Green Door Bar & Grill
our review
It’s a culinary cliché that chaps who work in the City like steak and red wine for lunch. And like most clichés, it’s pretty true. It’s a relic of the old days when City chaps were all crusty gents who distrusted any form of cooking that was too ‘fancy’. Plus of course, steaks and the consumption thereof has always been a symbol of both manliness and excess income.
And so here is Green Door Bar & Grill in Cornhill. It appears to be yet another bank branch that has had years of tatty corporate plasterboard, signage, and lowered ceilings ripped out to return it to the temple of Mammon it was always designed to be. The message to bank customers in those days being, ‘we are here forever. Your money is safe. But don’t you dare **** with us!’ It’s nice actually; the polished dark wood, the gilt, the big windows and the architraving are classy and relaxing. The menu wont scare the horses either – lots of steak of course, mostly from Argentina and with the added attraction of a ‘Meat Locker’ selection of steaks (and venison) that have been correctly hung for up to twenty eight days to develop the maximum flavour. Should you not be in a steak mood, then Honey Glazed Duck and Pot Roast Guinea Fowl are just a couple of non-cow alternatives on offer and prawns of various sizes are also available.
My smoked duck salad was surprisingly good; the duck tender pink and with the right amount of smoke to make it enjoyable and not like it had been recently rescued from a house fire. The crisp coleslaw and rocket with it was a bit unusual but worked, the only slight negative being that the duck was still shivering with cold from its sojourn in the fridge. Smoked salmon with caviar and rye bread was unimpeachable and the salmon really quite generously portioned. The caviar was more of a style statement than anything substantial.
This is all a preamble to the main event though, the steaks. Today’s mouth-watering 14oz fillet comes in at an eye watering £30 before any sides have been added, so it’s a 14 oz prime rib for me from the meat locker. The friendly waiter asked how I wanted it cooked and wrote it down. Obvious perhaps but so many places don’t take such care with inevitably terrible and inedible results. It came medium rare, as asked, and oven roasted which seemed to do the job well as the meat was tender and tasty all the way through. We also tried the 10oz New York strip steak with jumbo prawns and the waiter didn’t turn a hair when the lady eating it asked for it well done. The customer is always right even when they are just plain wrong. A nice pile of well-cooked chips and some creamed spinach and we were well away, especially with a decently priced bottle of Malbec to wash it all down.
Desserts continued the no-nonsense style with a perfectly cooked and made to order chocolate fondant, which was beautifully runny in its centre. A classic Tiramisu was okay, but nothing to write home to Rome about. This is a place that you could insult by labelling it as an upmarket Harvester, but it’s much, much better than that. It does its job well offering a menu for all tastes, but at the end it sensibly stakes its reputation on its excellent steaks.
N.H. - June 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Afraid to say I didnt much rate this place. Steak was good - but my lobster was tough - overcooked - and no doubt frozen. I was also unimpressed by the Steak Cupboard or whatever they call it - extra premium 28 day mature blah blah - this should be the minimum standard for any decent steak house, not a charge you more gimmick.
Service was poor, place was devoid of atmosphere and I wont be rushing back.
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Yorkie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 5
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ambiance OK and service friendly. Food good although we had to wait a little while for our courses to arrive. Our waiter was fab and responded to our needs but overall the service was a liitle on the slow side. Steaks as good as any where else in Town - including Gaucho.
Would recommend but service needs to be little more prompt. Cost of meal very reasonable.
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Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Great spot in the city for an intimate dinner if you fancy a great steak. I prefer eating upstairs as you get the buzz from the downstairs bar without being intrerupted.
Overall it really is all about the steaks and a great wine selection. Seems to be getting busier in the evenings which is fantastic.
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Paul Sumner
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Very good meat and service - Keep it up
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Robert Glynn
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, March 06, 2008
