Goodman, just good meat

I have been incredibly slack in writing up my posts of late. As a result of laziness and eating out too much, I have far too many posts in draft, each slowly going stale and if I leave them much longer, they will probably go off.

Which is one of the reasons why I feel compelled to write this post and ensure that it too does not go "stale". And what makes this so special? Pure and simply, good meat.

A recent trip to New York made me open eyes to how seriously some people take meat. Burgers and steak are two of the lifeblood which seem to keep the New Yorkers moving. I was so spoilt for choice that I struggled to choose locations for both in my short time there. In London, until recently, I had to settle on the Hawksmoor for my dose of steak. More recently, steak restaurants such as Palm and more noticeably, Goodman, have opened.



So on a dark November's night, myself and the Tweatup crew congregated upon Goodman, a Russian owned steakhouse, specialising in beef of weird and wonderful origin. Most importantly, it is the home of USDA, 100% grain fed cow from the heart of America (Nebraska to be precise).



The nights focus was clearly all about the meat, but we all politely decided to dine like civilised people and ordered a starter each. Whilst others opted for lobster bisque and oysters off the seafood heavy starter list, I opted for some Frank Hederman salmon. I was pleasantly surprised to find it on the menu. My introduction to salmon after a long self imposed abstinence (owing to me detesting the stuff) came about from a visit to @eatlikeagirl's Covent Garden market stall. My first taste of the Frank Hederman smoked salmon that she had brought over from Ireland was delightful and I was converted. The salmon was just as tasty at Goodman and a nice light start to the meal.



So, the main event, prepare for a meat overload. The management at Goodman had kindly prepared a mystery steak tasting for us. 3 different meats of differing cuts, the challenge was to spot what was from where, all with separate coloured flags so we could spot which was which. The first to arrive on my plate was the chateaubriand, easily recognisable but woefully overcooked. Nice flavour but bad grilling had let it down. Thankfully, it was the only steak which wasn't a perfect medium. The "green" was slightly one dimensional but tender and juicy, with the "white" similar in flavour. The "none" had a fair amount of fat running through it which provided the meat with an intense and extremely satisfying flavour.



The stand out for me, however, was the "red". Incredibly succulent with nuggets of fat, this was an amazing steak, with only the "none" coming close in terms of flavour. So where did they all come from? Here are the results:

White - English, from the Lake District
Chateaubriand - Scottish
Green - Scottish, grass fed rib-eye
Red - USDA, grain fed rib-eye
None - USDA, grain fed porterhouse

Yup, I am an American beef lover. There, I have said it. Suffice to say, at the unveiling, past semi identifying what the cuts were, we were totally wrong as to the origins. I know I secretly wanted to love the British beef but when it came to flavour, the USDA won hands down for me. I should also add that we devoured every single side too, as well as a multitude of sauces (a red wine and stilton jus, mushroom, a fiery peppercorn and a smooth béarnaise), all of a high quality.



After all that, all I could face for dessert was some homemade ice cream. A simple end to a quite gargantuan meal. We must have been brought out about 5kg of meat between the nine of us, and not a morsel was left, so good was the meat that we were gnawing at the bones as the waitress tried to wrestle them away from us.

Goodman is a great steakhouse. The food was excellent, as was the service, and that USDA beef really was their trump card. A quick chat with David, the manager, revealed that next on the cards, 2 whole ribs of Australian and New Zealand Wagyu! It will of course come at a cost but the mark up is surprisingly shallow, one of the benefits of having crazy rich Russian owners, I suppose.

I felt slightly guilty that I had enjoyed myself so much, almost like I was cheating on the Hawksmoor. But when I heard that David and the management of the Hawksmoor were "buddies", it made me happy. The gentle one upmanship can only lead to better steak in London, so amen to that.

Goodman (website) - 26 Maddox Street, W1S 1QH

The Old Homestead - New York

They love their meat out in New York. Their commitment to burgers is second to none and the two I tasted were a mere dip of the toe in a rather large ocean. When it comes to steaks, the passion is just as strong and unfortunately, I only had one chance to fit a steak into my busy eating schedule.

Word from the streets (also known as Twitter) said that the place to go was Lugers. It's often foolish to ignore good advice, but after a few blogs were sent my way (check out Burger Conquest and the steak club 7) the best beef to be found in New York can allegedly be found at the Old Homestead.

It claims to be New York's oldest steakhouse, having been around for over 140 years, and whereas most of London's steak houses often plaster the provenance of their cows all over their menus, I couldn't find where the cow I was about to eat grew up (either on the menu or the website). Although its interesting to know, all I really care about is the taste. After a rather monumental lunch at Momofoku Ssam (which you will be hearing about shortly), I decided to share an 18oz New York Sirloin with my cousin, accompanied by a mountain of sides.



What arrived was indeed a great steak. Cooked a perfect medium rare, it was juicy and pink, but not a single drop of blood on the plate, a surefire sign of good resting. A thin strip of fat ran down one side, adding flavour and helping it to maintain that level of moistness. On the outside, a delightful gentle char. It certainly looked the business.

The first bite was a beef explosion. Sounds disgusting, but I mean that in the best possible way. Juicy and full of flavour. It came "au naturel" with nothing more than a few leaves of watercress to keep it company, but it really didn't need anything. I felt almost guilty when I poured a dollop of the house steak sauce (somewhere between BBQ and ketchup) on the side, but it turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to the luscious steak.

As you can tell, I rather enjoyed it. And I really should give the sides a mention. The onion shavings, creamed spinach and mash were unbelievably good, good enough to distract me from tucking into the glistening hunk of meat sat in front of me.

So, in a nutshell, the steak is good. Very good actually. But if you go, be warned, bring a very healthy appetite. The steak I shared is normally a single portion. The two guys sitting next to us had the Empire cut Prime Rib and a Gotham rib steak on the bone, two absolutely monumental pieces of beef coming to a combined 52oz! They polished it off of course, but if that was for two, I shudder at how many cows they need in their aging room at any one time, just to cope with demand.

The Old Homestead (Website) - 56 9th Avenue, New York 10011

Eat Steak : The Hawksmoor, Commercial Street

Looking through my past posts, it looks as though I eat a lot of meat. And let's face it, I do. It's been a struggle, but over the years, I have gradually forced myself to try and enjoy new foods. I think I have managed this with varying degrees of success. I can now eat most green veg and even enjoy some of it. Aubergines and avocado are well up there on my list of favourite new(ish) discoveries as are most seafood (although fish in general is still a stumbling block). I still struggle with raw tomatoes and won't let an anchovy pass my lips.

There are many restaurants which claim to be the best steak house in London. I mean, how hard is it to grill a piece of meat? Very difficult apparently. I have eaten some mediocre steaks, some ok steaks, some terrible steaks and even some pretty good ones. But I always strove for more, to reach that beef nirvana. And the day dinner was organised at the Hawksmoor, I hoped that this was to be that day.

So what brings me to the Hawksmoor? After all, it's located in a slightly more obscure part of Shoreditch and hardly stands out on a rather busy road. Well, Dos Herman's said it did the best steak in London, and I wasn't going to go against their word so I thought I would give it a go. I was meeting sister number 2, which was no mean feat. Dragging her out of Chelsea is like getting water from a stone, getting her to Shoreditch, a different matter completely. Surprisingly, she had heard the rumbles emanating from the Hawksmoor and agreed to come along with her boyfriend and his flatmate.


What a shock, she was late. Which I was semi glad at as it meant I could sidle up to the bar and sample one of their cocktails. Having had a few après-work drinks already, I was nicely warmed up and went for a Hawksmoor Julep. I ordered it and then there it was, the barman was psychic! He had already started making me one before I had even asked for it. Weird. Anyway, it was very nice. I probably didn't need it, but what the hell.




Just as I drew the last slurp from the straw (I'm classy as hell), sister no 2 rocked up and we started to peruse the menu. The menu is short and sweet but to be honest, when the quality is good, who needs variety. More cocktails were ordered as we decided on what to eat (Black Forest Sazerac for me) and starters promptly ordered. No scallops left so I shared a Crab and Crayfish cocktail with my sister. Being somebody who is neither fond of crab or crayfish (or seafood in general actually), this was somewhat a departure for me but I must admit I enjoyed it, not too fishy with a well made mayonnaise. The alcohol was clearly beginning to have an effect on me. One additional point to note, the Tamworth Belly Ribs ordered by Dan, absolutely delicious!


Next up was the main event, the steak! Now, when ordering, I really didn't know what to go for. I asked the waitress and although knowledgeable, she seemed pretty unhelpful . She recommended the prime rib for flavour so that's what I went for. She then told me I could only order 600g. Now I'm a big guy, but 600g? That's a lot of meat. In the end, I went for the 400g rib eye and boy was I happy. When it arrived, it had a beautiful char on the outside, gloriously pink on the inside and the flavour was unlike any other steak I have ever had. You could really taste the 35 day matured longhorn. Absolute bliss on a plate. It came with a trio of sauces (peppercorn, ketchup and a perfect béarnaise) but I felt almost guilty sullying this piece of meat with any sauce at all. At £21, I thought it was well worth every penny. Piers and Sis shared the Chateaubriand (£66 for 550g) which was ok and although more tender, was not as flavoursome as my rib eye and nowhere near as good value.


With the main meal, we managed to order a bevy of sides. Triple cooked chips were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and delicious. Runner beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach were all very nice. No complaints here.


I was pretty much done at this stage. It was definitely belt loosening time. But my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I proceeded to order the blood orange jelly and blancmange. Made in a mould by Bompas and Parr (renowned jelly makers, what a thing to be famous for!) this had a great wobble and provided more entertainment than taste. It was alright but nothing special, and especially not worth busting my gut for. Sister had a rhubarb and ginger crumble and although the flavours were good, there just wasn't enough crumble and the rhubarb was a little too sharp. I don't really think the desserts are the Hawksmoor's forte.

All in all, I came here to sample the best steak in London and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The steak was on another level to anything else I have had in London. I will be back, many, many times.

The Steak Off! Sophie's vs Gaucho

I have eaten a few steaks of late. Unfortunately, none of these have come from the Hawksmoor. Having tried to secure a booking this week and failing miserably, I had to settle for a visit to Gaucho on Swallow Street to satisfy my craving for a lump of red meat. Having been to Sophie's in Covent Garden recently, and failed to blog it, I thought I would pit them mano a mano in a steak off!

Now I'm going to compare them in the six S's. These will be Surroundings, Starters, Steaks, Sides, Service and Size-of-the-bill.

Surroundings - Sophie's is located in a pretty busy part of Covent Garden, right next to the Lyceum theatre so is bustling with the theatre crowd. The restaurant is dimly lit but a decent airy space with pretty interesting lighting (think lots of light bulbs hanging off the air-conditioning). I had a pretty early dinner here but it was packed with the pre-theatre crowd.

Gaucho was also busy but the decor is frankly a bit off putting. Think dead cows hanging off the walls, everywhere. In fact, I dare you to find an area within the restaurant which doesn't have cow print. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there was cow print in the kitchen. Split over 4 floors, it is dark, bordering on the pitch black in areas. All in all, the actual dining room is a pleasant space, with different levels keeping it interesting.

I like Sophie's. There is only so much cow print a man can take.

Starters (or freebies) - Sophie's gives you meat. Strips of salami which is definitely more-ish. They taste nice. Gaucho give you bread. Now normally meat trumps bread any day of the week. But this bread comes with this awesome salsa (sweet vinegary goodness) and the best cheese balls this side of Brazil. Gaucho wins the battle of the freebies hands down.

Steaks - I've had a few steaks from both establishments, varying from the sirloin to the rump. Gaucho's steaks claim to be Argentinean whilst Sophie's are British. I must admit, I have enjoyed steaks from both, and both come with pretty decent Béarnaise. However, the vote goes to Gaucho. The last steak I had there, a juicy bit of sirloin was perfectly done and tasted great. Only downside was that they are very tight on the Béarnaise.



Sides - I've only had the chips and the salad from Sophie's. The salad was more like coleslaw, which is no bad thing. The chips were alright, nothing special. At Gaucho, I had the mash and a spinach and baconconcoction. Again, nothing wrong with these but nothing outstanding, the spinach was a little salty. No real stand out performers so no winners, it's a tie.

Service - This one is easy. I was made very welcome at Sophie's and the staff were very attentive. The service was also excellent at Gaucho. But, and it's a massive but, I was felt that I was constantly being hurried by the team at Gaucho. I was 10 minutes late and was hurried to my table. I hadn't received my drink and they were hurrying me to order. I was still eating my food and they were already cleaning the plates off the table. I wanted a coffee when a bill arrived on my table. Turning over tables is key at Gaucho but if I'm spending a decent bit of cash on a meal, I do not want to be rushed. Round goes to Sophie's.

Size-of-the-Bill - Now good steaks don't come cheap. I enjoyed my meals at both Sophie's and Gaucho and if you order off the main menu, it's certainly going to set you back a few bob. The steaks themselves are fairly reasonable, but it's the sides which add to the cost. This is where Sophie's comes into its own. There is no set or express menu at Gaucho whereas Sophie's has a very reasonable pre-theatre menu. Any time before 7.30, its £12.50 for two courses which includes a decent sized rib-eye with Béarnaise and chips. Result! Easy winner here, Sophie's pre-theatre menu is a bargain. And if you register on their website, they give you a free lunch.

RESULT - It's a tight one but Sophie's emerge victorious 3.5 to 2.5. I look forward to the Hawksmoor trouncing both of these.

Steak - Meat, meat, meat and more meat

Gaucho (Multiple/£50)
Sophies (Multiple/£40)
Hawksmoor (Multiple/£50)
Goodman (Multiple/£50)

Key - (Info/Location/Rough price per head with no alcohol)

Not made it yet (pics):
Le Relais de Venise de L'Entrecote