There must be some other benefits, but few things immortalise the discovery of fire than the advent of steak cookery. From the arguments of how best to cook it flaring up like so many sultry drips of rendering fat into open flames, to suppliers more coveted than those of a snobbish raver, steak goes beyond satisfying our primal urges.
The fact that steaks can elicit such intense opinion is illustrative of how cherished they truly are; they say something about us. Frasier and Niles Crane exclusively opted for fillet, aware of the social currency it held in their world, while their father Marty preferred the masculine inference of a T-bone with all the fixin’s.
As prices have increased, restaurants have looked for more cost-effective cuts that still satisfy our canine teeth and bank balance, with the bavette having become the cut of choice for many, often approximating the classic steak frite of France. The problem is, whether you know how to cook a steak or not, one thing is certain: you know just how you like it, which can be difficiult in a world where steak is often an expression of purism.
However, steak carries a familiarity that offers a sense of predictability — on some level, you know what you’re getting. Blue, rare, medium or well done (an ironic descriptor), only ever said in hushed tones, are universals, the Esperanto of the culinary world.
Regardless, consumers are also shifting toward a wider trend of prioritising the Frasier and Niles’ desire for provenance and quality over their dad’s machismo for quantity. An ever-informed public evolving alongside an ever-adaptable restaurant industry has led to wider choice that’s equally nuanced. And so, thanks to a 15-or-so-year boom in steak restaurants across the capital, most now know what a good steak looks and tastes like at its best: charred and crusty on the outside, ruby red within, and with a minerally, mouth-filling flavour that delivers wave after wave of primal pleasure. Producers to look out for might include Bristol’s Ruby and White, London’s HG Walter, Swaledale, Harley’s, Ginger Pig, Meat Jon and the famed Philip Warren of Cornwall
From British grill rooms to sky-high Kobe beef, glitzy imports to good-value homegrown chains, and whether you want it served up with chips, chimichurri or just a green salad, here we’ve selected our favourite steak restaurants in London, listed in no particular order. Where’s the beef? Keep reading.
Ibai
The UK’s love of Basque Country cooking has led to an importing of the experience that goes beyond pintxos and burnt cheesecake. Institutions like Casa Julián and a myriad of pintxo bars are famed for txuleta — hulking cuts of typically ex-dairy cows with fat the colour of caramelised custard, seasoned only with a sleet of rock salt, a singed mahogany bark that gives way to deeply rouged, sanguine flesh. Meaning “river” in Basque, which are fundamental to the region's culture, Ibai is a deliberate nod to provenance itself.
Ibai use the likes of Miguel Vergara black Angus, Galician Blond or Japanese Black — or Wagyu as you might know it — and it’s the real deal, from full-blood, 10-year-old Wagyu cattle sourced in Suffolk then butchered in Kilburn. Not only this, but Ibai have full control over the herd itself, enabling them to do the rare beast justice, as they see fit. But be warned, they only have two cows a month.
That said, Ibai are continuously on the lookout for beef that makes their exacting cut, such as a 12-year-old ox from Baixa Limia, characterised by an orange fat derived from their diet of carotene-rich grass.
Ibai emphasis on older beasts is indicative of their wider approach — that good things come to those who wait and, just as a life well-lived develops character, this is also true when talking about the meat itself. If you want a sincere taste of the Basque Country without having to compete with reams of your sun-stroked, txakoli-sodden countrymen spilling out of their Airbnb’s, Ibai’s the answer.
92 Bartholomew Close, EC1A 7BN, ibai.london
The Devonshire
If you can make your way past the swarms of Soho’s youth emitting a vape cloud as if signalling their peers to the Lost Mary war, then the Devonshire will reward the carnivorous. It’s the joint vision of Oisín Rogers, Charlie Carroll and Ashley Palmer-Watts.
Although famed for its nigh on absurd volumes of Guinness pulled through each week, the food hardly plays second fiddle. A recent addition to their menu is a grass-fed Wagyu hybrid from New Zealand, personally sourced by Charlie Carroll — the originator of the famous Flat Iron. The Standard’s David Ellis has waxed-lyrical ever since trying it two weeks ago, which is no small feat, given his sceptical approach to steak in restaurants. At £49, the meat is a steal for its quality; where some wagyu is almost damp with fat, this comes with its muscular, brawny meat still there.
For those fancy slightly less marbling than the Venus de Milo, there’s also a skirt steak with duck fat chips and Bearnaise as part of the set menu (two courses £25, three for £29). However, if you’ve got a little more time on your hands, then invest in their à la carte menu, which groans with more heavyweight cuts of beef. Flintstone-grade T-bone steaks of beef chops (£11.50 per 100g); supple chunks of 9oz fillet or 12oz slabs of ribeye, with Bearnaise of course, but also peppercorn, Hollandaise or green sauce, if salt and pepper alone isn’t for you. At the risk of stating the obvious and assuming you’re not entirely keto, the duck fat chips or mashed potato are a must.
17 Denman Street, W1D 7HW, devonshiresoho.co.uk
Manteca
Spanish for “fat”, it’s clear that Manteca prioritises flavour with owners Chris Leach (Petersham Nurseries and Pitt Cue) and David Carter (founder of Smokestak) being of good stock when it comes to meat. Every Friday, Manteca takes delivery of whole animals, which are then butchered on-site as part of the restaurant’s nose-to-tail approach. All are broken down to prime cuts and charcuterie, made in their own dry-ageing room. In terms of steaks, Longhorn beef is currently on their menu and, while this can change based on whatever is the best available, 250g fillets and 500g ribe-eye come in at £30 and £60 respectively.
49-51 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT, mantecarestaurant.co.uk
Dorian
The brainchild of Notting Hill native Chris D’Sylva, Dorian is predicated on being decidedly “anti-Notting Hill”, running counter to the area’s stereotype of old money, dogs-in-handbags, don’t-you-know-who-I-ams. Instead it offers something more modern and vital. What could encapsulate this more than a wood fire grill, ablaze with the tallow of premium cuts, wreathing them in delicious smoke? Dorian’s emphasis on quality extends to the hands preparing the food, with an elite team comprised of Max Coen (Ikoyi, Kitchen Table, Frantzén), Kai Menneken, former sous chef to Phil Howard (Elystan Street) and George Williams (River Cafe). Even the bar is headed up by Ale Villa (Core by Clare Smyth) who’s also collaborated with suppliers London legend Noble Rot for the wine list. Blushing cuts come perfectly pink from edge to edge without the use of sous vide shortcuts, just the product of the doting quality meat deserves. Look up D’Sylva’s sushi bar, Eel, too.
105-107 Talbot Road, W11 2AT, dorainrestaurant.com
Macellaio RC Exmouth Market
“Macellaio” is the Italian word for “butcher”, which gives a clue as to the hands-on approach espoused by owner Robert Costa, the titular “RC”. This five-strong Italian steak chain originally opened in South Kensington but this second restaurant in Exmouth Market is the nicest. The feel is French bistro (bentwood chairs, stripped wood floors and tabletops) crossed with an abattoir, with sides of cow dangling from hooks in the window and ageing gracefully for 50 days; squeamish diners, or anyone toying with the idea of turning vegan, would be advised to walk on by. Steak, priced by the 100g and butchered to order, includes costata (aka entrecôte) made from Piedmont’s famed fassone cattle, Irish tomahawk and Lake District Farmers T-bone and rib-eye, all seasoned to perfection with Ligurian olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Elsewhere on the menu is beef carpaccio, tartare, heart, cheeks, liver and, in case, you’ve forgotten you’re in an Italian restaurant, pan-fried chuck steak in a pizzaiola sauce of capers, anchovies, olives and tomato. As for vegetarians…. there’s trofie with Genovese pesto if the beef chin ravioli doesn’t take your fancy. All branches are dog-friendly, too.
38-40 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE, macellaiorc.com
Hawksmoor Spitalfields
It’s a measure of the all-conquering success of this British steak and cocktail chain that New Yorkers welcomed the Manhattan outpost with rave reviews, which must be the food equivalent of carrying coals to Newcastle, then burning the place down. It is a further measure of Hawksmoor’s success that the Big Apple outpost feels as American as the UK restaurants feel British, for each branch has remained reassuringly individual. This Spitalfields original, just up from Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, is where it all began in 2006, and though the formula remains largely unchanged, it rarely feels formulaic. British beef from regenerative farms is grilled just long enough for the outside to turn crusty while the inside stays pink and served alongside side orders that would make a meal in themselves: fatty bone marrow, thick-cut maple bacon and creamy sauces for dunking beef-dripping French fries. Starters and puddings — scallops with white port and garlic, sticky toffee sundae — are every bit as good and, though prices are steep, huge portions makes three courses unlikely. There are other branches across the capital, this is simply our pick of the bunch. The new-ish one in Canary Wharf, which floats and has a spectacular bar, is definitely one to try, though, and lately the one in Covent Garden has been on blistering form too.
157a Commercial Street, E1 6BJ, thehawksmoor.com
Cut at 45 Park Lane
The dining room at The Dorchester’s 45 Park Lane hotel comes courtesy of Wolfgang Puck, a chef so famous in the US that he’s appeared in an episode of The Simpsons and catered for the Oscars (and so too has Cut’s head chef Elliott Grover, twice). Throw in walls hung with Damien Hirsts and the combination of location and celebrity should be a warning to pack a gilt-edged gold card when dining here. If eating with the international super-rich is not your idea of a good time, walk on by, but otherwise swish through the hotel’s revolving door to find those high prices matched by high-quality cooking and the sort of smooth-as-silk service that more than earns its 15 per cent attending to the needs of the one per cent. Meals kick off with a Champagne trolley before another trolley arrives bearing the namesake cuts, from grain-fed USDA Prime to gamier grass-fed British beef and wagyu so rich it tastes more like foie gras. Oh, and they have particularly beautiful caviar spoons. Afterwards, pop over to the Vesper Bar in the Dorchester for a nightcap; those in the know will ask for a De La Louisiane.
45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN, dorchestercollection.com
The Quality Chop House
Chophouses are the English forerunner of the more American steakhouse and came to prominence as 17th-century dens of intrigue, though it was Victorian London when they really proved their chops as affordable eating places. The Quality Chop House dates from 1869 and, though affordable is a fairly flexible term in the 21st century, it’s easy to imagine intrigue being woven in its Grade II-listed wooden booths. There’s still always at least one chop on the daily changing menu but also Aberdeen Angus sirloin (on or off the bone) and Hereford chateaubriand and rib, served with up-to-date accompaniments such as purple sprouting broccoli with ajo blanco, brown butter and almonds that the Victorians would have displayed in the Crystal Palace as the height of exoticism. If you like what you eat and drink, take something home from the butcher and wine shop next door.
88-94 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3EA, thequalitychophouse.com
Sagardi
“Old cow” is rarely a compliment but when applied to Galician beef it delivers some of the most richly flavoured meat on the planet. Spanish import Sagardi specialises in txuletón, beef cut from cattle of at least six years old, which is liberally seasoned with rock salt before being grilled over burning oak. The meltingly tender steak is bounded by a girdle of buttery fat and, like wagyu, the densely intense meat may not be to all tastes — or budgets: the butch dining room of bench-like tables and glass-fronted cabinets, gleaming with bottles of big-name Iberian wine, feels tailor-made for City boys out on the razz in Shoreditch. Elsewhere on the menu is a greatest hits of Spanish cooking (ham croquettes, pan con tomate) as well as the more recherché likes of braised suckling lamb trotter in Biscay sauce, plus a polite request that “for vegetarian dishes, ask our chef”. Do let us know what he says.
95 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BS, sagardi.co.uk
Flat Iron Shoreditch
Beak Street is the original location for this now 15-strong chain of steak restaurants in London alone, but Shoreditch is the first stop for the premium cuts of picanha, sirloin and rib-rye, cooked over a 15ft wood-ember hearth. However, it’s the namesake flat-iron steak which made the place famous and, even if it is no longer the bargain £10 it was when Flat Iron launched in Soho in 2012, £15 for steak is still one of the capital’s most appealing cheap eats — as well as one of the best quality, with the meat sourced from the restaurant’s own herd in North Yorkshire. Expect to pay extra for everything else, though with beef dripping chips for £4, Béarnaise and peppercorn sauce for another £1.50 and soft-serve ice cream on the house, it’s still great value for £20.50. Flat iron, by the way, is the American name for what the Brits call feather blade, a small cut taken from the shoulder and best served rare or medium-rare so it doesn’t have time to toughen.
77 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BS, flatironsteak.co.uk
Goodman Mayfair
With branches in Mayfair, the City and Canary Wharf, there’s no mistaking the target market for this upmarket steak mini-chain decked out in dark wood and brown leather, but even if you don’t go to work dressed as Kendall or Shiv Roy, Goodman is a name to know. Beef is aged on site before being cooked in a charcoal grill and allowed to rest; there’s Scottish grass-fed fillet and USDA Angus sirloin and rib-eye and, should the prices make you wince, take a small dollop of comfort from the fact that sauce is included. If you have serious money to burn, speciality cuts are chalked up on a blackboard while the wine list is burnished with the most famous chateaux of Bordeaux and domaines of Burgundy. It sounds like a nightmare of corporate diners on expense accounts but friendly staff mean that the reality is rather more welcoming.
24-26 Maddox Street, W1S 1QH, goodmanrestaurants.com
Boisdale of Belgravia
But for a couple of errant vowels, Ranald Macdonald may have found himself the mascot of a more global chain; instead, the heir apparent to the chief of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald is the founder and face of this group of tartan-clad restaurants so ostentatiously Scottish, a kilt should be part of the dress code. Yet Boisdale is much more than an Angus Steakhouse for posh people; nightly live jazz, walk-in humidors for cigars on the terrace and an excellent selection of (Scotch) whisky place the emphasis on fun rather than fine dining, while beef is one of several prime ingredients from north of the border which also include Dunkeld smoked salmon, pickled Orkney herrings and Dumfriesshire haggis. The steak comes as fillet, rib-eye, côte de boeuf and châteaubriand, and prepare to do your most convincing Sean Connery-style roll of your ‘r’s when you order the thrice-cooked chips.
15 Eccleston Street, SW1W 9LX, boisdale.co.uk
Sushisamba
While all Kobe beef is wagyu beef, not all wagyu qualifies as Kobe. This ultra-exclusive variety of wagyu can only come from a breed of cattle called Tajima, bred under strict rules in Hyōgo prefecture, of which Kobe is the capital. What’s more, to sell Kobe beef, restaurants must be certified by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and only a handful of London restaurants have the necessary paperwork (including M, Hot Stone and Kai). None, however, has as spectacular a view as Sushisamba on the 38th floor of the Heron Tower, where City boys and girls can blow their bonus on Kobe beef served two ways: ishiyaki-style on a hot stone (£143) or as rib-eye from the robata grill (£163). If you’d rather slather your steak in sauce, there’s T-bone with chimichurri for a marginally (!) more affordable £97.
110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY, sushisamba.com
