Saturday, August 09, 2008 - You couldn't accuse Mark Hix of resting on his laurels. Running hell for leather, more like. Since he parted company with Caprice Holdings, owners of Scott's and The Ivy, barely a year ago, he's now opened three restaurants. It's true that in one of them - The Albemarle in Brown's Hotel off Piccadilly - he was more overseeing grandee than chef-proprietor. But in the other two, Hix Oyster & Chop House, and this fish house under review, along with money he has clearly invested his heart and soul. This man is unstoppable.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 - Mark Hix is a man with many stellar connections; as the dude behind the Caprice Holdings kitchens (The Ivy, Scott's, J Sheekey and, of course, Le Caprice) he's hobbed and nobbed with le tout London. Surely this can't be why he's received little but slavering reviews since opening this, his first self-owned restaurant?
Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Towards the end of my first visit to Hix Oyster and Chop House, when I had eaten deep-fried sand eels and a salted ox cheek and green bean salad and crisp-skinned roast chicken, another diner asked me whether my presence there was not altering the nature of the experience. To be specific, he referenced Schrödinger's Cat, which at first I thought might be a menu item I had missed, the chef here being a rustic sort of chap.
Thursday, May 22, 2008 - ‘The sucker table’, columnist and restaurant critic Jan Moir calls it. It’s the table where they put the losers, the nobodies, the ugly people, or the people who aren’t brassy enough to insist on somewhere better to sit. Like Jan, I’ve experienced more than my share of sucker tables, as you do when you visit a couple of hundred new restaurants every year, and do so anonymously. And the sucker table is where we were seated, behind the pillar at the top of the stairs.
We had dinner here for my wife's birthday, and loved the evening. Service was good, and the food was excellent. My wife's fillet steak, though expensive, was the best either of us had ever tasted. We asked for steak knives, and didn't believe the waiter when he said we wouldn't need them. He was right, though!
The ambience is pleasingly unstuffy, and the room is sufficiently unusual to add to the experience. Comment on this reader review
Cormac
- View all reviews by this user 8
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Hix Oyster & Chop House
What lovely grub. Lambs liver on a thick slice of puffball with pea shoots! Hah. Gorgeous. Mussels in cider, yum. Mains of pork chop and rabbit stew were hugely filling but the former was very well cooked and the latter melted into its 'gravy'. A nice bubbly atmosphere helps the food along but, although the service was good, it was a bit over attentive. I don't mind having my water/wine topped up for me but when it requires the waiter to lean across your food while you're trying to eat, it's time to step back and pipe down. Overall, well worth a visit but perhaps a tad pricey. Comment on this reader review
therealfacup
- View all reviews by this user 8
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 11, 2009
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Went her for wed lunch - yummy warm bread, lovely starter - potted shrimps - but at £9 for pawns on toast ?! my guest had traditional ham, i choose the duck, we shared one side but equally could have done without, feeling full but couldnt resist the credit crunch ice cream - divine ! Havent had such nice hearty food for sometime, looking forwards to trying out Hix @ brewer street - my guest sited a famous chef - ah what was his name... Comment on this reader review
girl about town 8
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Went here for Sunday lunch last Sunday, and it was fab! Really relaxed and wonderful food. Set menu started with a choice of three dishes, and the main was rast beef, which came on a serving board along with two dishes piled high with amazing roast potatoes. Finished off with a wonderful chocolate mousse. If anyone visits, make sure you take a good look at the toilet doors! Comment on this reader review
Ruth 8
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Hix Oyster & Chop House
Disappointed by my experience at Hix. Combination of food and service made this a night to forget. Nothing shocking per se, but the service doesn't seem to be of the standard you expect the venue is going for - waiting staff a bit clueless on any questions asked, wine constantly running out, having to remind staff about items which clearly should arrive alongside other items, i.e. dessert wine should be served with the course, not halfway through. Felt more Wagamama canteen.
Eggs with asparagus soldiers were with almost hardboiled yolks. Hanger steak, while good value in volume was below par and far too chewy cooked rare or medium rare, even for considering the cut. Squirrel seems to be something of a novelty item, but we were allowed to order, and had I persisted I would have spent an age and two or three napkins stripping the meat of the bone. Presented swimming in a thick gravy I do not see how this could do anything but disappont.
Highlights were ox cheek salad and pressed duck and a rather nice Beaujolais at around £25, but otherwise we certainly would not hurry back. Comment on this reader review
6
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, June 01, 2009
Sunday, July 18, 2010 - The beef-and-oyster pie was as good as I remembered Londonelicious describing it. A flaky crust that tasted as good as it looked, and a filling that was rich and thick and chock full of generous hunks of beef and oyster. Memorably disappointing were the fish fingers (much too salty) and the porterhouse steak for two, a travesty for 65. I'd thought that, because we were around the corner from Smithfield Market and were at a restaurant with the words 'chop house' in the name, steak would be a good bet. Sadly, although the meat looked good, the steak was chewy, and worst of all - no flavor.
Monday, May 24, 2010 - I skipped dessert, and I enjoyed the overall experience. I wanted oysters and steak and it was delivered as suggested. A most pleasant Anglo affair. The atmosphere is the real winner, I hadn't a clue what a 'real' chophouse is suppose to feel like, but this one is certainly cosy. I think there are several London gourmet pubs which will compare well against HO&CH, especially in 2010, but having said that this is a restaurant I would return to, especially to try the steak & oyster pies. Simple pleasures eh.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 - The hostess put me at the bar, which I like. File Hix Oyster & Chop House away as a good place to lunch alone...An immensely delicious beef and oyster pie. (Plus a side salad of watercress and shallots to get my five-a-day.) This pie ranks up there with the most delicious things I have eaten all year. Really...the crust!! You should have seen me there, chinking the crust off the porcelain serving dish...I will be back. Why haven't I been here sooner?
Sunday, March 29, 2009 - Roast potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli and roast parsnips- these ubiquitous trimmings were beautifully cooked. Except that we only had three potatoes and a couple of parsnips between ourselves, we were by now dangerously stuffed. I blame myself for gorging on the bread and toast in the beginning… Yes all quite expensive, but it was very good though. If someone decides to foot the meal, don’t even ignore this place, you’ll love it in its entirety. I intend to come back here, the Sunday Lunch here meets that requirement perfectly. Highly recommended.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - Mains were roast Dorset gurnard with brown shrimp butter and saddle of Ripley Castle hare with golden beetroot mash. The flesh is very meaty but tender at the same time. I would order this next time. My hare was a little disappointing in that it was a small piece of meat…but it was delicious, cooked medium-rare…It’s not cheap to eat at Hix but the quality of food is excellent, as is the service. Hix also has a buzzy atmosphere which I loved and everyone looked like they were having a great time.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - So, in the end, we had a wonderful experience at Hix. What could have been a customer service disaster was saved by quick thinking and competence, for once. (Earlier in the day, we’d had a difficult time at Staples, trying to buy some computer paper, an idea which seemed to completely overwhelm the staff there.)
Friday, April 25, 2008 - Of course this is where I should have been yesterday to celebrate St George’s Day. If anything shouts, nay, screams Britain (sorry, England) it’s Mark Hix’s food. It was still in soft opening mode though and I was told things weren’t running quite tickety-boo. They still weren't when I visited on opening day. Disappointingly the cooking at the Hix Oyster and Chop House just doesn’t pass muster.
@GaryMcDonald78 You need to get yourself to @PittCueCo @DukesJoint or @theribman!
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