Reply to comment

Image: 

Published: 17 May, 2012
by LOTTIE MOGGACH

I KNOW that, traditionally, reviewers are meant to visit hot new restaurants, but I usually like to leave it a while – a few weeks, preferably months; the longer the better.

That way, the excitement of the opening has dissipated, and one can get a more balanced picture.

Well, that’s my line, anyway. 

And I hope it goes some way towards excusing the fact that the subject of this review, Hawksmoor Seven Dials, has been open for well over a year now.

In my defence, it was impossible to get a table at Seven Dials at first, it was that hot.

Despite its Touristville location, this isn’t the kind of place that attracts walks-in – the entrance has a dark, expensive, mildly intimidating private members’ club vibe, while the restaurant itself is underground, out of sight.

The restaurant, a former brewery, has been done up in the New York-esque, industrial chic style – bare bricks, parquet floor, leather chairs, semi-open kitchen and Retro Metro tiles.

Let’s get the cost out of the way: unless you’re eligible for the 50 per cent tax rate, Hawksmoor will probably be for treats only – it was my partner’s birthday.

Our main course of a Porterhouse steak, big enough for two, was £85; chips extra.

That’s a fair old whack.

But, as you’d hope, this is steak with an impeccable provenance: from North Yorkshire Longhorn cattle, reared by the people behind the Ginger Pig.

It’s also been dry aged for at least 35 days, and comes perfectly cooked off a charcoal grill.

Again, at these prices you’d expect nothing less than a sublime piece of meat.

But, Hawksmoor’s success proves people don’t mind paying a lot for the good stuff.

Anyway, justifications over: our meal was really excellent.

The size of our steak made everything else we ordered rather superfluous, but we selflessly sampled a range of uniformly good sides: triple-cooked chips, creamed spinach, two different sauces, grilled field mushrooms.

As the main courses are so vast I’d advise skipping starters, but should report that the ones we had were, like everything else we tried, great: half a lobster stuffed with garlic and one of the best Caesar salads I’ve had in a long time, free from the half pint of sharp, gloopy dressing that is standard elsewhere.

The funky waiters were efficient, jolly and well-informed, talking about the cuts of meat with such enthusiasm and authority you’d think that “Steak” was a cool new east London band.

All in all, then, Hawksmoor was well worth the wait – and the cost.

I’ll be back next year.

Summary: Sublime steaks in a cool Covent Garden location. Around £70 a head.

Hawksmoor Seven Dials
11 Langley Street, WC2H 9JG
020 7420 9390
www.thehawksmoor.com