Hawksmoor

Returned to Hawksmoor. Surely their steak must be top notch at nearly £20 before you pay for side dishes? My rib eye I asked for medium. It came nicely cooked around the edges but raw in the centre. One third was gristle. I complained but was told it was cooked as I requested. On insisting, they took it back to the kitchen and cooked it until it resembled leather and returned it. Galling at the price. Won't be back.
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Stow Eater - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Went here for my husband's birthday a couple of days ago. It's a bit of a mixed bag really.

Good bits: the wine was lovely (Catena Malbec) and our starter of ribs was just beautiful, meaty and flavoursome. Chips and macaroni cheese side dishes were also excellent.

Disappointing bit: the steak. Clearly lovely cuts of beef but overzealous seasoning in the kitchen led to a steak which tasted of salt and little else, a little bit like it had been smoked. A real shame and one which required lots of water!

We didn't experience the 'loud banker' syndrome at all. The atmosphere at Hawksmoor is great, relaxed, no dress code and the service was wonderful, knowledgable and friendly.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I think the management at Hawksmoor have been reading the reviews on here and acting upon them, because everything about our visit last night differs from that of previous diners.

I was nervous about going to the Hawksmoor after reading the reviews on here, but the place impressed me. We arrived early and had some cocktails, which were great. Then - having been allowed to choose which table we wanted - we sat down. The waitresses were friendly and helpful and offered us good advice or guidance when we needed it. They were knowledgeable about both the food and the wine and were always pleasant and friendly. We both had steaks, cooked to perfection and without doubt the best steak i've had in England. Chips and salad were delicious as well. After our meal we ordered a couple more glasses of the wonderful wine we'd had (£35) and sat at the bar for a while. Got the bill, which came to £160 – and the waitress was kind enough to bother to separate it for us as we were paying for some of it through work and needed a receipt with a specific amount on it.

£160 for what we had – 4 cocktails, bottle of wine, two glasses of wine, two steaks, chips and salad – isn’t cheap but it isn’t that bad either, especially as the quality was top notch and the whole experience was lovely.

Some general points:

1) This place isn't cheap, but you wouldn't go here every night, and it's worth it for the quality.

2) Be aware it is at the wrong end of Commercial St, and in the City, so is often full of loud bankers which always have the potential to ruin the atmosphere somewhat… though we just ignored them.

3) You go here for beef and cocktails and not much else, don’t expect over the top décor, romance, 5 star service or an extensive menu – it’s really all about the big steaks and strong cocktails – and they do these really well.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Went a couple of nights ago for a quick meaty dinner after work. Had previously been to the bar with clients, and liked the look of the meat which was whizzing past me every few minutes, so thought I would give it a go.

Disappointed - and its funny how my own experience seems to chime with others who have reviewed.

1) Price. Ends up a bit toppy - £20 for a steak had better be really good. £8 for "shrimp" ended up as two grilled (if very large) tiger prawns. And the wine list - not bad wine by any means, but £27 for about the cheapest on the menu - and heading north sharply from then on. People should not be conned into thinking that a piece of beef and chips is such a gastro experience that they need to have a £30 botlle of wine to do it justice. In the end. 1 starter (shared), 2 steak and chips, 1 side of spinach and a bottle of wine and water - - - - - £96. Now I don't mind paying for my food - but that would get me quite a lot in a number of reasonable restaurants - and this is, after all, 200 m from civilisation at the back end of commercial road....

2) Service. I'm glad I'm not the only onw who got ffod and drink thrown at me. Wine spilled on my jacket - and our chips thrown everywhere (and subsequently replaced). Also. table (which was varnished wood) had the slight stickiness of a greasy spoon cafe - which meant it just felt - well grimy.

3) Seat to table height ratio. Forgive me for being so picky - but I'm 5 ft 10 - so not exactly a midget - but the banquet was so low compared to the table, that I (and my neighbours - I checked) all looked like praying mantises.

Conclusion. Its only, after all, a piece of beef - so frankly, any half decent chef can do what they do. The staff are pleasant but not very competent, and you can't really say its a bargain price

Result - my last time there - there are too many other good places nowadays.
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TSE
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Thursday, November 22, 2007

Cocktails were great - especially the variation whiskey sours. The barman was happy to explain all the ingredients. Steaks were pretty good too and cooked beautifully (but I would say you should expect that at £20 per steak). Shame about the service though.

We weren't in any particular hurry so were fine to wait at the bar for 25 mins, wait for our order to be taken for 20 mins and in general, do a considerable amount of waiting that we wouldn't normally be happy doing.

A lesson in putting things down gently on the table wouldn't go amiss.

A waiter spilt a glass of red wine on my partners suit and shirt. Accidents happen, and we can forgive them, but the general attitude from the staff could only be described as apathetic. Shame, it's left a rather bad taste in our mouths....

Unfortunately, with so much choice in London where the service is far better, I don't think we'll be eating here again.
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Abbie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Friday, November 09, 2007

Going to Hawksmoor is like going on a big, meaty, beef-based pilgrimmage. I wanted a tasty steak, cooked as ordered, and that's what I got - the most glorious rare hunk of rib-eye.

I didn't really care about anything else. Go for the beef.
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MJN
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 09, 2007

I have been here 4 times now largely due to the quality of the steak and the exceptional cocktails. But I've decided not to go back. This is by no means a cheap restaurant (smallest steak £18.50, then extra £3.50 for fries and then side dish on top...)so you would expect service to be friendly (mostly it's not - curt and bossy) and you would expect the steak to be cooked how you asked. 6 of us went last night - only 2 people got the steak they ordered. I ordered medium - it came well done so I asked for it to be changed but the waitress told me crossly I was mistaken it was medium (it was completely brown throuhgout - no hint of pink). When I insisted, she changed it. Others had raw or over-cooked, and in one case half of the same steak was rare and half well done. Bizarre. The chips were so crispy I couldn't get my teeth through them. The waitress told us, despite our arriving half an hour early for cocktails, that we had 5 minutes and we must order - even though the table not booked out later for any one else and being open very late... Friendly service and an apology would have made up for the mistakes - but there was no chance of that. What a shame.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Friday, October 19, 2007

I was expecting this to beat Gauchos hands down but I'm afraid it doesn't. It was a Saturday night and the service was a mixture of bizarre and indifferent. The cocktail waiter's hands were shaking, whch got things off to a strange start. Couldn't seem to aim the cocktail shaker at the glasses properly. Half the drink ended up on the counter. When we got seated, bits of our order were forgotten. Water, glass of coke, two side dishes, etc. The main waiter kept disappearing and returning reeking of cigarette smoke. He could not have been interested in showing us a good time. The steaks were borderline lukewarm/cold though the side dishes were piping hot. Must assume the steaks were done first, left on a shelf while the sides were prepared. My American friend insisted on having her pork chop re-heated. I was too British to ask! Meat portions were big - but not as tasty as a Gaucho steak. Wine was truly indifferent. They have a great range of whiskies and bourbons but we asked for an after-dinner dram, the waitress said we could only have a cocktail!!! After dinner!!! We eventually got our whisky. Decor already looks shabby. I'm fed up with Hoxton after this! Back west I fear.
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Ross Todhunter
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, October 07, 2007

I booked a table for 9 pm on Friday night. Once we arrived (ontime) we were asked to wait at the bar where we enjoyed a lovely cocktail (nice cocktail list). We were seated 35 minutes later after I asked about our reservation. Only managed to have the main course. We had the steak and the lamb, both meat were excellent & well cooked. We accompanied the meal with an average Argentinian Malbec definitely overpriced for the quality. We skipped dessert and asked for the bill. Oops.. Gosh! Where is the Ivy..
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

I ate here with a work colleague midweek.

Properly cold beers served in ice cold glasses got things off to a good start.

Adequate starters - I had scallops, my colleague had shrimp. Extremely good toothsome steaks with excellent chips washed down with a bottle of very drinkable Argentinian Malbec.

Highly recommended - please move it further West tho!
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London Gourmand - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, September 07, 2007