it is a very nice venue, well decorated and very professionally managed. My rating for the venue, based on all of these factors and the general good service is therefore a 7.5.

As the host I ordered all the drinks and the sides. We started with a round of nice cold bottled beer’s to wet our pallets before we got stuck into some wine with our steaks. I then ordered a bottle of Malbec, Altos Las Hormigas, Mendoza 2010, which I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We also got a second bottle on the house, due to Warren’s steak order being messed up (a nice bit of good service without us even asking), which went down as well as the first. My rating for the wine is 7.

As a starter for us to all share, we tried the house speciality, Australian / Chilian Waygu beef. I have never tried Waygu Beef before so was very keen to see whether it was exceptional, especially at £42 for about a 10 Oz cut. It had a subtle favour and was very tender, but in my opinion, not as good as some of the best standard steaks we have had elsewhere. I am however glad I have now tried Waygu Beef. As sides, I ordered some mixed vegetables, cream spinach and sweat potato wedges (this was outstanding). The guys chose their steaks and I ordered a 16 Oz rib-eye on the bone which cost £38. Probably a bit on the pricier side, however it was very good. The choice was reasonable, but they did not really have many options of big cuts or wide choice different steaks and cuts some of the other restaurants we have been to. The other guys however did claim that mine seemed to be the steak of the night. My rating for steak is 6.5 and menu is 6.

Leading onto the value category, it not cost us as much as other places, however that is probably due to us only paying for one bottle of wine (not two) and the free round of Limonchelo that was included. The service was good throughout, maybe a little pushy to order more sides that we were asking for, but they were very quick to give complementary compensation through a few freebies. My rating for value is therefore 6 and waitress is 6.

Venue = 7.5.
Wine – 7.
Steak = 6.5 x 5 = 32.5
Menu = 6.
Value = 6.
Waitress = 6.
Total = 65.

It is at this point we should have settled for one nightcap pint at the Pitcher and Piano and then headed home. I however had a ‘bee in my bonnet’ - that we had to sort out the Strafdop tally with a tray of ‘White Spirits’ (a Russian roulette of vodka, tequila, gin or water). Each person had to choose tot glasses of the tray to drink and hoped they got some waters. It turned out that Gary, Warren and I got the waters which meant Roger and Stacey probably felt worse than I did the next day. Roger was also celebrating a ‘Birthday’...

Bistro Du Vin - Gary's review

2011-06-29T23:00:00.000+01:00

Its amazing how much faster time flies when you have a steak club review overdue.
A blink of an eye and suddenly its 4 strafdops owing!

Personally I blame my tardiness in submitting this review on the example set by Warren. Our host didn’t exactly give much notice on the meeting place and time so it was a bit of a rush to get there. Admittedly, from where I work this consisted of a leisurely 2 minute stroll to the bus stop and a 5 minute bus ride, but still it’s the principle of the matter that counts…

The Square Pig in Holborn is a vibey post-work pub that’s obviously very popular. A good spot to meet up for a few cold ones to work up a meaty appetite – a promising start to the evening!

Smith’s of Smithfield’s seemed like an obvious candidate for the evening’s venue, but it turned out to be the perfect dummy pass by Wassie.
Instead we were marched down the road until we reached one of the most beautiful sights a man can behold – a window proudly flaunting a bevy of meat cuts, a truly fine display by Bistro Du Vin.

Bistro Du Vin hadn’t been open long and was a fantastic find by Wassie. Having said that it certainly has done well at attracting customers – at least if that night was anything to go by. The place was packed, but its well laid out so this wasn’t too much of a problem. Otherwise, the décor had a classic French feel as you’d expect from the name – smart but not overbearingly so.

They’ve got a relatively decent selection of steaks and sizes, and most steak lovers will be satisfied with the choices available. Having said that, its not the biggest menu we’ve seen in terms of steaks – nothing to complain about really, but not enough to score brilliantly on the menu front.

My choice for the evening was a medium rare bone-in sirloin. Very tasty, but perhaps not quite as tender as I would have liked.
Wassie actually ended up with the steak-of-the-evening, at least in my opinion, with the rump (funnily enough as usually I’m not the biggest fan of rump steaks).
The one aspect I’d warn against is the bone marrow side order – horrible!

Afterwards we headed back to Smith’s of Smithfield’s for strafdops and celebratory drinks (despite the fact that this “is not a drinking club”, we do seem to end up with plenty of shooters…)
Another great night – bring on the next one!

Steak = 32.5
Venue = 8
Waitress = 6
Wine = 7
Menu = 6
Value = 7
Total = 66.5

BISTRO DU VIN – WASSIE’S REVIEW

2011-06-21T16:44:00.000+01:00

I got to host this month and quite excited about the venue. It’s good to find new restaurants or restaurants off the beaten track. I found Bistro du Vin by complete chance. Taking a break from ring sizing at Hatton Garden, we went for lunch at Smiths of Smithfield. I parked the car right outside of a restaurant that had a all of it’s meat there hanging on display in the front windows on to the street. Mighty impressed with this, so it was chosen. Quite tricky to find this on the Internet, but it’s part of du Vin hotel chain and it’s the first stand alone bistro in London. Their website takes a bit of navigation, but got there in the end. Actually just tried to view this again now and it’s still the most confusing website of all the steak restaurants we’ve been to.

Granted, I left it a bit late, but eventually notified the Membership that we’d be having predrinks at the Square Pig in Holborn. Nice outside area, except for there not being and room to swing a, well a pig. We managed to the last standing room and started off the night with a few cold ones.

Cab time and knowing that there may be keen ears trying to determine where we were heading, I asked the cabbie to drop us at Smiths of Smithfields. Hook line and sinker caught Andre and he did spread the word as expected. Hopping out at SOS the boys walked straight in, while I headed down the pavement to our grill for the night...Bistro du Vin.

Correcting the guys I proudly showed off the steak handing in the front facade windows. With nods all around, they were already suitable impressed. We were greeted at the door and taken through to our table. I didn’t realise that you could book private dining at a table surrounded by the meat hanging area, but would remember this for next time. A few musical chairs with Gazza and Stacy later and we were able to get into the wine menu.

They had a good selection of wines and I took two recommendations for the predinner wine ,2009 Craggy Range te Muna Pinot Noir Martinborough, and then a 2007 Bobibet ‘Amatéüs Bobi Saumur-Champigny with the meal. Based on how quickly the Craggy was drunk I’d recommend it and as the Bobi still had half a bottle left to finish after the meal, wouldn’t recommend that.

Looking around, the restaurant was packed and it had only been open a month. It’s a large size, but you’ll have to book a few days before to ensure you not going to be disappointed. Interestingly there is a bar counter area that seemed to be available to eat at if you so with.

The staff were attentive and quite a few running here and there. No memorably waitresses unfortunately that hung around out table much. As we all ordered steaks, they came through with steak knives, all Donald Russell brand. It seems that all of Bistro du Vin’s meat is sourced from Donald Russell from Aberdenshire, Scotland. (DR has quite an online meat mail order business that’s worth a visit – also claim “No meat is more tender or delicious that that from Donald Russell”... we’ll be the judge of that)

Going for something slightly different there was jamon cured ham slices to start with the bread, always a favourite, but not much provided. Steak is what we’re here for and there were big expectations with such a window display. I went for the rump, medium rare and was quite happy with the steak. Good flavour, nice and juicy and actually more tender than the other steaks that other guys had. The steak cuts are good and you could arrange off menu ordering based on what’s available. Other guys had rib-eye’s or sirloins. I wouldn’t go so far as to say not meat is more tender or delicious, but would recommend it and I’d give it a go for Summer Sizzle.

The bill including starters, 2 wines steaks and sides came to £65 per head.

We headed to SOS for post steak straf dops (everyone except Stacy who said he’s saving himself for a tennis tournament the following week – also remember him saying if he didn’t win he’d have double next time).

Steak – 7.5 x 5 = 40
Venue = 7.5
Menu = 7.5
Wine = 7.5
Value for money = 7
Waitress = 5

Total = 72

Go to Bistro Du Vin for a good solid steak experience and make sure you get the private room. There are usually deals available for free champagne, so check their website before going – if you can navigate through it.

Bistro du Vin - Andre's Review

2011-06-14T22:03:00.002+01:00

Who would have thought I would be the first one to be fined for being late to pre-drinks. I can’t believe Stacy got there before me.

The pre-drink venue was a popular spot but we at least managed to find an area to squeeze 5 guys in to pass the time while trying to guess the venue for the evening.

So, off we jumped in a cab to Smiths of Smithfields…or so Wassie wanted us to think. Good one Wassie. After hopping out in Smithfields we wandered around the corner to a little gem of a place – Bistro du Vin. If the wall of meat in the window was anything to go by these guys enjoyed their steaks

Venue – 8
The only thing lacking in the venue was space between me and the guy in the chair behind me. Memories of The Big Easy came back where the choice of sitting position was crucial. Here is was less about the view and more about the space. Otherwise it was a really nice venue with an option to sit at the bar and a number of restaurant tables.

Menu – 7
The menu was not extensive but seemed to tick most of the boxes and had some good sides to boot. There are a couple other items I'd happily go back to try, which is normally a good sign for a steak menu.

Waitress – 5
We were served by a waitress which was a good start. We were also served by a waiter. We’re used to this by now. The maître’d provided some good advice but nothing unheard of.

Steak – 7.5
A lot of the steak is interestingly sourced from Donald Russell where I had just ordered a selection of meat from. They claim to be the best but the meat of theirs I cooked at home was good but didn’t live up to the lofty expectations. At the restaurant however the meat was cooked properly. I went for the bone-in ribeye cooked medium and think this must have come close to steak of the evening. It was interesting to compare to Brad’s same cut of meat but cooked medium rare.

Wine – 7
The first wine was a Craggy Range Pinot Noir followed up by a Bobinet 'Amatéüs Bobi. I preferred the first bottle but both were good.

Value – 6
A quick check of the credit card shows a bill of £65. This is not great value considering we didn’t have any additional shooters but the overpriced starter of Jamon Iberico is what pushed the price up a bit.

Other:
• We did eventually make it to Smiths of Smithfields but only for some post-drinks and shooters.
• There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when it came to picking the tequilas and sambucas from a tray of clear shooters also containing the odd water
• Again, the chips were really good (I see a trend here, maybe I should start a Chip Club)

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes, just don’t go for the starter

Steak – 7.5 * 5 = 37.5
Venue – 8
Menu – 7
Waitress – 5
Wine – 7
Value – 6

Total – 70.5

Bistro du Vin - Brad's Review

2011-06-07T14:28:00.002+01:00

It again seemed like another age between steak club evenings. Andre and Myself had to take Warren aside to remind him to get him to get dates agreed so that we could get the event solidly booked into our diaries. Finally the evening arrived, where the 5 steak club members gather in the quest for another great steak somewhere in London.

Warren informed us of the meeting place about 1 hr before we were due at the pre-drinks venue. Coming in from Deep West London, this made my task to be on time rather tight. The pre-drinks meeting venue was the Square Pig in Holborn. I made it just in time before the late comers penalties started to kick in. The Square Pig is a nice vibey relaxed pub with a clientele that seemed to be a popular after work drinking hole. It was here that we were informed that, now Stacey was not drinking any alcohol at all throughout the evening. What is going on? First Andre pulled these tactics, now Stacey. It must be something in their house water.....

As per steak club traditions, we headed to catch a cab. Warren was as devious as usual, telling the cab driver to go to Smiths of Smithfield (which we overheard - probably on purpose). We were all ready to walk in when Warren informed us that this is not the chosen venue of the evening. He carried on walking around the corner and up the next road, until we came to a restaurant called 'Bistro Du Vin', which had the aging meat maturing in the window like a butchery. We went inside and were lead to our table in the corner. The 'Bistro Du Vin' (as expected) had a relaxed French restaurant feel to it, that was smartly decorated. It also had a nice 'bar like' seating area around the chef's, which would be an ideal place if you were interested in a casual meal for two.

The staff were all friendly, and seemed to all be from European origins (not all Frech though). We were served all evening by a waitress who provided us with good friendly service and was helpful in providing us with information about the menu.

The menu had a reasonable selection of steaks, with a good choice of sizes. For the first time in a while, none of us went for the bigger cuts. Andre and Myself went for the good old faithful 400g Rib-Eye Steak. Warren went for the Rump and Gazza and Stacey went for the Sirloin (on the bone and off the bone, respectively). I found the Rib-Eye and Rump seemed to be the most tender, but the Sirloin had the most flavour. Normally I have a distinct favourite for the evening, but I can't decide which was my best for the evening.

Warren ordered a variety of sides, which included frites, mushrooms, bone marrow, beans and salads. I tend to stay clear of marrow, but the other guys said, it was not up to scratch compared to past tastes tests of marrow. Warren also ordered two red wines. The 1st was an Amateus Bobi 2007, which was nice and light, but with a nice strong flavour. The 2nd wine's name escapes me, but I did not care for it at all. It seemed to have a fizzy after sensation on the tongue.

The bill came to about £65 per head, which is pretty standard a steak club evening, for the quality and size of steaks, with 2 bottles of wine and sides. There have in my opinion been better value venues in the past that also included a few rounds of shooters for a similiar price range. All in all though, a pleasant evening and good steaks.

The Bistro Du Vin did not serve any shooters, which meant we moved on down the road back to Smith of Smithfields. It seemed to be a night of many celebrations (which I felt the next day), with Warren being newly engaged, Gary announcing he will be moving in with his better half and Andre's Birthday (which he kept very very quiet). Unfortunately we all forgot about his birthday, so he will need to have a catch-up drink next steak club. The most serious and memorable event during the after drinks, was performed by Warren. He broke some serious Steak club rules of "Members only", by inviting some friends over for a drink, who were walking past. To make it worse, they were not all guys.... I hear fines!!!!

It seems like this event, the next one is going to be another steak/drinking club evening. Stacey already has 3 carry overs, Warren fines for rule breaking and late reviews, Andre got away without Birthday drinks and Gary, Andre and Myself have for late reviews (to name a few).

Would I go back? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes. Have I been to better steak restaurants? Yes (see My Past Reviews).

The Rating:
Steak: 7 X 5 = 35
Venue: 7
Menu: 7
Wine: 6
Value: 5
Waitresses: 6
Total: 66

Bistro du Vin - Stacy's Review

2011-06-01T23:47:00.021+01:00

After experiencing my first full rotation of steak club hosts it was Wassie’s turn once again to do the honours. There was a bit of panic beforehand though with Wassie only providing pre-drinks details just before six pm which I think helped me to be one of the first arrivals for once.

We met at the Square Pig in Holborn which was very lively for a Wednesday evening probably helped by the decent weather. After all members had arrived, Andre being the last to arrive just after the strafdop time limit, it was time for the momentous announcement that Gary and Tracey had decided to move in together. A great piece of news that was well received by everyone and which required glasses to be raised (including my diet coke due to my upcoming tennis tournament I was trying to prepare for). We also toasted the engagement of Wassie and Mands, another big announcement that had been made a couple of weeks earlier. To mark the occasion we had a group photo taken (Andre with a classic line of “give the camera to him, he will know what to do” upon spotting a Japanese patron) which might be part of Wassie’s review.

This time we reverted back to the traditional cab ride to the venue, or so we thought, with the cab dropping us outside Smith’s of Smithfields. Wassie however was throwing us a curve ball with this and proceeded to take us on a walk of neighbourhood which ended outside what looked like a butcher’s shop window. This was in fact a display window for our restaurant for the evening, the Bistro du Vin.

The restaurant had a smart feel about it but it had a relaxed atmosphere and was busy which was a good sign to start.

The menu was decent with a fair selection of cuts to choose from and decent size options (although I seemed to get a ladies portion). I went with the sirloin off the bone while everyone else went for on the bone cuts. We had two rounds of bread rolls before our steaks came (I guess because Wassie was host and still hadn’t learnt his lesson from last time) as well as a jamon iberico starter with figs. Our main course was accompanied by a lot of sides due to the waiter doubling up on everything Wassie ordered, although I don’t think anyone minded as they were all pretty good (especially the frites). Once again we had bone marrow with our meal which I didn’t try but according to everyone else wasn’t up to scratch.

My sirloin, although a bit on the tough side (I should have ordered it medium rare, so probably my own fault), was very very tasty. I tried the other steaks ordered and although they were considerably more tender, I would say that mine had the most flavour so I was happy with my choice.

Due to my preparation for a tennis tournament that was starting on the Friday I refrained from drinking and stuck to diet coke and water for the evening. The deal was that if I didn’t win the tournament I would have to accept a strafdop and in hindsight I should have drunk alcohol on the night. As such I can’t comment on the wines that were ordered although there was a fair bit of moaning about how heavy the second wine was. I have rated this based on the general comments on the evening.

We had a waitress for the evening as well as various waiters who dropped in now and then but I don’t really remember too much about them or the service so probably not the best sign for scoring points.

The bill came to £65 per head which was okay value considering that this didn’t include any strafdops as the restaurant only served aperitifs.

Still no pink card and it is now my problem/responsibility to remind Andre to bring it along to the next dinner.

Post dinner drinks took place at Smiths where quite a large number of strafdops and celebratory drinks were consumed. Wassie also ran outside at one point to drag some friends out of their cab and bring them back to join us for a drink (Not sure this is strictly in the steak club rules so this might come back to haunt him).

Full marks to Wassie for finding a completely new restaurant off the beaten track which proved to be a good find. I would return.

Thanks Wassie!

Steak = 7 x 5 = 35

Venue = 8

Menu = 6

Waitress = 5

Wine = 6

Value = 6

Total = 66

Butlers Wharf Chophouse – Wassie’s Review

2011-04-28T17:33:00.003+01:00

Good to see that the reviews are not all in on time this month as with last month as it feels like an important part of Steak Club is missing if there are no strafdops for late reviews!

Steak Club has seen many momentous occasions come and go during active membership, like Ghenk’s engagement, Binders engagement and Roons building his clan. As such, I’ve added to this list by getting engaged! Mind you, I’m still working on Mandy to agree for the reception meal to only be steak with some sides (decided by myself on the night as host) and for the wedding cake to be shaped as a good T-Bone. Regardless, Mands is a keeper.

Across to East London we trekked getting out at Hornimans at Hays, close to London Bridge Tube. It’s nicely situated right on the Thames and everyone flows onto the promenade on the south bank. Gazza treated us with a cracker of a day with starting gun going off for Summer. Nice pub with some queues at the bar with such a great day. Still recommend it to anyone in the area it’s the nicest pub on the Thames in the area.

Gazza said something about enjoying the weather and walking to our restaurant, but we really know he was skinting on spending money.

We arrived at Butlers Wharf Chophouse with a great view of London Bridge. There’s outdoor seating and plenty of indoor room. A tall, blonde lady greeted us and another checked in our coats - good start! That’s all that we saw of them and turned to a male staff after that. No good points there.

The menu had the standard range of cuts, but quite small sizes. Brad did query whether anything larger was available and there wasn’t anything for the standard cuts, but they did offer a Wing Cut and brought it out for him to size up. It looked good and Brad went for it. BWC could do with some larger options available, but the actual flavour and end product was really good. I had the T-Bone 28 day aged Aberdeen Angus (all their steaks were) and think it was the best order there. Both the Sirloin and Fillet from the T-Bone was great and would recommend it. If it’s a good Summer London night and you book a table outside, this will be one

of the most pleasant steak restaurants for overall experience.

As expected there was a good wine range and we were treated as Andre was having a dry night so only had to divide by 4!

Still not learning I suggested that we order some bread to start and agreed at the end of the night to have a double strafdop to make up for it.

Steak – 8 x 5 = 40

Venue = 9 (not to be beaten for a Summer day on the Thames)

Menu = 6 (ok, but marked down only small cut options)

Wine = 7

Value for money = 7

Waitress = 2 (slow service for the first half of the evening and need to get the “front door” girls on the tables)

Total = 71

Go to Butlers Wharf Chophouse for the steakhouse with the best view in London and a good steak to suit.

Butlers Wharf Chopshop - Brad's Review

2011-04-22T21:19:00.004+01:00

I am a little late on this review, so for anyone who follows this blog, knows what that means... I am starting the next steak club with 2 strafdops (drink fines).

It felt like an age between this steak club and the previous one. That is probably because it was an age. We normally meet up every month to 6 weeks. This gap was about 10 weeks. This event started off with a different feel from the beginning. The difference being the weather. This is the first steak club event that I have attended that has been spring/summer-ish. Wow, what a difference! I arrived at the Hornimans Bar in the Hay. It is right next to Tower Bridge on the river, which had such a vibrant summery vibe, with people having a swifty after work due to the great summery evening weather. Good choice on the bar and well organised with the weather Gazza.

Normally the host treats the other steak club guests to a nice short little comfortable cab ride to the restaurant entrance. Gary made us stroll down the river to the restaurant, granted it was only about 500 metres (and a nice scenic walk). We arrived at the Chopshop for our 19h30 reservation on time. The restaurant is superbly located on the river with a great view of Tower Bridge (especially when it gets all lit up). The restaurant had a slight posh look to it, but a rather relaxed atmosphere. It also seemed quite busy, which is always a good sign.

Being steak 'hunters' we only really look at the steak section of the restaurant menus. The range of steaks and cuts on offer were a little limited. I must admit, I really struggled to decide, as I wanted a large-ish cut which was a bit lacking. I asked the waiter if they offered larger cuts of the steaks on the menu and he could only come up with one off-pist option. He brought a raw 'wing cut' for me to preview, which looked really thick and rather chunky. I decided to go for it, as after all there were 5 of us to have some big taste tests if it turned out to be too big. The steak that arrived, was well reduced from what I was expecting. It was an enjoyable steak, but in comparison to my 4 previous reference points (steak clubs) it did not match up to the grade. It required salt, a little sauce (that came as standard on the side) and was not as tender as some of my previous steaks. This could be due to the cut I had (which I am not familiar with)...

If there was one thing that Gary got right this evening, it was the choice of wines. He chose the 2006 Jean-Luc Colombo Syrah and the Salentein Reserve Malbec. I really liked both of them, especially the first one.

The evening at the restaurant started coming to an end and in steak club tradition, we always need to have a strafdop session. This is one of the few steak clubs where everyone got their reviews in on time, so the penalty strafdops were not required. We however decided we needed to have a combined drink as a 'united steak club group' (bar-one). Andre was apparently on strong 'anti-biotics'.... What is that all about???

The bill came to £63 per head, which is about average, however we would normally probably have a few more strafdops included. Not only had Andre let us down by not drinking with us, he also made a conscious call to not bring the traditional pink card. Stacy was devastated, as this was his almost guaranteed way of securing a free drink. Com'on Andre, make sure you bring it and continue with the tradition...

We decided to end the evening off with a night cap back at the Horniman. As before, it was a great venue standing outside socialising with the boys over a pint.

All in all, a good evening out. Thanks Gazza!

Steak: 5x5 = 25
Venue: 8
Menu: 5
Waitress: 6
Wine: 8
Value: 6
Total: 58

Butlers Wharf Chophouse - Gary's review

2011-04-21T16:04:00.001+01:00

Its been a long, hard and miserable winter but spring has finally arrived. That means longer days, shorter skirts and of course Steakpril.

It was my turn to play host, and I decided to take advantage of the springtime sunshine with a river-themed steak club with both pre-drinks and the final venue directly overlooking the Thames.

We met at Hornimans at the Hay – quite a large pub by the riverside. Despite its size it was absolutely packed with Londoner’s desperate to enjoy the sunshine (and the view of the numerous short skirts).
Banks are being blamed for a lot of things these days, and Andre added one more item to that list by blaming them for losing his pink card (obviously none of us believed him). Stacy in particular was devastated by Andre’s betrayal of what’s become a fine Steak Club tradition – no more will he be rewarded with free drinks when waitresses pick him as winner of the guess-who-owns-the-pinky game.
If that wasn’t enough, Andre also announced that he would not be drinking that night, mumbling something about anti-biotics etc etc.
Despite this, it was good to catch up and banter with the other Steak Club members after a much longer break between Steak Clubs than expected.

To get from Hornimans to Butlers Wharf Chophouse, it’s a ten minute stroll along the Thames. I decided to forsake taking a cab-ride so we could enjoy the evening sunshine (though this did result in some members whining like a vegetarian in a butcher’s shop).

Butcher’s Wharf Chophouse has a great location with a riverside view of Tower Bridge. Inside, the décor and ambiance are suitably classy without being overbearing.

No waitress serving us unfortunately, so I’m expecting a low score in this category. Nevertheless we did have a decent enough waiter who was helpful enough to earn at least some points.

The first wine of the evening was a very good 2006 Jean-Luc Colombo Syrah. It’s a light-to-medium bodied wine that accompanied the steaks well. For the second wine, I chose a Salentein Reserve Malbec. By this stage, I’d had multiple beers at pre-drinks plus the Syrah so I’m a little fuzzy on how good this wine was (I think it was okay though).

The Chophouse doesn’t have a massive steak selection but it covers all the basic varieties that you’d expect (i.e. sirloin, ribeye, rump, T-bone etc) with all beef being 28 days dry aged Aberdeen Angus. A bigger choice of steak would have been welcome though – especially in offering larger cuts.

I went with a medium rare T-bone, and this turned out to be a much better option than the other steaks. Tasty and tender – all that you want in a steak really. The steaks also come with a side of bone marrow (rich and delicious!) which is a great little touch.

Amazingly there were no strafdops due with everyone getting their reviews in on time (this must be a record!) so we were left instead to celebrate with a few shots of tequila (Wassie gamely agreeing to have sober Andre’s shot as well).

Steak:         7 x 5 = 35
Venue:         8
Menu:           6.5
Waitress:       4
Wine:           7
Value:         7
Total:         67.5

Chophouse - Andre's Review

2011-04-14T23:50:00.003+01:00

The old hand, Gary, had a lot to live up to after great debuts by Brad and Stacy. We met at a very festive and overcrowded Hornimans pub at Hays Galleria. Fortunately I have been here before so wasn’t too intrigued by the name of the pub. Maybe Gary was looking for a repeat of the Old Butlers Head where some guy mistook Gary’s ass for the ass of one of his ‘friends’.

I was expecting abuse and abuse I got. This was a month of planned detox but I was going to make an exception to drink the steak club wine. This plan was however put on ice after a prescription of antibiotics left me drinking OJ or water all night.

Fortunately it was a lovely evening because Gary didn’t think the walk to Butlers Wharf warranted a cab ride. About half way there I took a sigh of relief for my next restaurant not being the one for the evening and guessed we were going to the Chophouse.

Venue – 8
The restaurant has an ideal setting right on the riverside at Butlers Wharf offering a good view of Tower Bridge. Inside the décor was fit for purpose.

Menu – 6
I have often considered this restaurant as a steak club option but the size of the steaks on the menu had always put me off. That said there were more steaks on the menu than I remember so the rating does not get hit too hard. My 14oz steak was also bigger than expecting or maybe I just got that impression because it took me a long time to chew through.

Waitress – 4
Still no joy here Gary.

Steak – 5
Stacy and I both had the rump steak Stacy, you should know from Casa Malevo not to order the same steak as me. Gary and Wassie had the porterhouse as Gary usually needs to bend the rules to get some fillet for the evening. Brad’s selection of wing cut (sp?) was interesting and the cooked specimen didn’t look a lot like the raw steak shown beforehand. My steak looked good (which is more than I can say for Stacy’s bits and pieces rump steak) but unfortunately took some patience and time to actually chew. Don’t order the rump steak there. The wing cut was a better cut but still not superb. Steak(s) of the evening must go to the porterhouse options chosen by Wassie and Gary.

Wine – 6
As I was not able to rate the wine on the night so rather than go on other opinions decided to get an average score excluding the wine and then apply this average to the wine section. (I did round up which only seemed fair and by the looks of the wine it didn’t look like a redeeming feature of the restaurant)

Value – 7
Not bad value considering the other 4 members had a shooter and in Wassie’s case two. I think the bill came to £63 in the end and this was only because the wing cut raised the average a bit. We should know better by know to actually ask the price for these off piste purchases. Although still nowhere near the £65 record.

Other:
• The lack of the Co-op’s banks foresight has made me opt for a more rewarding card (literally) so the pink card was not out for the evening. It was requested to bring back but secretly I think Stacy was quite glad the card was absent for the evening.
• The chips were really good

Would I go again? Not in a hurry
Would I recommend it to a friend? No
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? No

Steak – 5 * 5 = 25
Venue – 8
Menu – 6
Waitress – 4
Wine – 6
Value – 7

Total – 56

The Chop House - Stacy's Review

2011-04-14T23:40:00.007+01:00

After a lay-off of just over two months the steakbuds were definitely ready for the next attempt at finding the best steak in London.

This time it was to be hosted by Gary who decided to kick things off at the Horniman at Hay’s which turned out to be an inspired choice given the early summer weather we were experiencing (I wish I had arrived on time this once). The pub itself is in a great location along the Thames looking onto the HMS Belfast and although there were a lot of people out enjoying the weather things weren’t too crowded. The most memorable part of our pre dinner conversation was Gary bringing everyone up to speed on his house hunting and diamond shopping which all had us waiting for the next Steak Club confession. Unfortunately we were to be disappointed so we changed our focus to dinner when the 5 minute warning was issued.

Now there were only two potentially good steak restaurants in the area so we were either heading to one of these or Gary was following my example and was trying to throw everyone off the trail. Was it about to be a lengthy cab ride across the heart of London? Luckily not, but it was a decent walk and no cab ride instead! I thought this was taboo but apparently another member of the club set the precedent some time ago so this wouldn’t translate into a strafdop.

After hiking along the Thames for a little while we finally arrived at the Chop House on Butlers Wharf. The restaurant had a classic feel to it with a lot of wood panelling and a decent spacious layout with the best feature being the view of Tower Bridge.

The menu had a fair selection of 28 day dry aged Aberdeen Angus cuts however the sizes were a cause for concern. Everyone went for the standard cuts offered except for Brad who went for what looked like the thickest cut of meat I had seen. I went for the rump steak, I think swayed by the fact that it was the largest cut without a bone. Unfortunately for me I seemed to luck out as my steak actually came in two pieces, was pretty tough and had a fair amount of fat. Andre seemed to struggle a bit with his rump as well but Gary’s & Wassies T-Bones were very good. Brad’s steak was also pretty good (although it seemed half the size once cooked). Something unusual worth mentioning was the bone marrow that came as a standard side with the meals.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the names of the wines we had but hopefully the other reviews will provide the details. What I can say was that the first wine of the evening was definitely my favourite although the merlot we had second wasn’t far off. Both good accompaniments to the meal.

Unfortunately the closest we got to a waitress was the maitre d’ however our waiter was very pleasant and obliging coming out with different cuts of raw meat to show Brad.

For once there were no strafdops so we had a round of shooters anyway to celebrate the fact that this had never happened before. With this included the bill came to £63 a head which wasn’t bad value.

What we thought had become a regular feature was spectacularly axed by Andre without consulting the rest of the members...the pink card had been changed for a black one! You might wonder why I would be upset about this seeing that it might as well have been mine but it is the fact that it will always be associated with me and we never gave the law of averages a chance to sort this out.

We ventured back to the Horniman for post dinner drinks which again was great given the balmy weather. The post dinner highlights for me included Gary making small talk with a mother and daughter on the train home and the classic quote of the night which came from Wassie on the way home “I’ll go down if you go down”. Andre took note of this so might hopefully put this into context.

I would return to the Chop House on a sunny day/evening for the view and the T-bone.

Thanks Gary!

Steak = 4 x 5 = 20

Venue = 8

Menu = 6

Waitress = 5

Wine = 7

Value = 7

Total = 53

JW Steakhouse - Stacy's Review

2011-02-03T23:36:00.006Z

The pressure was on after Brad had pulled off a really good night at Casa Malevo on our last outing (only spoilt by me and my rating of the steak which I thought was an honest rating and had nothing to do with that time of the month!) and it was now up to me to host my very first evening. This was one of many firsts for the night with all belonging to me bar one thanks to Gary which you will read about later.

I felt the pressure mount when for the first time I was the first to arrive for pre-drinks at the Red Lion near Piccadilly Circus. This is a cosy little pub with lots of character and was rammed with patrons having a post work pint. Not used to arriving first I was convinced that the guys (Gary at least) was somewhere in there but I didn’t stand much chance of having a look around. I tried calling but everyone’s cell went straight to voicemail so I figured they had to be underground and with that in mind I found a small space near the entrance and tried to spread myself out. It wasn’t long before everyone arrived almost at once like it had been planned just to test out the nerves of the newbie. Nothing too eventful happened at pre-drinks other than Wassie drinking a beer shandy (apparently to do with his training regime for the London marathon).

It was time for the main event so off we went to hail a cab. In my eagerness not to give the restaurant away, I had chosen a pre-drinks venue a bit further away than anticipated. It didn’t look that far on Google maps but then I didn’t factor in the traffic on Regent’s and Oxford Street. I heard some mumblings about the longest cab ride ever in the history of the club but thankfully just before it turned into a remake of “Alive” the cab pulled up to the address I had given. The scaffolding threw me a bit at first but I didn’t panic however when the driver said “a steak restaurant used to be here” I thought “Oh F&ck”! At this point I think the guys were a bit torn between the enjoyment of watching me sweat and the thought that they might go home hungry but after a quick phone call, a run in with a few penguin suites and a friendly doorman we arrived at JW’s.

On arrival the staff were very welcoming and the restaurant had a stylish, spacious and relaxed look and feel about it. I needed something to get the evening back on track and it looked like JW might just pull through for me. The menu was impressive offering a lot more info on steak than usual and with good use made of the chalk boards around the walls of restaurant.

Our waitress was attentive and helpful so I was very happy with the table service.

With the selection of cuts available I was fairly undecided but finally settled for the signature steak being a 32oz (900g) Tomahawk Ribeye after the two lightest guys had just ordered them. I wasn’t to be disappointed as it was the biggest steak I had ever eaten and it tasted damn good. I must say though that Wassie’s sirloin was top drawer and Gary’s Porterhouse wasn’t far behind.

On the wine front we started with a Bonterra organic merlot (USA 2006) which I preferred out of the two. The second which was also very good was a Pulenta Estate Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina 2009).

Good food doesn’t come cheap and nor do large steaks as Gary found out. His 900g Porterhouse goes down in the record books as the most expensive in steak club history coming in at £65. Luckily for him it turned out to be an incredibly good value evening as the bill came to £71 each. This was on the expensive side especially seeing that we didn’t have any strafdops but given the venue, the good service and great steaks I was happy to pay this. An added bonus came in the form of free calamari, nacho and bread starters and a free round of bourbon at the end of the meal so we can’t complain.

I thought I had the pink card sorted this time as I hadn’t shaved and I had an extra button undone on my shirt but alas I couldn’t pull of the camel man look because the next thing I knew the dreaded pink thing was being held in my face again! Yet another first being the first member to receive the pink award twice and in a row! I think I have it worked out now, eye contact must be maintained at all times with the waitress otherwise you have had it. I will report back on this theory after our next evening.

Strafdops had to be dealt with at the post dinner drinks as unfortunately we couldn’t bargain the shooter prices down below £5 each. I think everyone was happy with this though as it meant that no Flatliners were consumed.

And finally it was almost another first but not quite, that of me missing the submission deadline but that will have to wait. I see though that I have just racked up one final first, that of being the last one to submit...enough already!

JW’s would be an easy recommendation and I will be heading back there but a word of caution on the prices.

Steak - 7.5 x 5 = 37.5

Venue = 8

Menu = 8.5

Waitress = 6.5

Wine = 7

Value = 6.5

Total = 74

JW Steakhouse - Gary's review

2011-02-03T21:54:00.003Z

JW Steakhouse was Stacy’s offering to Steak Club in his debut as host. It proved to be an inspired choice and a great way to kick off 2011’s hunt for the best steak in London.

The Red Lion in St James was the rendezvous point for pre-drinks. Its definitely on the small side but full of character nonetheless. A few lagers, bulmers and one rather girly shandy later and it was time to leave.

Stacy must have been quite worried about us guessing the identity of the final venue from the location of pre-drinks, because the Red Lion is no where near JW Steakhouse.
It was a truly epic cab ride, and we had plenty of time to work up our appetites by the time the cab pulled over. Stacy must have been a nervous man at that stage, as the address we had arrived at was basically just a construction site. Delivering four starving steak club members to a construction site when you promised them a steakhouse is usually a recipe for disaster, but Stacy manned up well and ordered us out of the cab. After a closer inspection we determined that the address was indeed a construction site. So on we headed to nextdoor to see if that could be the missing steakhouse, but the fact that everyone there was dressed in tuxes quickly gave it away that this wasn’t the venue either. Fortunately and much to Stacy’s relief the doorman kindly directed us one building down where we finally found JW Steakhouse.

JW Steakhouse is very classy but not overbearingly so. Its very open and spacious inside with chalkboards running wall to wall showing the menu, the special meat cuts for the day etc. The music didn’t quite gel with the décor though (I think they had Arctic Monkeys playing at one stage).
Nice touches were free calamari and nachos starters, and complimentary bourbons to wash down your meal at the end of the evening.

The staff were all friendly, courteous and very professional. Our waitress was very knowledgeable about steak matters and was capable of answering all of our questions (though there were no questions about long horns…)

The menu is extensive, with the Tomahawk bonein ribeye being the flagship steak. You need to have quite an appetite to tackle this beast as it weighs in at around 900g.
I decided to go for the porterhouse, ordering a cut of 900g (pro tip: if you order the 900g porterhouse then make sure your mates have already agreed to splitting the bill equally – the porterhouse comes with a pricetag of £65! Definitely the most expensive steak I’ve ever had).
I’m not sure it was worth £65 but it was extremely tasty and tender. I’d even rate it a little better than the Tomahawk.

The wines for the night:
First wine – Bonterra, Organic Merlot, Mendocino County, USA 2006
Second Wine – Pulenta Estate, La Flor Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2009
(yes – that was a copy paste from Stacy’s email)
Not much to say, but both very good wines that accompanied the meat well.

£71 a head is steep but then I guess you’re paying for quality in quite a classy establishment. So yes its steep, but I didn’t mind it too much.

However, £5 a shooter was a bit too much so we headed elsewhere for strafdops (though not before Stacy took a tequila for yet again losing the pinky game). Wassie and Andre hadn’t learnt from their previous misadventures and both had to be fined – Wassie for once again editing his review and Andre for again lying to Steak Club about major events in his life!

Steak 8.5 x 5 = 42.5
Venue 8
Menu 9
Wine 7
Value for money 6
Waitress 6
Total 78.5

JW Steakhouse - Andre's Review

2011-02-03T21:04:00.003Z

And then it was Stacy’s turn. After newbie Brad played out of his boots the previous month there was a lot of anticipation for the next debutant host.

We started at the Red Lion in St James, a pub that was very popular meaning we stood around in the thoroughfare between entrance and bar for the duration of a pint. For once Gary did not get there a pint too early and for once I believe Stacy was actually the first one there. A lot of firsts for one night and we hadn’t even made it to the restaurant.

There was no talk of referees and rugby positions in the pub with the highlight being something to with the pub having been there for something like a few hundred years.

We hopped in a cab and all continued to guess where we thought we were going. As it turns out we were all wrong. In fact even Stacy thought he was wrong when the cabbie dropped us off at 86 Park Lane outside a building under renovation and said that he thought there used to be a steak restaurant there!! After some anxious moments from the host we did eventually find JW Steakhouse a few doors down.

Venue – 7.5
After the scaffolding clad building we were first dropped off outside anything would have looked good. But the restaurant inside was impressive with high ceilings and dark wood panelling.

Menu – 8
The menu was split between US imported meat and locally sourced meat. An interesting thing I learnt here was that you could import bone-in meat from the US. This is different from what we’d previously been led to believe. Apart from the menu there were a number of specials on the chalk board and meat cuts could generally be ordered to size.

Waitress – 5
We had a waitress who was friendly enough and managed to answer a few queries.

Steak – 7
Stacy, Brad and I went for the 900gr monster Tomahawk steak which was a bone-in rib eye that looked too good to turn down. Even after accounting for the sizeable bone this was probably the largest steak I’ve ever had. Wassie went for the Kansas strip steak (bone-in sirloin) and Gary a 900gr T-bone. The steaks arrived and Wassie’s 500gr steak was dwarfed when normally it wold be the big daddy of the steaks! As it turns out the bone-in sirloin was a lot tastier than the Tomahawk steaks and this was confirmed by everyone. This is odd considering the rib eye generally has more flavour. That’s not to say that the rib eye was a poor steak but just not up to the same standard as the sirloin. Special mention must also go to the bite of fillet that I had from the gigantic t-bone.

Wine – 7
We started the evening with an organic merlot (only found out now it was organic!!), the Bonterra, Mendocino County, USA 2006. This was a very good wine and was followed by an equally good malbec from Pulenta Estate, La Flor Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2009.

Value – 6.5
Considering there was over 4kg of steak ordered between us the final bill of just over £70 was not too bad although there were no shooters in that total. However, the restaurant did treat us to calamari and nachos starters and shots of Makers Mark on the house. Not sure if that was to celebrate the most expensive steak ordered by steak club, £65 for the 900gr t-bone!! Congrats Gary.

Other:
• Stacy’s luck with the pink card continued as he was chosen for the second time running. We all agreed that it was the lack of eye contact with the waitress that made him the chosen one.
• We stopped at a local pub for our strafdops where they very gratefully did not serve flatiners. Not to be outdone we decided to try their special Jack Daniels shooters that were far more palatable.

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, but warn them first about the pricey t-bone!
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes

Steak – 7 * 5 = 35
Venue – 7.5
Menu – 8
Waitress – 5
Wine – 7
Value – 6.5

Total – 69

JW Steakhouse - Brad's Review

2011-02-03T13:37:00.008Z

It was Stacy's turn to be the virgin host of steak club. He got off to a flying start by informing us to meet for pre-drinks in a great characterful little pub near Piccadilly, called the Red Lion. It was packed but still pleasant with a buzz and lots of period pub features. We all had our normal pint of lager or Bulmer's (for Andre), except for Warren who went for a lager shandy??? You would swear he was training for the London Marathon or something...

After finishing our drinks (and cold-drinks for that matter), we all jumped into a cab (as we do) to head off to the surprise steak club venue for the evening. We seemed to drive for ages and the comments started to be directed at Stacy, wondering whether he actually checked whether the steak venue was close to the pre-drinks. He seemed to brush the comments off without to much worry. This however was short lived, as the cab driver arrived at the address (provided by Stacy), which looked like a construction site. Suddenly Stacy started to feel the heat. He had a 2 minute panic, until he realised that his choice venue, JW Steakhouse, was in the hotel next door to the construction site, which are all opposite Hyde Park near Marbel Arch.

The restaurant is stunning to say the least. It is large, with a touch of class, almost triple storey high ceilings and a very professional feel to it. Even though it is called JW Steakhouse, it certainly has more of a feeling of a good smart restaurant (with exception to the music being played). At the entrance is a coat room, then you get formally and politely greeted by the blonde hostess. There are big blackboards (as on the images on their home page) on the walls around the steakhouse with a good range of steak options (and some other stuff) and also very interesting information about the different steak cuts and the cooking temperatures (rare, medium rare, medium and well done). This is the best choice of steak options that I have experienced so far in my 4 steak club evenings.

The waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable. The steak club members, all regarding ourselves as being the steak connoisseurs, she handled all our questions with ease and provided some extra interesting info. She gave us just the right level of service to keep us happy without badgering us.

The first wine that Stacy chose was a Bonterra Merlot - Menocino County - USA 2006, which was very nice. The second wine, Pulenta Estate - La Flor Malbec - Mendoza - Argentina 2009, was less smooth (probably due to the age) but still very drinkable.

And finally the steaks. As mentioned earlier, the selection was great, from cut to size. 3 of us had the big 900g 'house speciality' Tomahawk Rib-eye steaks (Myself, Stacy and Andre), Warren had the Kansas city sirloin (about 500g) and Gary had the Porterhouse T-Bone (upgraded from the standard size to a large 900g - which turned out to be £65 for just his steak). The Tomahawks were all very good, but I would estimate that out of the 900g, only about 650g was meat (the remaining 250g being a large bone and some fat). My Tomahawk was very tender and a good large piece of fine steak, but it lacked a bit of taste. It turns out, that there was general concensus that Warren had the pick of the night, with his smaller but far tastier Kansas city sirloin.

The bill came to £71 per head, which seems to be pretty average for our steak evenings, however this excluded the normal few rounds of shooters (as they were going to charge £5 per shot). They did however throw in free starters, a round of whiskies and bread.

Steak= 7.5 x 5 = 37.5

Venue=9

Menu=9

Wine=7

Waitress=7

Value=6

Total=75.5

Would I go back to JW Steakhouse? Most definitely, but probably for a special occasion due to the expense and would have the Kansas City Sirloin.

JW Steakhouse – Wassie’s Review

2011-01-31T00:10:00.000Z

“Where and when will the Referee take the Pink Card, Mr Sweet Bread, Always First At Pre-Drinks Chatting to Dodgy Blokes, and This Is Not A Drinking Club?” started the banter on our next steak club outing, that has truly felt like we haven’t been out for months.

Stacey, now a seasoned member took control (sort of, you’ll see why later) of the evening and arranged for pre-drinks at the Red Lion near Piccadilly Circus. Quaint pub filled with charater and more than over filled with patrons.

Stacey hailed a cab and secretly whispered the address where we were going. Here is were steak club has it’s record broken for the longest cab ride. It was good to see the sites and sounds on London, but man, our stomachs were aching. The cab pulled up outside the address on Park Lane and Stacey’s face when paler and paler. It was a building under construction. He jumped out the cab and looked around, to no avail. His control was slipping away, but then backed himself. Called the boys out of the cab and walked us over to the building next door. Here everyone was in a tux – except us. Andre decided he’d keep his 70’s tie on to try and up the smartness of our group. The doorman pointed us to another hotel a door down and there it finally was… JW Steakhouse.

Charming blond maître d greeted us and took us to our table. The restaurant was fairly full and although in a swish part of London was not really in your face – probably the music had something to do with it as it played current top 40 chart toppers. A huge dining area and high ceilings. The walls were top to toe in chalk boards with explanations of steaks, larger cut options, meat info and apparently the best cheesecake this side of the Park.

The menu was great with the largest selection of different steaks including American Filet, New York Strip, Filet "Oscar", Bone-In Kansas City Strip and British JW "Tomahawk" Rib Eye, Aberdeen Angus Rib Eye served on-the-bone, Hangar and Rib Eye. I ordered the Kansas City Strip (Sirloin on the bone), medium rare. In my opinion, the order of the night as it was really tasted. Three guys had "Tomahawk" Rib Eyes and Gary has the Porterhouse (T-Bone) all of which were 1,000 grams! It’s really good that they have larger size cuts available on the chalk boards for us with big eyes. Other steaks were in the top of the range and really tender. Also probably the best steak knives we’ve had.

If you order off menu, make sure you find out the price first at the Porterhouse stung Gazza with £64 – only steak!

I must mention that starters (bread, calamari and nachos) came on the house. Perhaps because of the size of our party, or that we just looked like men that meant business! Additionally, at the end of the meal we were all given complementary bourbons – they apparently also specialise in bourbons.

Our waitress was knowledgeable and warmly humoured our questions.

Wine is coming out last on my review, but there was good menu of choices and good wines selected by Stacey. Gary is yet to email out the names of the wines, so you’ll have to get this from his review. I wouldn’t dream of editing a review (again).

Overall price per head was £70 (with no shooters – they were had a bar afterwards as JW wanted to charge us £5 per shooter). One special fine to mention was Andre lying to SC about a big event… girl moving in – one of the top 7 big events in a mans life!

Steak – 8.5 x 5 = 42.5
Venue = 8
Menu = 8.5
Wine = 7
Value for money = 7
Waitress = 6

Total = 79

Go to JW Steakhouse for the biggest steaks in London, really good flavour and the most impressive steak knives. Freebees were also a good touch onto a night that is still fairly prices.

Wassie

Casa Malevo - Gary's review

2011-01-06T15:14:00.000Z

Oh dear, it seems that 2011 has started off on a bad note for me with three strafdops owing for being late with this review. Hopefully my fellow steak club members will have as equally overindulged over the Christmas holidays and we can turn our backs on flatliners and go back to the traditional shots (let us all remember the wise words of Wassie – “This is not a drinking club!”).

2010’s final steak club was hosted by Brad and was a great way to round off the year’s search for the best steak in London. The night started off well with the intrepid five meeting at the Swan in Marble Arch (I haven’t learnt my lesson yet and was the first to arrive and sit around like Norman No-Mates; Stacy, as is becoming tradition, was once again the last to turn up).

As has been covered by the other reviews, the most memorable aspect of pre-drinks was an impromptu rugby selection by one of the locals – I was chosen as prop, Wassie as flank, Andre as wing and Brad as scrummie. Poor Stacy didn’t quite make it onto the team and was put in as ref (as he was apparently far too calculating).

Fortunately we were still sober enough not to try to start any impromptu games of rugby then and there and after a few more pints Brad led us off to Casa Malevo.

Casa Malevo, an Argentinean steakhouse, has only recently opened and is a great find by our debut host.

I think Brad’s only real mistake as host that night was making us eat prancreas that night. At least we all learnt that sweetbread is not actually bread at all – who knew???

Despite the recommendation to go for the sirloin, I decided on a 500g rib-eye, medium rare. What an absolute gem! Grilled to perfection (I generally like my steaks on the rare side), this was one of the most tender steaks I’ve had. Three of us had gone for the rib-eye and all of us were raving about it – I think this was our Christmas present from the Steak gods. The other two had ordered sirloin, which wasn’t quite as good but certainly not bad either.

One the wine front, we started off with a 2008 Septimo Dia malbec – a very impressive wine. The second wine was a 2008 Fabre Montmayou Reserva merlot which unfortunately wasn’t as memorable as the first.

The damage for the night turned out to be £71 a head which considering that this included a few shooters was well worth it.

Stacy’s sun of bad luck continued later that night when he was selected as the most likely owner of the infamous pink card. Eish!

Incidentally, I was relieved to hear that Andre’s bank was unable to give him a replacement card of a different colour. This is turning out to be quite an entertaining way to end off steak club nights (except of course if I ever end up losing and get selected as the owner of the “pinkie”)

Steak         8 x 5 = 40
Venue           8
Menu            7
Wine            7
Value           7
Waitress        5 (waiter was good, poor score due to wrong gender)
Total           74

Casa Malevo – Wassie’s Review

2010-12-30T23:07:00.005Z

In submitting this review I avoid a third straftop at the next Steak Club meeting – where, I fear, we will again break double figures for the strafdop tally. A virgin host stepped up to take the reins and Brad played out of his boots (this phrase starter a rugby trend to the evening.)

Pre-drinks were at The Swan pub, opposite Hyde Park near Marble Arch. Really nice pub carvery out and looked to be filled with locals. Stacey was the last to join and soon the somewhat dry, somewhat bitter, never sweet nectar was being shared. Here Andre thought he would give us a restaurant tip he’d heard about, only thing he couldn’t remember the name – thanks Andre. An English gentleman next to me had had a few with his friends and leaned over picking up our accents and asked whether we had watched Scotland thump South Africa. I though that was a bit of a strange question seeing the previous weekend The Boks went on to annihilate England! He went on to ask whether we ever played rugby. We all had at some stage, so he guessed our positions…me, flank; Gary, prop; Brad, scrum half; Andre, wing (out of contact), Stacey, too calculated for rugby – referee!

A short cab ride later and we arrived at an Argentinean Restaurant called Casa Malevo. It had only been open a couple of weeks. Good find. We were on the menu straight away and Andre commented there are very interesting things on the menu – to what Brad replied “Yeah Steak!” Andre could have been talking about something else that we’ll get onto shortly.

After a few hints about how parched we were Brad ordered a bottle of Malbec Septimo Dia 2008 that was really a great wine to note for the future.

I said that there didn’t seem to be any bread baskets on the menu. Brad rubbished the idea and proudly pointed out the grilled sweetbreads and ordered two. When they arrived they were strangely covered with salad garnish. He’d ordered pancreas!

Another red, the Montmayou Reserva 2008 was accompanied our meal and was average compared to the Malbec. Three of us ordered the Rib-eye and two the Sirloin. The Sirloin was recommended by the waitress, but it was the Rib-eye that won the day. My Rib-eye was medium-rare and grilled perfectly. We all ordered larger cuts than on the menu (500g) – standard sizes were 300g, but great that they state on the menu that you can ask for the larger cuts. Regular side options were available and all good.

Total cost came to £70 per head and for those who had the Rib-eye, well worth it.

The notorious “pink card” (Andre’s pink credit card) came out and the waitress humoured us by picking who she through was the owner. This just wasn’t Stacy’s night.

PS, there are bread baskets, they’re just not on the menu.

Steak - 8 x 5 = 40
Venue = 8
Menu = 8
Wine = 7
Value for money = 7.5
Waitress = 5

Total = 75.5

Go to Casa Malevo for phenomenal Rib-Eye and the best sweetbread I’ve ever eaten!

Wassie

Casa Malevo - Andre's Review

2010-12-30T22:40:00.000Z

A quick scan of the blog shows me that at least I won’t be drinking strafdops alone at the next Steak Club. So usual service resumed then!!

Now back to the big occasion of Brad’s first evening as host of steak club, something of a coming of age process but far less brave and much less painful that chopping off certain parts of your anatomy and wandering around Transkei covered in white paint.

I was a little concerned how much I’d be able to appreciate a steak that night after a work Christmas party lunch that entailed a three course meal combined with a few glasses of wine and the mandatory Magners. But in hindsight I think it only served to help expand my stomach more in preparation for what was to come…

We started at the Swan in a nice area of town. Good start Brad. The pre-drinks was memorable mostly for the random rugby conversation at the end of the drinks session where a punter guessed our rugby positions based on appearances and came up with something like: Wassie – back row or centre, Brad – scrummy, Gary – front row, me – somewhere away from the action and Stacy as the ref!! I think his words were that Stacy looked too calculating or something like that. After a good chuckle we got in a cab to head to the venue with no-one having an idea about where we might be going.

Venue – 7
We turned up at Casa Malevo and I still didn’t know where we were going. I’d never heard of the place but what a little gem. Quite an understated décor in line with some other Argentinean steak restaurants, but without any pampas kitsch. Everything said the focus was on the steak and not the furniture and fittings – another good start.

Menu – 7.5
On the face of it the menu looked a little bare on the steak sizes but the following small print redeemed the menu: all our cuts are available in bigger sizes, please ask your waiter. Face saved.

Waitress – 5
I think I’ve had one waitress at the many Argentine steak houses I’ve tried so you should know going into such an establishment that you’re not relying on the waitress score to bump up the ratings. That said I have still scored a 5 here for the enthusiasm shown by the waiter-cum-manager despite the fairly lengthy story on the meaning of Malevo.

Steak – 8.5
Oh yes. The choice came down to the rib eye and the sirloin (only because there were only 3 steak options and the other was fillet). We all opted for a 500gr cut of steak with Stacy and me having the sirloin and everyone else trying the rib eye. The chunk of sirloin that arrived on my plate was awesome. A nice thick cut, medium rare on the outside and rare on the inside. While the sirloin was very good it did not come close to the rib eye that was incredibly tasty and still quite tender – a tough combination to get right.

Wine – 7.5
The first wine was a 2008 Malbec by the name of Septimo Dia and the second was a 2008 Merlot, Fabre Montmayou Reserva 2008. [Thanks Gary for the texted photo images of the wine bottles, this at least helped me remember the wine names if not the taste.] I do remember the wines being quite good but can’t give too much more away than that.

Value – 6
The value was above average at £71 but then we did have a few shooters and everyone ordered a 500gr steak.

Other:
• A classic for the evening was when someone rudely suggested bread for the table, must have been Wassie disrespecting the host again. Brad being only too eager to please called the waiter and quickly pointed at what looked like a bread platter. When the distinctly unbreadlike course arrived a few minutes later we realised that Brad had ordered sweatbread. Now sweatbread is about as far from bread as you can get as it is either pancreas or thymus. I think this time it was thymus and not tongue as the waiter suggested. It’s not the healthiest of dishes but certainly tasty.
• Stacy ended his evening of ignominy by being chosen as the pink credit card owner. An aside on this saga: I sent a note to the credit card company and asked for a more appropriate credit card but they don’t do any other colours at the moment. So I assume I’m not the only one out there being ridiculed.
• I’m not loving the flatliners that seem to be coming the steak club strafdop standard but if it means getting reviews in earlier then maybe it’s a good thing.

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes

Steak – 8.5 * 5 = 42.5
Venue – 7
Menu – 7.5
Waitress – 5
Wine – 7.5
Value – 6

Total – 75.5

Casa Malevo - Brad's Review

2010-12-24T08:58:00.005Z

As a relatively new member to the steak club, this was my first chance to host the evening. I put a lot of research into my choice of steak restaurant, to ensure I did not disappoint the long standing members and get a bad review on our blog. Time will tell whether the research paid off when the remaining members submit their reviews...

I chose the traditional English pub, the Swan (near Lancaster Gate tube station), as the venue to kick off the evening with a few pre-drinks. Gary as usual was the first to arrive (I am sure he does it on purpose to ensure he can have an extra drink to kick off the evening). Warren and I arrived next and Andre arrived soon after us. As usual, Stacey straggled in about 30 minutes later. After having a few minutes of general chit chat, in our obviously South African accents, and English gentleman next to us, kicked off conversation about South Africa and the British Lions Tour. This led this gentleman into a little game to try to identify what rugby position he thought each of would play or played. He started with Warren, being a flanker, Gary being a front rower, myself being a scrumhalf, Andre being a little less obvious, but settled on full back. He then took one look at Stacey and immediately said, ‘You are too calculated, you are the referee!’ This referee comment cracked us all up and was one of the classic moments of the evening. After a long chuckle, we all finished off our drinks and headed outside to catch a cab to my surprise choice steak restaurant of the evening.

I chose to take the steak club group to the new Argentinean restaurant situated in the heart of Connaught Village, called Casa Malevo. It had only been open for 6 weeks, however seemed to have got off to a great flying start. The restaurant is rustically decorated with some modern colours combined with wooden and bare unpainted wall finishes. The atmosphere was relaxed, semi-formal, with slightly dimmed lighting. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to see that the restaurant was almost full.

The menu is not extensive but provides great flexibility especially if you are after a great steak. The standard steaks are the rib eye, sirloin and fillet, all offered in 2 sizes (225g and 300g), with an extra caveat stating that larger cuts for all three steaks are available. Being a South African steak club evening, we all went for a 500g cut. They had large rib eye and sirloin cuts available. The owner highly recommended the rib eye steaks. Andre and Stacey decided to go for the sirloin (against recommendation) and the rest of us went for the rib eye steaks. After all ordering large steaks, we were all wondering when they were going to bring us our steak knives. Much to our surprise, the steaks all arrived, but no steak knives. As it turns out, the steaks were so tender so steak knives were not required. The owner’s recommendation of the rib eye steak turned out to be the choice steak of the evening. I ordered mine cooked to medium rare, which was cooked perfectly. Out of my three steak club evenings so far, this is the best steak I have tasted (and the others were all great).

Being my steak club evening, it was my responsibility to order the side orders and the wine. Warren was hinting that he would really like a bread basket that was not displayed on the menu. Thinking I was ‘clever’ (which backfired on me) I looked at the menu and saw grilled sweatbread, which I naively assumed was a sort of bread (a good alternative to a bread basket). Sweatbread is pancreas, not an alternative type of bread. This turned out to be one of the other big jokes of the evening, this time at my expense...

The wines I chose for the evening were the Malbec Septimo Dia 2008, which was a great choice (in my opinion), which was followed by a Merlot Fabre Montmayou Reserva 2008, which I thought was also nice, but the Malbec was definitely the better of the two.

Throughout the evening we were very well looked after by a variety of waiters, waitresses and the owner himself. Following on from the last steak club, we had to keep the new game of selecting the owner of the pink credit card tradition going, by asking the waitress to select the person who she thought the card belonged to. Much to Stacey’s shock, he was selected. It just was not his night!

In summary, if you are after a great steak (a large one if are hungry), the Casa Malevo restaurant is a great choice. I would also definitely go with the owner’s recommendation and order the rib eye steak. The evening cost us £71 per head, which does seem rather pricey, however, we did have two bottles of red between 5 of us, a few side orders, five 500g steaks and finished off with 3 rounds of shooters.

My Ratings:
Steak – 9 x 5 = 45
Venue – 7
Menu – 7
Waitress – 6
Wine – 7
Value – 6
Total = 78

Casa Malevo - Stacy's Review

2010-12-12T17:51:00.008Z

Well, once again I arrived late to the pre-drinks at the Swan near Lancaster Gate. A very nice pub with a good looking buffet had us all guessing what Brad had organized on his debut as host. Andre seemed to be holding up very well for someone who had come from a work Christmas lunch however he had a couple of verbal fopar's which I am sure Wazzi's review will elaborate on. Our pre-drinks ended with a fellow patron choosing what position on the rugby field he felt we played. Well, that is what I thought he was doing until he decided I was too calculated so therefore must be the ref. It is still on the field I guess and is better than orange peeler but not what I was expecting!

After a short cab ride we arrived at our venue for the evening, Casa Malevo, an Argentinian restaurant that had been open for 6 weeks. The restaurant was cosy with an inviting and relaxed feel to it. It was rather dim at first with it being quite difficult to read the menu and that might explain why we had “sweet bread” (Thymus) for a starter instead of a bread basket. I think the truth be told Brad had overheard Wassie's remark about there being no bread on the menu as a starter so decided to prove him wrong. It was interesting as far as starters go although it did leave a fatty layer around my palate for most of the meal. Apparently though it is the Argentinian benchmark of a good barbeque. So was this to be a good sign for us...

Once the lights had been turned up a notch and we could just make out the menu, I was happy to see the usual selections of steak expected at any Argentinian restaurant. The nice extra here though is that they are happy to serve a range of cuts right up to 750g. I decided to go for a 500g sirloin and maybe should have been a bit weary that it was one of two cuts left. Nevertheless I ordered it medium rare and it looked promising on arrival. It was actually one of the tallest 500g cuts I have seen which meant my medium rare was actually very rare in the middle. It also had quite a large piece of fat running the length of the steak which I wasn't too overjoyed with. Too be fair though I had tasted the rib eye that the other guys had ordered and it was possibly the best rib eye I have tasted so my sirloin was always going to struggle from that point.

Our first bottle of wine was a Septimo Dia Malbec which was a good choice and went down really well. Unfortunately the second bottle was less memorable so much so that I can't remember what it was. It's not to say that I didn't enjoy it but the first bottle was a clear winner.

On the waitress front we had quite a mixed bag between the Maitre d', a waiter and a waitress who served us interchangeably throughout the night. The Maitre d' was very interesting giving good insights and explanations of why Argentinian meat is so good and the origins of the restaurant. He also recommended the rib eye's which I should have listened to. Just to note that I have overlooked the outcome of the pink card game referred to below in my rating.

The meal came to £71 each which is the steepest steak club I have been to so far. As a result I wouldn't say it was the best for value.

Who the hell started the pink card game? Maybe it was over confidence, maybe it was the fact that I had asked the waitress to pick the owner of the card, who knows. All I remember was the waitress looking intently at Andre so I looked across at him, was about to congratulate him for winning himself another Flatliner when he looked at me with a big grin on his face. I looked back at the waitress to find her holding out the credit card machine to me! I can't believe I was even on the shortlist as the owner but it was one of those nights!

Our post dinner drinks didn't turn out to be too memorable. A decent walk to get there avoiding groups of riot police with the only memorable part of pub being the the terrible state of the bogs.

All in all, despite my comments about my steak and the overall value, I would recommend the Casa Malevo and head back tomorrow for the rib-eye and warm friendly service.

All in all a very good debut by Brad, thanks!

Steak – 6 x 5 = 30

Venue – 7

Menu – 7

Waitress – 6.5

Wine – 6.5

Value – 5

Total – 62

The Big Easy – Andre’s review

2010-11-05T00:47:00.001Z

The difficult thing about writing your review last is to avoid being influenced by the other reviews. How do you do it Wassie? So what I have done is not read any other reviews yet. But I did see that everyone had submitted one which has made me get my A in G and sort something out. Here we go…

Balls Brothers was a once off and I accepted this fact before even trying to find a pre-dinner drinks venue. I wonder how many more reviews I need to write before no mention is made of THAT evening.

Drinks took place at the Antelope which was quite packed and if it wasn’t for the table hunting prowess of the host we might have left there sooner. Not much to note about drinks apart from the fact that I actually got there first for a change. Gary is learning. Stacy arrived last again – is there a trend developing here?

I thought we could walk to the restaurant and just as well we didn’t try as it was about 3km down the road. My sense of distance from the previous week I was at the Big Easy was perhaps distorted by 4 too many pints.

We pulled up outside the Big Easy and I was somewhat nervous. I mean who takes the Steak Club to a bbq and crabshack?

Venue – 7.5
It does what it says on the in. Goes for the kitsch New Orleans type look and actually does it too. Good vibe, especially compared to the previous venue where we doubled the number of patrons. It was important to get the right seat and be able to enjoy the view even if it meant being tormented by Wassie when trying to go to the loo.

Menu – 6
The menu was the reason I hadn’t taken the steak club there previously but in hindsight it is not as bad as I initially had thought. It had some well sized steaks which is normally where most restaurants fall short, I mean seriously, most places top out at 12oz which is like a ladies steak.

Waitress – 8.5

It has been a while but it was worth the wait. First of all the waitress was in fact a waitress, secondly there was not one but 2 attending out table and not just any waitresses, no, a Hungarian and a Swede. Tick, tick, tick, thanks for playing (had to change that phrase to not make it sound too smutty). And they were very attentive and only too happy to help. I’m not sure what a 10 would be for this category but this was right up there.

Steak – 7.5
I had sampled the steak the previous week and loved it. That was however at 11:30pm after and evening of drinking. I now had the opportunity to try the steak on an even keel. I went for the 600gr rib eye on the bone ordered medium (I won’t go into reasons again). The good thing about on the bone apart from more flavour is that you get to sample different degrees of cooking as the closer to the bone you get the rarer the meat gets. I had a few pieces on the outside that were a little too done for me but on the whole I had a fabulous steak. I couldn’t have been that drunk last time. Mind you I thought I ordered the 600gr sirloin on the bone previously and I don’t even see that on the menu, ok maybe a little drunk last time.

Wine – 6
The first bottle, a cabernet (Catullio) was a bit iffy and could have been better. At first I didn’t even think we’d been brought the right bottle, in the end I wish they had brought me another bottle. It even prompted Brad to order a beer, something a little out of the ordinary. The second bottle, the Saint Clair Pinot Noir was a good choice though.

Value – 7.5
The full price came to £50 each which was extremely good value bearing in mind this also included a round and a bit of shooters, more about that later.

Other

>Quite possibly the worst shooters in strafdop history, we all had flatliners and despite having tried flatliners before I don’t recall them being this nasty. Gary, how was the second one. I thought we might well need the bucket that the waitresses (not so) jokingly brought to the table.

>Ended up at the Troubadour again but this time can’t say much for the bands. The first one was a bit haphazard but the next one was quite good. We made the same mistake of trying the Ratzhaus beer again but at least only one round this time.

>Array of drinks for the evening in chronological order: cider, red wine, flatliner (tequila, Tabasco, sambuca), beer, rum and coke, vodka and redbull, (quadruple) whiskey

>Wassie lost the ‘rare’ credit card game and rightfully brought upon himself another flatliner – cheeky git

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes

Steak – 7.5 * 5 = 37.5
Venue – 7
Menu – 6
Waitress – 8.5
Wine – 6
Value – 7.5

Total – 72.5

The Big Easy - Brad's review

2010-10-22T22:22:00.000+01:00

Andre’s steak club evening started in Chelsea at the small and cosy pub called The Antelope. Wassie and I arrived together, to find Gary and Andre half way through their first pints. When the second pint round was offered by Stacey, surprisingly, only a few of us took up his offer (I think that might have something to do with the vivid memories of last month’s post steak club hang-overs).

We were rushed by Andre to quickly complete our drinks, as the reservation was for 19h30 and we only had a 2 hr window to complete our steak feast to come. Andre hailed a cab on the King’s Road, and we headed to The Big Easy. As we arrived, it was quite obvious that this place was popular. Good thing we had a booking. The Big Easy is a vibey American Grill with the normal cheesy American decor.

According to the steak club legend, Andre has a reputation for arranging places with good waitresses and male desired movie scenes (lesbian) at pre-drinks. He lived up to his reputation once again. We had a total of 4 foreign waitresses with tight T-shirts looking after us over the duration of the evening. Our 2 main waitresses were from Sweden and Hungary. They looked after us very well throughout the evening, with exception of 1 incident. We took their recommendation on what strafdop’s to drink. They suggested Flatliners, which are Tequila, Tabasco sauce and Sambuca. If I say these shooters hurt, that is an understatement. One of the highlights of the evening for me was watching and listening to Gary whine like a little pig, refusing to have his second penalty Flatliner shooter. Eventually he did drink it after some serious abuse from the other members and some convincing from the tight T-shirt waitresses.

The menu was quite varied, offering a wide variety of typical American diner food. The steak options were not too bad either. There were 7 steaks to choose from, however 4 of them were only 300g (so these were eliminated from my choice immediately). This left 3 to choose from. A 600g sirloin on the bone, 600g rib-eye on the bone and a monster 750g T-bone steak. Wassie went for the big guy, the other 3 went for the rib-eyes and I went for the sirloin. I asked for mine to be cooked medium rare and that is exactly how it was served. Some of the other steaks were slightly charred in places or under done. Taking all of these factors into consideration, I think I got the best steak of the evening.

The wine of the evening was mixed in my opinion. The first wine was a Ca’Tullio, which I did not like at all, so much so I asked Andre to order a beer for me. The second was a Merlot Rapaura Reserve, which was far nicer.

My second highlight of the evening was when we all pulled out our credit cards, preparing to pay. We then noticed that Andre pulled out a pink credit card. After some loud laughter (granted after a few Flatliners), Wassie came up with an idea to play a little game with the waitress, to see if she could identify who owned the pink card. The person chosen would have to drink another Flatliner. Wassie was convinced that she would choose Andre. Ironically she chose Wassie, much to his regret for suggesting the game (as he knew what penalty awaited him).

We had a great evening at the Big Blue (even though we only had 2 yrs before we were rushed to leave our table for the next seating).

We ended the evening at the Troubadour near Earl’s Court. Some advice, if you go to the Troubadour stay away from their lager on tap. From the first sip I could sense that if I carried on drinking that lager, I was going to really struggle in the morning. All-in-all.... A great steak club evening! Thanks Andre.

Now for the rating:

Steak: 7 X 5 = 35

Venue: 7

Menu: 7

Wine: 5

Value: 8

Waitresses: 8

Total: 70

The Big Easy - Gary's review

2010-10-22T20:11:00.003+01:00

October was Andre’s turn at the Steak Club helm, which of course means magical hottie-kissing-hottie pre-drink entertainment. Or at least we had hoped – unfortunately there wasn’t a lesbian in sight at the Antelope (at least none that were putting on a show). A few pints and some banter later and Andre indicated it was time for us to head off.

To our horror, Andre’s initial inclination was to walk to the venue. This is Steak Club and not gym club! Fortunately, the fierce resistance from the other Steak Club members forced Andre to reassess and we eagerly clambered into a nearby cab (which proved to be the right choice as it ended up being a good distance away – heck, even if was right next door its still better to cab it…)

The Big Easy is an American grillhouse with a Southern states style décor. Its all very relaxed and well set up. The place was packed and clearly very popular – one look at the waitresses and you’ll see why!

Hot waitresses obviously bring out the worst in some people. In Wassie’s case that happens to be respect for seating arrangements – when I returned from the gents I found he had stolen my place at the table (which happened to be a prime viewing spot). Shameful!

Our waitresses (yes, that’s plural) were from Sweden and Hungary so didn’t really fit in with the American theme but really, who cares? Not only good looking, they were also chatty, friendly and provided quick service. The only downside was that it was them that suggested flatliners as strafdops. This was quite possibly the most painful straffies I’ve had to endure and also serves as the reason that I’m finally going to get a Steak Club review in on time….

The menu offers a good variety of steaks from the monster 750g porterhouse (only Wassie was brave enough to tackle this bad boy) through to the 300g New York sirloins and Fillets. I went for the 600g Ribeye bone-in, which though slightly overdone was still a decent steak and was quite tasty.

The first wine of the night was a Ca’Tullio something or the other (sorry, my photo only got the “Ca’Tullio” part). Not a particularly great wine to be honest.

The second wine (Saint Clair Rapaura Reserve Merlot 2008 – much better photo!) was a lot better and I’d recommend it.

Overall value worked out okay too at around £50 a head which included the strafdops. Payment time also provided us with a chance to invent a new drinking game – make the waitress guess who is the owner of the pink credit card. Wassie ended up being the victim after the waitress thought Andre would be “too obvious”.

Post-drinks ended up being at the Troubadour – we must learn to stay away from their beer. There is some serious hangover material in whatever that stuff is.

Steak - 6.5 x 5 = 32.5

Venue = 7

Menu = 7

Wine = 6

Value = 8

Waitress = 8.5 (9 for Sweden; 8 for Hungary)

Total = 69

Wassie playing drinking jenga at the Troubadour (until a very grumpy waitress very angrily put a stop to it)

Big Easy - Stacy's Review

2010-10-22T15:52:00.005+01:00

I really need to work on my timing as I arrived last again (this time at the Antelope near Sloane Square) and once more paid the price. This time I had to stand for pre-drinks while the rest of the guys enjoyed their cosy seats which they weren't giving up for the world. There was an attempted shuffle as I arrived to make space between Wassie and Gary but as I was later to find out during the cab ride it would have been pretty darn tight.

I learnt one of the many Steak Club tips the hard way. When getting into a cab with five guys make sure you are one of the first two and definitely don't be the last guy. Well I was the 5^th in and had to somehow squeeze into the gap that Wassie and Gary had left me. I am grateful though that we resorted to the cab ride even though Andre was pretty sure we could have walked what seem like 20km's to the venue. One thing to mention here is that it is the first time a cab has pulled across the street to stop traffic in both directions so that we could cross the road after having hopped out, now that is service!

We arrived at Big Easy – Bar B.Q and Crabshack on Kings Road. We were shown to our table on arrival and immediately it felt like it was the place to be on a Friday night. The place was buzzing and all tables were full and to make up for Wassies poor showing at our previous meeting, we somehow managed to end up with two waitresses. Wassie will probably still complain about this as I don't think he ever got his water. The venue has very laid back but comfortable decor that transports you to the deep south or as some other members later commented, to the ski slopes of Europe. There is a decent bar area to have a few pre or post dinner drinks and there was apparently a further dining area downstairs where we heard some live music being played.

The menu was one if the biggest I have had to handle which meant there was a lot to choose from. On the steak front there were choices between 200/300g, 600g on the bone or in Wassies case the Daddy of all steaks, the 750g Porterhouse.

I went with the 600g rib eye on the bone ordered medium rare. It started off well but it was quite a thick steak and unfortunately ended up a bit too rare in the middle.

Need I say more on the waitresses. The fact is we had two, one from Sweden and the other from Hungary...I think the ratings will say it all!

Wines – once again I don't have any pictures to remember what we had so it will be up to the other reviewers to provide the details. What I do remember is that the second bottle was by far the better of the two wines.

Overall the meal came to £50 which I thought was a good deal as this included 6 Flatliners (a good shooter but with a serious kick!).

A new end of meal tradition began when Wassie adamantly remarked that the waitress would definitely associate the one pink credit card with Andre. So, to test this theory, we had the waitress do exactly that and after a bit of time thinking this through (having narrowed it down to Wassie and Andre), Wassie was declared the owner much to his dismay.

The evening continued at the Troubadour which was a very lively place and included some live music. Luckily I left around midnight as I was horrified to hear about what was consumed after I left. I had tennis organised for the following morning and there would have been no way I could have dragged my sorry @ss onto the court if I had stayed.

All in all Big Easy would be an easy and justified recommendation and I would definitely head back myself.

Thanks Andre!

Steak - 6.5 x 5 = 32

Venue - 7.5

Menu - 7

Waitress - 8.5

Wine - 6

Value - 7.5

Total - 69

The Big Easy - Wassie's Review

2010-10-21T19:22:00.000+01:00

As I sit in Heathrow awaiting our flight to the land of tequila, I find the internet beconing for a review...

Andre had us meet up at Sloane Square for predrinks for Steoctober. No lesbians at our predrinks bar, but with the amount of people crammed in there we throught there may have been. Gary again was the first one there, but this time he didn't pick up any strange men.

After convinging Andre that we'd like to be treated to a cab ride and not a lenghty walk down Kings Road we arrived at The Big Easy. This is an American grill and on arriving could see how popular it was. There are set seatings for 2 hour slots. We muscled our way in and after a cunning fight for the "seats with a view" settled down.

Waitresses and more wiatresses all over. We're picking up a theme with Andre's choices, and a good theme at that.

Plenty of steak choices and I was the only one to brave the T-Bone, 750 grams. It was a bit overdone, but a good steak never the less.

The venue was a buzz with excitement (probably the waitresses again) and would recomment it.

Plenty of wine on offer, but the waitress did bring something we didn't order. Andre being the gentleman he is, just took it anyway.

Our after dinner mints (strafdops) were selected by the Swedish server who recommended flatliners... shot sambucca, tobascco, shot tequila. Crisis.

One game of who's got the pink credit card later and I had another flatliner.

Steak - 6.5 x 5 = 32.5
Venue = 7.5
Menue = 8
Wine = 6
Value for money = 8
Waitress = 8
Total = 70

Go to Big Easy for a good vibey night out and healthy size steaks. Don't go there for strafdops!

Wassie

Where's Roons?

2010-10-15T12:29:00.000+01:00

Not in the history of Steak Club has someone failed to get their review in before the next meeting. With Roons frantically doing the final packing before emigrating to South Africa. The clock is ticking...

Top Steak List and Top Restaurant List Updated

2010-10-15T12:24:00.000+01:00

Finally the ranking lists have been updated with 2010 venues.

Top steak has a challenger... Beunos Aires. There may be more movement here. Roons is still to submit his review so depending on this it could go top or second. Currently it's tied first with Gaucho Grill (Piccadilly).

Top steak houses... not much movement here, 2010 entries have been bid or bottom table.

Buenos Aires - Gary's review

2010-10-13T18:24:00.000+01:00

Wassie’s choice of meeting in Fulham for pre-drinks on a night of a Chelsea soccer game wasn’t the greatest start he could have hoped for. Complete chaos in a sea of blue jersey’s squeezing into any available space (and in some cases also spaces which shouldn’t really be classified as “available”) on the District line, and not too much better once we arrived in Fulham.

I spotted Andre in the same carriage as me and thought briefly of giving up my seat to move over and join him, but I swiftly abandoned that idea upon the next wave of Chelsea fans swarmed into the train and and clung determinedly to what space I had managed to carve out for myself.

The upside was that for once I wasn’t the first to arrive and I missed the frantic reshuffling of venues that Roons had to step in and perform (the Elk bar apparently was the only place left where there was a realistic chance of getting to the bar).

There we had a few swift pints to christen Roon’s final London Steak Club and welcome our two eager new recruits.

Roons, its been an absolute pleasure to be part of this grand adventure into the domain of steaks that you helped set into motion. I look forward to hearing of your exploits in SA, especially if you ever get involved in another newspaper fight. Also, I couldn’t help but note that your review is still outstanding – please don’t think that you will be able to escape the strafdops!

After pre-drinks, we headed to Buenos Aires, a relatively new steakhouse. It’s a nice looking restaurant, with a spacious feel. This spacious feel was clearly helped by the fact that there was only one other group of people there besides ourselves. I’m not sure if this was only because most people (besides Wassie) try to avoid Fulham on Chelsea home game nights. This is a pity as its really a good place to go for a meal.

Unfortunately, the Wassie sausage-fest curse struck again and no females in sight amongst the waiters. Our waiter was certainly attentive and eager to serve us, but this just can’t overcome the lack of the correct gender for the scoring.

As would be expected for an Argentine themed steakhouse, the selection of steak on the menu was good. Despite the waiter’s recommendation to go for the ribeye, I chose a rare Sirloin. I don’t want to oversell this, but it turned out to be one of the tastiest steaks I’ve had in my time as part of steak club. Tender, juicy, tasty – the sort of steak that just melts in your mouth! I’d highly recommend it!

Definitely just what I needed after the rather plain steak I had at the previous steak club outing.

We started off with a bottle of Malma Malbec before moving onto a Tapiz Reserva Malbec (I guess you have to go with a double Malbec selection in a place calling itself Buenos Airies)

I’m usually a big fan of Malbec, but I was just a little disappointed by the wine that night. It wasn’t bad – just not quite what I’d built up in my head. Perhaps the steak was so good that the wine just couldn’t live up to it.

Finally, it was time for strafdops as well as an opportunity to quiz our new joiners on the traditions and virtues of Steak Club (I’m pleased to report that they passed with flying colours). Wassie earned bonus marks to the Value score by browbeating the waiter into giving a decent discount on the shooters – an effort I appreciated at the time but came to regret the next day when the hangover kicked in.

Quote of the night: A completely straight-faced Wassie with “This is NOT a drinking club” before ordering an umpteenth round of shooters…

Steak: 40

Menu: 7

Wine: 6

Venue: 7

Waitress: 2

Value: 7

Overall: 69

Buenos Aires - Andre's Review

2010-10-05T23:21:00.002+01:00

Pre-drinks in Fulham pre a Chelsea Champions League game!! Nice one Wassie. I must say that there are some interesting characters in that Chelsea supporters crowd. Let’s leave that there shall we. I got on the tube and saw Gary at the other end of the packed carriage. For once Gary wasn’t going to be drinking alone before the rest of the Steak Club members arrived.

Bootsy’s was understandable jammed to the rafters meaning that yet again we were unable to meet for a pre-drink at the place originally chosen by Wassie. Brad, Stacy, you learn to expect this sort of thing from Wassie. At least Bootsy’s was actually open – so that’s progress.

The Elk bar was a suitable replacement and being a full 60m further away from Stamford Bridge meant that there was space for 5 guys to get a drink. I say 5 because by the time Stacy joined us later it was the Steak Club and the barmen left in the echoing pub after the marauding hordes had headed off to the stadium. It was a special occasion with Brad and Stacy joining as new members and Darroll, a founding member, leaving for sunnier climes.

A couple quick Guinness’s later and we were in a cab heading to an Argentine restaurant on Fulham Palace road. Actually we were in 2 cabs as the cabbie wasn’t happy to have 6 guys in one cab. I always wondered why the steak club consisted of 5 members. This reminds me, Wassie, you owe me cab fare (somehow this doesn’t sound as intended).

Venue – 7
The restaurant was well decked out inside. I can tell you this as there were no people in the way to stop me getting a good look at the place. We thought it was going to fill up after the football. We thought wrong. At its peak there were 2 other tables in the restaurant which is a shame as it seems like quite a good spot.

Menu – 8
A solid Argentine menu with a good selection of steak cuts and sizes. An interesting option was a selection of Argentine prime cuts for 2 people until we realised that the 600gr serving wasn’t per person. Next. The usual Parrillada could be found but the selection of meats on this one differed substantially from other Argentine restaurants as this one had lamb and chicken along with the standard beef and black pudding. I suppose this is why they offer the prime cuts option on the menu. One word of advice for people ordering the Parrillada is to find out beforehand if it is tea candle warmed or charcoal warmed as this impacts how you order your meat. If it is charcoal warmed then order your meat more rare than normal as it will keep cooking on the grill.

Waitress – 2

After the refreshing change of having a waitress at the Rump Kitchen we ended up with a waiter again. Normal service resumed then. Don’t these establishments know that most of the clientele are men and they would be preferred to be served by latino women, actually just a woman will do. It was the curse of Wassie again. Where’s Binder when you need stats on how may waiters Wassie has had on his chosen nights. The waiter was adequate and I’m still trying to think if it is plus points or minus points for giving us cheap shooters at the end of the meal. Ok, I’m thinking of the hangover the next day, it’s minus points.

Steak – 8
I went for the 500gr (mandatory) rib eye, ordered medium (obviously to allow the marbled fat to melt into the meat). It arrived looking very good although the way I felt afterwards left me wondering if it was as much as 500gr. Either way I really enjoyed the steak. There was talk of the sirloin outdoing the rib eye but I was happy with my selection and would happily recommend or order it again. My steak was properly cooked and I fortunately didn’t have too much fat on my cut like some of the other guys had who ordered the rib eye.

Wine – 6.5
Thank goodness for cameras on mobile phones as the photos of the wine on the evening tell me that we had not one but 2 bottles of Malbec on the night. Bold move. We started with a Malma Malbec before having a Tapiz Reserva Malbe with the meal. Both were good wines although I have my doubts about starting with a Malbec. Nonetheless a Malbec is a Malbec so you’re unlikely to go far wrong.

Value – 6.5
The full price came to £60 a head although this did include a number of shooters and some quarts of beer beforehand. So, pretty average and nearly half the price of Wassie’s last chosen restaurant – the (grease my) Palm.

Other

- Congratulations to the newbies for passing the fillet test (unlike some current members) and putting in a fair show on Steak Club history questions.

- Went for some farewell drinks at the Larrik (I think that’s where we ended up) where Darroll received a good send off and apparently too good to make it into work the next day. The rest of us suffered manfully at our desks.

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes, and no need to book!!

Steak – 8 * 5 = 40
Venue – 7
Menu – 8
Waitress – 2
Wine – 6.5
Value – 6.5

Total – 70

Steak Club Venue's Updated...

2010-10-05T19:22:00.003+01:00

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

Beunos Aires (Fulham) - Wassie's Review

2010-10-05T19:10:00.003+01:00

The night has swung around again for an event that only comes around once every six months. Yes, Wassie in charge. What could we be in store for this time, probably more of what we've come to expect... hot waitresses, juicy steaks, finest wines, an out of this world venue and all for a price that seems like a steal!

Unprecedented 6 members were signed up for Steaktember. Brad and Stacy joined us to replace ghost and Roons. Roons it's always a sad day to see a founding member heading off - don't worry, the quest will go forth. I'll particularly miss your newspaper fights, always entertaining stories about your trips home and of course your outlying restaurant choices. Never happy to settle for average, Roons always delivers a top scoring or bottom scoring choice!

Steak club encourages learning. This meeting taught me to check if there is a Chelsea game on before arranging a meet up spot at Fulham Broadway! Roons made an executive decision to move from Booties to the Elk Bar as it wasn't possible to set foot into the pub. Elk bar at least let us in and we were probably the only people not in blue. Lucky for us we were not in opposition colours.

Steak Club has 5 members because 6 don't fit into one cab. Two cabs later and we arrived at Beunos Aires, an Argentine Steakhouse.

This is a fairly new steak house and the only one of it's chain in London.

The venue is has a more modern feeling than standard Argentine grills. There is quite a lot of seating, but on this night only one other table was there. The staff were attentive and pleasant, but not female, so not going to be pulling in any scores for waitress here.

We were here for the steak though and four out of six of us went for the recommendation, Rib Eye, the other two, Sirloin. The Rib Eye was really good, however they need to change the restaurant recommendation to the Sirloin as that was fantastic. I had the Rib Eye 500g and enjoyed it.

The menu had various steak options, but surprisingly their Parrillada (Argentinean mixed grill) that we would usually order didn't have much steak, but rather chops, chicken and sausage. Anyway, can't fault it for choices of individual steaks.

There was a full selection of wines and both the Malma Malbec 2007 and a Tapaz Reserve Malbec 2007 kicked like a bull in Pamplona. Or perhaps it wasn't the wine, but the strafdops for fines, welcomes, goodbyes and our first round of new member Q and A (get a Steak Club related question wrong and you get a tequila, get it right and the person asking the question drinks).

It's worth asking Beunos Aires staff for a discount on the tequilas as we got two for one for all of the shooters. Thanks boys!

Steak: 8/10 (x 5) = 40

Menu: 7/10

Wine: 7/10

Venue: 7/10

Waitress: 2/10

Value: 8/10

Total: 71.5%

Go to Beunos Aires for a great steak in the south west - and half price tequila. But check if there's a Chelsea game!

Buenos Aires – Brad’s Review

2010-09-29T22:15:00.002+01:00

Over the past few years I have been rather jealous every time Wassie informed me he was off to his monthly steak club evening. My patience has paid off as I now have the privilege of being part of this prestigious steak tasting club to find ‘the ultimate steak in London’. As this is my virgin steak club review, it is probably going to be the hardest one I will write, as I don’t really know what the benchmark steak looks like yet.
It was Wassie’s chance to organise the steak club evening. The instruction was to meet at the Bootsy Brogan's pub near to Fulham Broadway tube station for our pre-drinks. He however made a schoolboy error by not checking if there was a Chelsea Football game before arranging to meet at one of the busiest pubs in the Fulham Broadway area just before a Chelsea league match. Thanks to Darroll’s experience and early arrival at Bootsy’s, we were quickly shifted down the road to a less packed pub called The Elk. The club members slowly arrived and we promptly shifted 2 pints before Wassie hailed cabs to transport us to the nearby mystery steak restaurant.
Wassie chose a newly opened Argentinean steak restaurant called Buenos Aires on Fulham Palace road. We arrived and walked into a rather empty restaurant. The décor is classic with a wood finish and nicely spaced table arrangement. My rating for the venue is a 5 due to the lack of atmosphere – though it may have been quiet as it was a Wednesday evening. Venue = 5.
After looking at the menus there was a bit of open debate and a crash course education session for the two novices on the merits of the different steak cuts. I reduced my choice down to the rump or the rib-eye steak. I settled on the rib-eye. My rating for the menu is a 7 due to the good selection of steaks and size options. Menu = 7.
The table of 6 members settled for 4 rib-eyes and 2 sirloins. My rib-eye was extremely tender and very tasty. I ended up with no off-cuts, making sure I hoovered all 500g. The consensus at the table was however that the sirloins were the choice of the evening, also being tender, but with a slightly deeper favour. My rating for the steak is an 8 (rating highly even though I am rating against my South African high quality steak standards). Steak = 8 x 5 = 40.
Our waiter was a friendly Argentinean guy who provided us with good service without harassing us. My rating for service is 6. Service = 6.
As per the steak club tradition, Wassie ordered the wine and side orders. Wassie chose a Malma Malbec 2007 and a Tapaz Reserve Malbec 2007. Not being a big red wine drinker, I probably won’t be the best person to rate the wine, so I will be providing an average wine rating of 6.5. Wine = 6.5.
And finally, the overall value rating for the restaurant is a 6.5. The quality of the steaks (considering the size and the quality), 2 glasses of wine each, a few side orders, and about 3 strafdops each, and the final bill came to £60 per head. Value = 6.5

My total score for Buenos Aires is = 71.

The evening came to an end with a final farewell drink with Darroll before he heads back to SA for a vast variety of great steaks. One thing’s for sure is the combination of 2 pre pints, 2 glasses of red wine, tequilas, rums and then ending again with a farewell pint did not agree with any of us the next day...

Buenos Aires - Stacy's Review

2010-09-28T22:19:00.005+01:00

Having house shared with a club member for the past 2 ½ years I had some idea about what the Steak Club was about and so I was looking forward to attending my first meeting which was being organized by Wassi. One thing though that was never far from my thoughts however were the dreaded Strafdops which I knew would make an appearance at some point during the evening. I must say that I was lulled into a false sense of security when Wassi confirmed that Steak Club wasn't a drinking club. I don't think everyone was convinced of this fact the morning after however.

Well, my first task was to make an appearance and go one better than “The Ghost” which I managed to pull off but only just. I was running a bit late and thanks to my timing it felt like Wassi had purposefully organised a rite of passage for me to go through which involved catching a tube packed to the ceiling with football supporters, then being the only person going against the heaving mass of people trying to get to the football and then finally arriving at Bootsy Brogan's only to find that no-one was there. All's well that ends well and it turned out that pre-drinks had been shifted down the road to The Elk, a place that had potential but again was completely empty due to the football.

After a bit of a walk and eventually hailing a cab we arrived at Beunos Aires on Fulham Palace Rd. The decor and layout was appealing and there certainly was potential for a good atmosphere...if only it wasn't so quiet!

The menu had a good range of options with all the Argentinian specialties included. There was some debate though whether the Parrillada was the real thing as it seemed to differ to what the Club had come across in the past.

I decided to go with the Sirloin which turned out to be a good choice. I haven't eaten many steaks with a view to rating them so don't really have a benchmark. About the closest I have is the memorable Carpetbagger I have tucked into many a time at the Darnall Country Club (near Zinkwazi – deep in the heart of Zululand's sugar cane region). Based on this I was very pleased with my BA steak.

I don't have an iPhone so didn't take any pictures of the wine we drank. From memory I think we had Tapiz Malbec Reserve and something similar which complemented the meal well.

Waitress? Well I don't think I can rate this one other than to say that the waiter seemed to be spot on with his recommendation of the Rib Eye and he gave us a good deal on our 22 shooters. I think I spotted one waitress working behind the bar.

It is difficult for me to make a call on the overall value of the place given that I am still a virgin so I am going to have to go with the general consensus that BA was fairly average on this count.

After dinner we walked back to Putney Bridge and stopped off on the way for a top-up and a final farewell drink for Darroll who was attending his final dinner after 5 years. This could have been the straw that broke his camel's back but then again it could have been the clearing of his accumulated Strafdop debt.

All in all I would head back to BA on a non football night.

Thanks Wassi!

Steak – 7.5 x 5 = 37.5

Venue – 6

Menu – 7

Waitress – 1

Wine – 6.5

Value – 5

Total = 63

The Rump - Gary's review

2010-09-19T22:56:00.002+01:00

Having decided to stay local try out The Rump in Putney for this Steak Club, I was quickly struck by two problems while researching the various pre-drink options:

1) Very few places offer the level and sophistication of live entertainment that Andre had managed to miracle up last time; and

2) There just aren’t that many drinks venues left in Putney which we haven’t yet been after 5 years of living in the South West of the big smoke.

Eventually I settled on the Eight Bells near the bridge - a pub that I’ve walked past hundreds of times but have never yet ventured inside. Unfortunately, I still haven’t learnt my lesson and arrived first, having to wait a good 15 mins of being Norman No Mates until the others finally arrived. Punctuality just isn’t Steak Clubs strong point….

After a few pints and a quick stroll across the bridge we arrived at The Rump ready to tuck into our steaks.

Unfortunately local isn’t always lekker and the Rump just didn’t live up to its promise.

It wasn’t all bad to be fair – the venue itself is actually quite nice with a decent bar in front leading into the main restaurant, where a tree in the middle of the floor adds to the character of the place.

The menu is also fairly decent with the expected variety of steaks.

The problem is the actual steak. I ordered the rib-eye, but hoping for a nice tender juicy well-marbled work of wonder. Instead I got one of the toughest steaks I’ve had while in London. A quick poll around the table confirmed I wasn’t just unlucky with no one particularly impressed with their steaks.

Our waitress wasn’t particularly brilliant – granted the venue was full but still I would expect a lot more attentiveness. My mood wasn’t improved when Wassie committed a breach of Steak Club etiquette on the same magnitude as ordering a fillet and proceeded to take the liberty of ordering his own side! I know, dear reader - I was just as horrified then as you right now!

The wines were a lot better, with the De Loach Pinot Noir as our introductory wine followed by the Bodega Renacer Malbec Clasico. The Pinot Noir was particularly noteworthy and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Unfortunately, the good wine couldn’t overcome the poor steak and as much as I wanted to like the meat, I just couldn’t.

We finished off at the Rump with some sort of premium tequila, sipped slowly together with this tomato juice plus Tabasco combination. It gave a veneer of sophistication to the evening – one which we quickly stripped away when we headed off to B@1. Severe hangovers all round the next day….

Steak: 4 (x 5) = 20
Menu: 7
Wine: 8
Venue: 7
Waitress: 4
Value: 6

Total 52%

Rump Kitchen - Wassie's Review

2010-09-17T14:49:00.001+01:00

It's Gary's turn at the helm and this time we are back in the South West of London. Putney Bridge was our tube stop for pre-drinks, meeting at the Eight Bells pub. Although being in London for 8 years this is the first time that I have actually been into this pub. In walking past it's usually overflowing at it's sides on football days or dead as a door nail. There were a few interesting "you rang" fellows there, but no one pinching Gary's ass this time. By 19:30 one someone already had trouble walking - no this wasn't big drinking Andre!

Over Putney Bridge we found The Rump Kitchen. I noticed this relatively new grill on the high street a few weeks ago and was eager to try it out.

The restaurant is in an easy to reach location and has a nice look and feel with a bar and the restaurant area opening at the back. A tree is in the middle of the restaurant and makes a good backdrop for the steaks we eagerly awaited.

There were quite a few steak choices and as the name suggests, steak is their speciality. I won't mention much more about the steak as it's not worth mentioning. I put it down to primarily the quality of the beef. Not really good. Possibly the worst steak I've had through our Steak Club quest. Tough, not tasty and a waste of money.

We knew group on another table that said the bone marrow starter was fantastic, but we weren't there for a heart attack, we were there for a steak!

The waitress was grumpy and rushed and furthermore not worth much of a mention.

The highlight was however the tequilas that the manager brought us. £8.50 per tequila was a bit on the "what the hell are you charging us that for" side, but well worth it. Slowly sipped and with a tabasco / tomato ice mix on the side.

B@1 bar is next door and makes a good was to see in the next morning. Shiree et al may have us to blame for a hangover.

Steak: 4/10 (x 5) = 20
Menu: 6/10
Wine: 7/10
Venue: 7/10
Waitress: 4/10
Value: 4/10

Total: 48%

Go to The Rump Kitchen if you like bone marrow and proper tequila.

Wassie

Rump Kitchen - André's Review

2010-09-15T23:25:00.002+01:00

Two pretty ladies getting to know each other better is always going to be a hard act to follow for pre-drinks. To Gary’s credit he didn’t even try to follow that act. Instead pre-drinks were held at the Eight Bells very close to the Putney Bridge tube station. I’ve probably walked past this pub many times but still have no recollection of it. Not much has changed on that front. I’m beginning to wonder if Gary actually works. The last few pre-drinks Gary has been onto his second pint before the next person has arrived. The pre-drinks was memorable for the Zombie Booth application, you know what they say about trivial things.

To be honest I hadn’t heard of the Rump Kitchen before Gary gave us a clue for the pre-drinks venue. Quick google search did the trick and I knew what I was going to order before even getting to Putney. A short walk over Putney Bridge and we were at the chosen establishment.

Venue – 6.5
The venue was appealing once into the mail restaurant but due to the empty bar area as you walk in it gives the impression that it is very quiet even though the place was fully booked for the evening. Well, at least this is the case at 8pm before the bar area fills up. There is an oddly situated tree in the middle of the restaurant but it does give a bit of character. I knew I had been in the place before but needed the waitress to remind me what it had once been - the Idle Hour bar.

Menu – 7.5
I liked the fact that the main 4 steak choices came in a variety of sizes so the choice of steak of the evening wasn’t driven by how much meat you wanted to eat, which is often the case elsewhere.

Waitress – 5

We finally got a waitress again (what is it about steak club and waitresses?) but the attentiveness was definitely lacking. This didn’t bother me too much but the manager was less happy about the situation when he came around to see how the food was only to be informed that it was a bit tough (or something to that effect) but the disappointment was that the waitress had not asked us about our meal. We didn’t actually quiz her too much on the meat but I see that the steaks are sourced from the Scottish highlands and are 21 day aged.

Steak – 5.5
I went for the sirloin expecting to be treated. But alas no. The taste was fine (yes, just fine), but the texture was a little lacking for a steak that was at least 21 day aged. I realised then why it wasn’t called the Sirloin Kitchen, although I think it was Wassie who had the rump and it still didn’t explain the restaurant name. The location of the restaurant means that I might head back there and give it another go and hope that this was a once off.

Wine – 6
Gary, you’re going to have to help me out here. Even a quick scan of the wine menu is not throwing up any clues. I’m sure we would have had a Malbec, so maybe the Altos Los Hormigas Malbec to go with the main and preceded by a Shiraz/Viognier maybe? Nothing memorable about the wines but I’ve yet to leave a glass of wine half full so couldn’t be too bad. Gary, please edit this section as appropriate. My iphone photo says something like De Lomo but can’t find this on the wine list.

Value – 7.5
At £51 this makes the value quite good and one of the more reasonable steak club evenings.

Other

The price above also includes an extortionate £8.50 shot of tequila. Although ‘shot’ is not really the word to use. It was an “anejo” tequila meaning it had been aged and was served with a tomato and cinnamon drink. The idea was to sip one after the other. The tequila was very different to your standard student brand shooter stuff and actually tasted more like whisky than tequila.

Would I go again? Maybe
Would I recommend it to a friend? Not until I’ve tried it again.
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? No

Steak – 5.5 * 5 = 27.5
Venue – 6.5
Menu – 7.5
Waitress – 5
Wine – 6
Value – 7.5

Total – 60

Rump Kitchen Putney - Roon's Review

2010-09-03T14:58:00.002+01:00

We returned to Putney for the first time since the very first Steak Club all those years ago. The location brought back fond memories of Binder bundling us all in a cab for the 200m taxi ride to Pope’s Eye from the Totty Bar. Flash backs of the huge steak portions on stark white plates with only a lonely tomato for garnish filled my mind as I made my way to join the lads for our latest outing last Friday night. Note the reference to last Friday. This is important as it means this will be the first time in forever that I won’t be adding any strafdops to my running total of transgressions. This is also my pen-ultimate review before leaving the island of mud to return home to the land where the rivers run deep with cold lager and good steaks are as predictable as no-balls in a Pakistani bowling innings.

I am overrun with feelings of nostalgia for all the great (and average) restaurants that our Steak Club journey has taken us to over the years. There are little gems of humour to take away from each and every event that we have hosted. There were the inappropriate advances by certain members towards any remotely attractive waitresses; cyber-hacking of the blog by a member wishing to change review dates in order to escape punishment; The Scotsman; dry cleaning bills; sexual harassment charges; Summer Sizzle; back rubs from male maître-d’s; Browns; Gary Teichman’s Klipdrift; rugby in the street; newspaper fights on the tube; Jo; Lesbian’s locking lips; the Hollywood lookalikes; £110 bills; ordering two mains each; Movember; Lube-up ……..and many many more.

Any way, enough of memory lane and back to last Friday. I unfortunately missed the pre-drinks but joined Gazza, Wassi and Andre as they arrived at Rump Kitchen, a new steak restaurant in Putney High Street.

The venue is modern and warm with a very inviting bar on the left as you walk in. As you’d expect for a Friday it was fairly busy and as we were ushered through to our table I was looking forward to enjoying a large steak and catching up on the news of the last few weeks.

The menu offers a good range of cuts and sizes to choose from. I opted for the 15oz T-bone as it’s been a while since I tried one and the others all chose rib-eyes. There was some upheaval over the side orders and for the first time ever at Steak club somebody other than the host placed an order for something other than steak. There are no prizes for guessing who our transgressor was. He has been known to disregard etiquette on many occasions previously so you shouldn’t have any problem picking him out of a line up.

My T-bone was satisfactory without being great. It was a bit grey in appearance and although very tasty it was also quite tough, which is unusual given that half of it is fillet steak. In fact, toughness was a common theme for all our meals and generally I think we were all quite underwhelmed by our first experience of Rump Kitchen. It’s not all bad. It’s no Cattle Grid, but it’s also no Goodman.

I had to duck off early as my minute by minute diary is not controlled by me anymore but rather by a 5.8kg bundle of burps and f@rts called Daniel. So I beat a hasty retreat and left the lads to carry on the night in style.

My scores are as follows:

Steak: 5 x 5 = 25

Venue: 7

Menu: 7

Waitress: 6

Wine: 7

Value: 7

Total: 59%

Medium rare

Roons

Boisdale of Belgravia - Roon's Review

2010-08-19T16:24:00.001+01:00

There is one very clear memory from our last Steak Club outing which has not faded over the many weeks that it has taken me to get around to submitting my review. I am sketchy on a lot of the detail of the evening and my steak was definitely forgettable; but I will go to my grave with the image etched into my consciousness of two beautiful young ladies locking lips in a lengthy, loving chukka of tonsil hockey. The incident took place in Balls Bros. in Victoria which was the venue chosen by Andre for our pre-drinks. He had sent us here on the recommendation of a work colleague who said it had a better standard of eye-candy. How right the man was. In fact I’d say the description eye-candy does not do justice to the cornucopia of aesthetically pleasing lasses gathered in the establishment when Gazza and I sipped our first pints while waiting for the others to join us.

A very wise seat change by Gary when Andre arrived gave the former an uninterrupted view of the two lovely ladies from the island of Lesbosia, who were to provide the signature moment of the night. Wassi, late as ever, arrived at exactly the right moment to witness the action. Unfortunately for the Ghost, he was waylaid at work yet again and the four of us had to recount our story to him later in the night.

And so with minds reeling in excitement we tore ourselves away from Balls Bros. and wondered what Andre could possibly have lined up that could measure up to the start of the evening. We piled into a black cab and took a circuitous trip to arrive at Boisdales of Belgravia. The driver was so embarrassed by his very poor navigation that he refused to accept payment, so the miracles just seemed to keep happening. What could be next? A winning Euro-millions ticket lying on the floor under our table or Angelina Jolie moonlighting as our waitress.

Regrettably, that is where my luck petered out. There is one very eye-catching steak option on the menu at Boisdale, being the 50 day aged 14 oz Sirloin on the bone. I immediately went for this option, only to be told it was sold-out. In my disappointment and despair and only half listening I followed the waiter’s advice to opt for a rib-eye without paying too much attention to what he was saying. In the end I was served and ate an 8oz rib-eye. Now, I’m sure this morsel of food was expertly cooked and very good in its own right, but it took a mere minute or two to inhale and my lasting impression was one of being left hungry. It would be wrong to judge Boisdales by my experience and naïve mistake. The others thoroughly enjoyed their meals and donated charitable offerings to the starving whiner (me) at their table.

The restaurant is a very good one and doubles as a jazz venue so there is a wonderful atmosphere with heavy dark décor and warm surroundings. It was busy on the night we were there which seemed to only enhance the ambiance. A far cry from Ronald Macdonald’s other eating establishments.

I honestly cannot remember the wine we had, but I think it was good. Value wise the meal was spot-on costing us £60 each. Obviously that makes my 8oz steak a tad expensive, but I only have myself to blame.

I don’t have many SC outings left before shipping off to the motherland for good, so I am really looking forward to Gary’s next effort.

My scores are:

Steak: 6 x 5 = 30

Venue: 9

Menu: 8

Waitress: 0 – 3 for the waiter who advised me so poorly

Wine: 7

Value: 7

Top-up for Lesbian kiss: 10

Total: 68%

Medium rare

Roons

The Steak Club Venues

2010-08-12T12:00:00.000+01:00

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

Boisdale of Belgravia - Wassie's Review

2010-08-12T11:55:00.000+01:00

The Quest to find the best steak London has to offer continues... Some good news before the review is that it seems new steak restaurants are popping up all over the place. This quest is not going to run dry any time soon.

Arriving at Balls Brothers bar in Victoria, Gazza, Andre and Roons were already there with next to full pints??? Something wasn't quite right. A quick passing hello and I headed to the bar to sort myself out for a drink. Getting back to the table I knew what was up. Lady kissing. Andre had managed to arrange pre-drinks at a table next to two girls that were affectionatly into each other and these two were honeys! Good scorring Roons!

With a pleasant memory and an appetite we arrived at Boisdale restautant, bar, jazz club and cigar club. You'll definately have to book at it was full. Attentive staff and an interesting venue. It's made up of various rooms inside and out and full of Scotish tapestry, paintings, hunting rifels and animal head trophies. There's the Macdonald Bar, Courtyard Garden, Back Bar, Auld Restaurant, Jacobite Room and Cigar Terrace. The stand for the jazz band (guests every night) is right in the enterence of the restuarant. Music starts at about 10pm. Comming to think about it we really should have stayed for more jazz and a given those cigars a test run.

The menue is extensive with various specialisties for all tastes. The steaks are highlighted as their sigature dish. "The very best grass fed Aberdeenshire beef dry aged for flavour by Aubrey Allen". Usual cuts are available and also rib of beef on bone, chateau fillet and sirloin on bone. An interesting addition is that each steak comes with a choice of toppings including bernaise sauce, snails and garlic or black truffle and carrots.

I ordered the 28 day aged 18-20 oz whole untrimmed Rib of beef on the bone with black truffle for £35.50. The steak was really good, but you could hardly taste the truffle. Well cooked good steak. Disappointingly the 50 day aged 14 oz Sirloin On the bone

was not available.

Again an extensive wine and speciality whiskey menue was on offer.

No waitresses for us at the Boisdale, but the predrinks more than made up for it.

Steak: 7/10 (x 5) = 35

Menu: 7/10

Wine: 7/10

Venue: 7.5/10

Waitress: 5/10

Value: 6.5/10

Total: 68%

Go to Boisdale if you're up for an impressive venue, good jazz and a good steak. This restaurant is great and has something for all tastes.

Wassie

Boisdale of Belgravia - Gary's review

2010-07-29T23:12:00.002+01:00

If Carlsberg did Steak Club pre-drinks, they still couldn’t compete with Andre’s absolutely sterling effort. A new benchmark for pre-drinks has well and truly been set, though sadly I doubt we’ll ever again reach the lofty standards to which Andre took us that night.

Initially I was just happy that the Balls Brothers venue seemed to be the polar opposite of the previous Steak Club pre-drinks venue (which was basically a scene straight out of “Little Britain”). But soon the stakes were lifted by the two above average girls sitting at the table next to us started to provide the bar with a free show (maybe they didn’t know the word’s to Kate Perry’s “I kissed a girl and I liked it” and decided to act the song out instead?).

Never before has Steak Club so reluctantly left the pre-drinks venue….though Andre did manage to sweeten the deal by somehow organising a free cab trip to the main venue!

Boisdale of Belgravia was the main venue for the night. The Scottish heritage of the place is clearly felt in the ambience and provides it with a good deal of character. It’s also a jazz venue which definitely adds to the atmosphere and the entertainment value of the place, though unfortunately we left before the jazz kicked off.

The venue was even enough to attract our newest member, the “Ghost” - though not in time for him to actually partake in the meal (I’m looking forward to seeing how Grant manages to write a proper review having not actually eaten anything – he better not think that he’s exempt from straffies!)

The menu has a good variety of steaks, and I was tempted by the 40 day aged 10oz rump. It was very tasty and a extremely enjoyable meal, though I must admit to feeling some meat-envy when comparing to the 20oz Rib of beef on the bones served to Wassie and Andre. If I was to do it again, I’d definitely go for that option rather. I’d have given quite a high score to the menu, but am deducting points for not having the 50 day aged sirloin in stock resulting in a very disappointed Roons.

The first wine for the evening was a Agustinos 2008 Pinot Noir which was my personal favourite for the night. The second wine for the evening was a Gran Reserva Carmenere, which was still quite good though not to the standard of the first wine.

Unfortunately points must also be deducted for the fact that we had a waiter and not a waitress, though I will give bonus points for him being very knowledgeable about steaks.

Finally we ventured off to the Talbot to settle the outstanding strafdops, all of us eager to see if Andre could replicate his pre-drinks magic. Sadly it was not to be though still a decent bar to finish off in.

Score:

Steak – 6.5 * 5 = 32.5

Venue – 8

Menu – 6 (would have been 7 had they had all steaks in stock)

Waitress – 6

Wine – 7

Value – 7

Total – 66.5

Unfortunately pre-drinks aren’t part of the score….

Boisdale of Belgravia - Andre's review

2010-07-08T23:26:00.002+01:00

[Just scraped in the review before the midnight deadline!!]

Don’t ever tell me that I don’t do anything for you guys. This must rate as one of the top pre-drinks sessions and this is not just because it was being compared to the White Horse in downtown Shé Bu. The free entertainment from the 2 (above average) ladies at the table behind us made it very difficult to get 3 other slack-jawed steak club members out of the Balls Brothers bar in Victoria. I unfortunately was facing the wrong way so missed out on most of the ‘action’.

Venue – 7
Good venue. It is a jazz bar and has an authentic old feel to the place giving it some character without being too old. The jazz kicked off at 10pm when we were leaving so can’t comment on the standard of that (actually I probably couldn’t comment on the standard of the jazz if I had stayed given my jazz knowledge.)

Menu – 6.5
Very interesting menu with a good array of steaks although the sizes could have been more generous on the more ‘common’ cuts. It was immensely disappointing that the 50 day aged sirloin was out of stock (and they weren’t willing to impart with any 49 day aged steaks). [Minus marks for this.] Everyone was keen to see what that tasted like. Given that I wasn’t ordering that steak and I was still disappointed I can imagine how Roons felt after he’d built himself up for the 50 day aged sirloin before being cruelly cut down. And as if this wasn’t bad enough he then mistakenly ordered what he thought was the same large 18-20oz rib of beef that Wassie and I ordered only to be delivered an 8oz rib eye.

Waitress – 4

Unfortunately no waitress here. Has the curse of Wassie struck again? That said our waiter was very knowledgeable and attentive and did a good job despite his tendency to enjoy illustrating on himself where the rump cut or rib of beef comes from.

Steak – 7
I knew from the moment I booked the restaurant that I’d be ordering the 18-20oz rib of beef. Partly because it was a good size, partly because it was on the bone and partly because I have not tried a steak by that name before. The waiter tried to describe it as rib eye on the bone or something to that effect. It definitely had it’s fair share of marbling, in fact too much so. This made it very tasty but probably not very healthy. Wassie ordered the same and I think he was even worse off with the amount of fat on his piece. Nonetheless I did enjoy it and the size didn’t prove too much as a lot of it was bone. The rib eye that Roons ordered and the rump that Gary ordered were good but not standout and I was comparatively quite happy with my choice of cut. The waiter did try to make up for the steak selection of Gary and Roons by giving them each extra servings of bread as starters.

Wine – 7
Starter: we started with a Chilean Pinot Noir (Agustinos Pinot Noir Wine Makers Reserve 2008) that was good if possibly a bit heavy for a starter wine but still very tasty.

Main: Another Chilean, the Gran Reserva Carmenere 2007, was chosen to accompany the steaks. It met the ‘sommelier’s’ approval but still didn’t help him remember which wine to bring to the table and we almost got served a Bordeaux instead. I’m sure he tells every guest that their selection is a good selection.

Value – 6
The value was average at £60. This included steaks a few sides and 2 bottles of wine.

Other

We finally were graced by the presence of our newest steak club member who in three steak clubs to date has yet to have a steak. But baby steps.

The build up from strafdops from what must collectively be the worst review performance to date meant that we had a few to get through. After some grumbling we finally made our way to the Talbot, the other recommended drinks spot. Imagine we’d gone there and missed out on the antics in Balls Brothers (very ironic name given the games going on there!). The Talbot would be nice if there was some air conditioning or if we were allowed to drink outside. As it turned out we just ended up finishing the strafdops without much ceremony and seeing the evening out. I think we need another Bedford or Troubadour evening soon. Maybe we start the evening a bit earlier next time if at all possible!

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, and mention the jazz option if that appeals to them.
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? Yes, but hopefully the 50 day aged steak will be in stock next time

Steak – 7 * 5 = 35
Venue – 7
Menu – 6.5
Waitress – 4
Wine – 7
Value – 6

Total – 65.5

Meat & Wine Company - Roons Review

2010-06-29T16:18:00.002+01:00

It amazes me how age has affected my ability to learn from my mistakes. I very clearly remember promising myself after Binder’s final Steak Club and the umpteen million strafdops I had to quaff that night, that I would never again be late with a Steak Club review. Despite that earnest promise I am now 4 weeks late with my latest contribution to the blog and will be severely handicapped at the next gathering.

The only consolation is that Grant “the Ghost” Steven should be receiving a lot more strafdops than me.

For May’s belated Steak Club I had drawn a blank trying to get a reservation at my 1^st choice restaurant which hopefully nobody will use before my turn comes around again; as a result I decided to try the Meat & Wine Co. in Westfield Shopping Centre in Skaapwagters-se-Bos. I had been here for a work function and I knew it was a safe bet for reliably great steak and good wine (the clue is in the name).

The only curve ball I could throw was by choosing a pre-drinks venue that was slightly off the beaten path. The White Horse in Uxbridge Road is a far cry from its name sake ‘The Sloaney Pony’. A more fitting name would be ‘The Hag’s Nag’. Gazza was a very relieved man when Andre and I arrived and joined him in the beer garden/smoking hot-box. We feigned calmness as we gulped down our pints trying not to make eye-contact with anybody around us. In the end we moved on fairly swiftly and probably didn’t give our fellow patrons the benefit of the doubt, but we did feel slightly safer out on the street as we walked down to Westfield and joined Wassi at the Puza bar.

The other guys have given you a good overview of the atmosphere and style of the Meat and Wine Co. Bar and Restaurant. It is a large establishment but doesn’t feel impersonal or unfriendly. In fact they take sociability so seriously that they even have unisex loos, which means you overhear some refreshingly different topics of conversation over the wash hand basins after a slash.

The menu is comprehensive and offers a good selection of steak cuts and sizes. The side orders are excellent and we couldn’t resist starter bowls of biltong to get things going as we browsed the choices before us. I chose the medium rare rib-eye, which was very good if not brilliant. It was well cooked, flavourful and of good texture. I definitely recommend a visit to M&W Co. if you’re looking for a safe bet for entertaining clients or work mates, but it wouldn’t be on my hit-list of best steak restaurants in London.

My scores are:

Steak: 6.5 * 5 = 32.5

Wine: 7

Venue: 7

Menu: 7

Value: 7

Total: 60.5%

Medium rare

Roons

The Meat & Wine Company - Wassie's Review

2010-06-26T16:17:00.002+01:00

Right, I have now accumulated enough straffdops to allow me to submit my review. I still think Binder missed out on one of the key elements that make up Steak Club getting his review is almost always on time - but then again, perhaps three beer Binder may not have actually made the meal.

Roons had the reins this week and picked the Meat and Wine Company, part of the new snooty shopping centre, Westfield in "Shebu". I missed out on the pre-drinks, so went straight to the venue. Downstairs is a lounge area with cocktail bar and outside and inside seating. It wasn't long before the boys joined and we sat down in the fairly busy, but plenty of space bar.

It was hear that I would learn of the news. Now Steak Club members even if they are new into the fold will not get off lightly for breaking SC rules. Now right behind the first rule of Steak Club, and I can't talk about that rule, is actually arriving at Steak Club. Andre, Gazza, Roons and I were eager to get Grant on board and after Grant's exploding potjie performance at Binder's bachelor’s we had expected good entertainment. This was not to be the case and a couple of texts later Grant decided that his career was more important that time with the boys. It will be interesting to see what measures will be implemented in next month's meeting to discourage such behaviour. I have a feeling Grant will be making up for Binder's lack of SD's.

Back to The Meat and Wine Company. We were escorted upstairs by very welcoming staff and taken to our table. The crowd was more diverse that what we've noticed at other venue's. Families, birthdays, girls night out, and businessmen. Looking at the menu, it made sense. Although the menu has a good selection of steaks at standard good steak venue prices, there are also all types of meat from the grill, ribs, burgers, seafood, etc at reasonable prices.

The venue is large with private eating rooms available. Pleasant relaxed atmosphere. I somehow couldn't get the idea out of my head that this was a posh Spur steakhouse. Not a bad thing. Oh, look out for the M&WC specials (same as Spur).

I had the New Yorker (Sirloin) on the Bone 500gfor £27, no sides. Well cooked, juicy, flavour, I was happy with the choice. Others had the Rib-eyes. Roons arranged a few sides - onion rings were great!

On leaving we noticed steak knives on the wall behind the reception. They have a club that you can join where you get your own steak knife. When you book a meal, they bring out your steak knife and having it waiting for you when you arrive. Good idea boys.

Steak: 7/10 (x 5) = 30

Menu: 6/10

Wine: 7/10

Venue: 6/10

Waitress: 6/10

Value: 6.5/10

Total: 61.5%

Go to The Meat and Wine Company if you are looking for a large bar and grill venue with good steak and varied menu to match any taste. They also have the World Cup screening so well worth a visit.

Wassie

Meat & Wine Company - Gary's review

2010-06-25T19:13:00.002+01:00

The May leg of our tour of London’s finest steak establishments took us out west to the bustling vibrant district of Shepherds Bush. No prizes for guessing that the Meat & Wine Company would be the evening’s destination, but we were all thrown a bit of a curve ball with the pre-drinks venue (White Horse). Lets just say that you’re not exactly going to blend in if you head there after work still wearing a suit – I was unfortunately the first of the group to get there and it was a long two beers before reinforcements in the shape of Andre and Roons arrive. Perhaps I’m being over harsh, but the sight and sound of one of the more elderly patron’s coughing up and then swallowing what must have been a litre of phlegm left me feeling a little traumatised.

Fortunately the downstairs bar of the Meat & Wine Company (aptly named the Puza) is of a much higher quality and the three of us soon retreated there to meet Wassie for a few final pre-dinner cold ones.

Both the bar and the restaurant itself are quite trendy in the décor, and the towers of wine on display certainly set the scene as well as expectations. The African theme was a good reminder of home, especially when the biltong snacks came out!

The menu should cover all tastes with a decent selection of meats to choose from. The “Steak Tasting Platter” would probably have been the best choice to go for, but I settled for the 700g T-bone. Like always I ordered the meat rare – only to be warned that the restaurant advises that T-Bones be done medium-rare at a minimum. To their credit they’re quite right and I probably would have been rewarded with a better steak if I was the type to heed such warnings. But no, I was in the mood for rare so rare it was. Lets face it – you seldom can go wrong with a juicy, tender rare steak and this was no exception. Having said that, if I went back I’d probably go along with their recommendation and try the medium rare version.

The restaurant also lived up to its name when it came to the wine. Confession time – the fuzziness of time and the nights strafdops have blocked my memory of which wines we had exactly. I was hoping to cheat and get the names of the wines from the other reviews but looks like Andre has also had a memory blank, while Roons and Wassie look set to be earning yet another strafdop for their late submission. But the wine was good (whatever it was that we had).

Overall, I’d definitely recommend the Meat and Wine Company, especially for a few drinks beforehand at the Puza! Its not the best steakhouse I’ve been to, but it certainly will be a good night out.

Steak – 33
Venue – 7
Menu – 7
Waitress – 4
Wine – 7
Value – 7

Total – 65

The Meat and Wine Company

2010-06-23T22:22:00.004+01:00

What I will say for West London is that it is cosmopolitan. This can be a good and a bad thing. Good if you’re looking for a mix of ethnicities, bad if you’re Gary sitting drinking alone in a locals only pub in the dodgy end of She’Bu’ trying to avoid eye contact with some ‘interesting’ characters. Our pre-drinks venue matched a similar venue we tried near Sadlers Well last year where you got a real down to earth feel (say no more). I think the horse racing would still have been shown over and above the England v Slovenia world cup game. Anyway, after a couple of drinks we started walking to where we already knew we were going. The number of top steak establishments in Shepherds Bush made it very difficult to keep people guessing about the venue! So, off to The Meat and Wine Company we went…

Venue – 8
Much larger venue than I expected and really nicely fitted out. Also, top marks for the bar downstairs. Before I realised that it was the bar attached to the restaurant I did make some naïve remark about how coincidental that it was called Puza!

Menu – 7
There was quite a bit on the menu that I’d like to go back and try. Not least the all you can eat ribs special!! And let's not forget the steak tasting menu that looks like a good option.

Waitress – 3
Hmm, nothing memorable here to salvage too many points.

Steak – 6.5
I was a little disappointed with my steak, especially after really looking forward to trying out this restaurant. I went for the 500gr New Yorker (sirloin) on the bone, effectively half of the T-bone without the fillet. The steak was a bit on the chewy side but still tasty. I forget what size I ordered but do remember trying to get every morsel off the bone so know that I could have done with a few more ounces. The rib eye seemed to be the best steak on the night. It’s been a while since I ordered the steak of the match.

Wine – 7
My memory is failing me somewhat here and I can’t seem to find any photos on my iphone of the types of wine we had. This is the reason for strafdops!

Value – 7
The value was not too bad at £55 a head but anything after the Palm would have seemed like good value considering we paid more than double that at the Palm.

Other

Some of the best biltong starters that you'll find anywhere.

Would I go again? Yes
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, but set the expectation levels.
Would I take the Steak Club there knowing what I know now? No

Steak – 6.5 * 5 = 32.5
Venue – 8
Menu – 7
Waitress – 3
Wine – 7
Value – 7

Total – 64.5

The Palm - Gary's review

2010-04-16T19:49:00.002+01:00

Its important to count your blessings – and for March the main blessing was having Steak Club on a Friday night rather than the traditional mid-week slot. A huge backlog of strafdops had built up (at least for Wassie, Roons and myself) and the slate had to be cleared. I struggled through my five straffies at the end of the night and have nothing but admiration for Roons and Wassie as they worked through their allotted 6 and 10 shots respectively. Though I’m still confused as to why Wassie decided to pour some tequila into his eye….

Unfortunately it was also time to bid Binder farewell as he shortly thereafter left to set down his roots in Slaapstad. Binder, keep that Steak Knife sharp and keep us informed of the steakhouses you discover in the Mother City!

The Toy & Hoop was the predrinks venue – a nice pub that I’d definitely recommend for after work Friday drinks (if you’re lucky you may even see a “Something about Mary” look-alike! After a few pints and a strafdop to begin the clearing of the slate, we hopped into a black cab and made our way to the Palm.

I had heard a lot about the Palm (and was even planning on taking Steak Club there on my next turn to play host), so I was just a little bit disappointed that Wassie had snatched this away from me. Never mind though, there are plenty more steakhouses in the city…

I think any review of the Palm has to be centred around “Value”. Quite simply £110 per head hurts, even if it does include three bottles of wine between the five of us. You could bail out a medium sized bank for that sort of money….

There is the option of joining the Palm’s customer loyalty club which offers exciting deals such as getting a £100 bottle of wine for a steal of only £80! Or if you spend something like £50,000 (that might be a slight exaggeration – but the exphasis is on “slight”) you get to have your face on the wall! Ok, clearly the club is aimed at a different level of wealth than I possess.

The venue itself was excellent. The cartoon caricatures of celebrities (including previous customers who had spent the equivalent of the Greek budget deficit on their steaks). It definitely brings the New York feel to London.

I ordered a Sirloin (medium rare) and the meat was outstanding. Not the best I’ve had in London, but certainly up there. As good as it was, it still doesn’t justify the cost to be honest. And spare a thought for Andre, who made the mistake of ordering the sliced Sirloin which came smothered in sauce – good if you’re looking for something different, bad if you really want to savour the taste of the meat.

Even better than the meat, was the wine. Wassie started us off with an excellent Meiomi Pinot Noir 2007 and followed up with a Ridge Lytton Springs (which benefited from some impressive decanting). Unfortunately the third wine of the evening (the Leaping Frog Cabernet Sauvignon) was a little bit of a let down and didn’t quite live up to the standard set by the previous two wines.

Finally, I should mention our waiter, Kader. His score started off disastrously by (1) not being female and (2) starting the night off with an excessively long spiel imploring Steak Club to join the Palm’s loyalty club offering such deals as mentioned earlier. However, he was certainly friendly and attentive so I’ll throw some points his way.

To sum up, any night out at the Palm is going to be expensive (especially if you’re picking up the whole tab). If you’re the type that’s not bothered by cost then I’d definitely recommend it. But for those of us who still do have to worry about money, I’d be a lot more hesitant in giving a recommendation.

Score:

Steak – 7 * 5 = 35

Venue – 8

Menu – 7

Waitress – 3

Wine – 8

Value – 2

Overall - 63

The Palm Restaurant - Photos

2010-04-07T23:00:00.002+01:00

The Palm Restaurant - Wassie's Review

2010-04-07T22:38:00.006+01:00

Well when I have the Steak Club reins you know if anything the night is going to be eventful!

The Toy and Hoop, South Kensington, was chosen for our pre-drinks. What I've learnt is that in London steaks come in all shapes and sizes, and so do the people. As the boys slowly rolled in I noticed that one of the pub goers had styled her hair on Mary from "There's something about Mary". This was too good an opportunity to miss so lined up Binder and Andre for a fake photo shoot to get a picture of the quiff (See pictures below)! Now as there are plenty of fines for late reviews I bought the first round of shooters at the bar. Binder again keeping a clean sheet for reviews reluctantly had this - has this guy missed one of the key points of steak club? Great, one shooter down for my late review, 9 to go.

The black cab took us on a quick journey down the road to Pont Street, to The Palm Restaurant. Always good to go to a recommendation and this one was recommended by Andy D from work. He had warned me that it can be a pricey meal, so I was keen to see how this turned out.

The American maître d'checked our reservation and had our coats booked in. We were guided through to our table and the first thing you'll notice are the paintings of famous and not so famous people all over the walls. If a famous person dines at The Palm, as many have, they get their face painted on the wall of the restaurant. Our waiter (yes, I strike out without a waitress yet again) also explains that you can join The Palm Club, spend enough money and get your face on the wall. If you are thinking this is a good idea, check our bill at the end of the night to see if you still want to go through with this.

Our waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable. He told us about the history of The Palm and that this is the first UK Palm restaurant and becomes the 29th in the American group. His introduction was not to the liking of all Members and Binder bleated about just wanting to get to his steak. We were however well looked after and I cannot fault the service.

They have a very extensive wine list and the Sommelier recommended an absolute cracker to start with. I'd never had American wines and asked for a Californian recommendation. Meiomi Pinot Noir 2007, Sonama Country, California was recommended and I will definitely have this again. With the steak we had a further Ridge Lytton Springs, California 2006 and Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, California, both of which were average. The wine was decanted into interesting crystal decanters (see pictures below) that made the wine top ups an event.

The Palm specialises in seafood and steak. To give the boys the true experience I ordered fresh oysters to start (£12 for 6). These were the best I've had in a while. Other patrons orders looked interesting as well with lobsters and giant crab claws, almost the size of your arm, being brought through.

There were 3 cuts of steak available in varying sizes. Fillet, Sirloin and Rib-eye. I ordered the 14oz Sirloin medium rare for...wait for it...£45! It was a really good steak, ranking well in my list, but wow, what a price. Roons and 3BB had the Rib-eye that was their recommended special. Man was that rib-eye something else. If you go you want to order that. It was fantastic! Andre had the sliced sirloin with special sauce and sides. This was smothered and lost it's core meat flavour. Avoid this option like if you like to taste the meat. Andre has meat envy and rightly so.

Now the price. You had better sit down for this. Shared starter, bread, steak and sides, sharing 3 bottles of wine...£110 per head. We could have bough a small African country! Really good steak experience and night out, but at that price, I couldn't afford to do it too often.

All too soon we were at another pub to finish off the overdue straf dops. Wassie 10. Gary 6. Andre 5. Roons 4. Binder 0. This was enough to lead to...Spirits in my eye, the tower of shooter glasses, other members whimping out with the waters for yourselves, "daylight come and I want to go home" and the final Binder / Andre last tube newspaper fight. See video. Binder, it's been a great journey. Don't forget your London steak roots! Go forth and conquer.

Steak: 8/10 (x 5) = 40

Menu: 7/10

Wine: 8/10

Venue: 8/10

Waitress: 3/10 (not many waitresses, but 1 point for each of service, having a Sommelier and
entertainment value)

Value: 5/10

Total: 71%

Go to The Palm if you are looking for a steak night for something different and that you'll talk about for weeks to come. Don't forget to extend that morgage before going.

Wassie

The Palm - Binders Review

2010-04-07T18:51:00.002+01:00

So my London Steak Club adventure comes to an end....and while I'll miss the meat sweats, the fact that I'm writing this post whilst watching the sun set over the Atlantic ocean in Cape Town will certainly make up for it.

It was with much fanfair that the opening up of The Palm was announced in the Evening Standard many months ago. I had stashed the article in my wallet and discovered it on a recent clean out, but too late to take further action on the point. The US of A's proud steak house was in London, and we finally got a chance to try it out. Better Yet, I got to try it out after my last day of work! Happy Days.

After a few swifty's in South Ken, we were wisked away by taxi and found ourselves stuck behind some gents struggling to understand the coat room etiquette of The Palm. Past the Bar, through the front room and to a round table somewhere in the middle and Wassi waisted no time in getting some expert advice on the wine....An impressive wine list, with expert advice. Unfortunately only one South African wine, but wassi made a good choice. The impressive decanting technique deserves mention and may earn wassi's waiter a point...although he's sales pitch for 'The Palm Club' before we'de even had a drink may cost more than 1 point!

The Menu had a decent selection of steaks, plenty of other options available for the omnivores though, and it is difficult to rate the menu without dicussing the 'value' aspect...the menu excluding price is decent.

I opted for a Rib Eye, as recommended by Kader and a favourite of mine in any case....cooked medium of course. Very tasty, some sort of basting, but a very good steak. I'm not sure exactly how it compares to all the steaks we've had so far...Le Relais, this was tastier. My Fave Rib Eye at The Butcher Bar and Grill, The Palm isn't quite as good. Not sure if its better than Kings road Steak house. But it was a nice steak!

The Venue itself is not what I look for in a Steak house, but it didn't hurt the eyes. Some of the drawings on the walls were quite entertaining.

The thorn in the side of this restaurant is its pricing....The most expensive steaks we have ever eaten, although the weakening pound has made this more affordable for me at about R1200 per head, I'm not sure if I want the pound to recover or not.

Venue: 5
Menu: 6
Wine: 7
Waitress: 0
Value: 1
Steak: 37

Total: 56

Would I go again? Maybe when I win the lottery, till then, my next few steaks will likely be braaied over a large thornwood fire.

Thank you for many many great steaks and even better company!

Binder