Hawksmoor Seven Dials

I love this place, it does exactly what it says on the tin!

The staff are always friendly and helpful, attentive but not to overbearing. The food is simple, but cooked to a high standard and you get your steak cooked exactly how you want it - never over or under cooked. The desserts too are to die for!

It's not the cheapest steak house, but for the level of quality that I've always experienced there, I'm happy to pay a bit more.

I haven't experienced it yet but I hear that their Sunday lunch is to die for!

Hawksmoor is a firm fave for my husband and I!
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Nerissa
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, March 25, 2013

Steak, chips and Bearnaise - simple for a restaurant that bills itself as steak restaurant you would think?

Food arrived...took a bite of the chips - cold. Sent them back..waited for them to come back before trying the steak. Chips came back - tepid and what the beef dripping had to do with them is another unanswered question!

Cut into the steak - was practically still waving to me - ordered medium rare but this steak had barely seen the pan on it's way through the kitchen.

Sent the steak back...Chips cold again at this stage... Steak returns. So you would think all food ready to be eaten except hang on the ordered Bearnaise was actually just milky white mayonnaise with no taste except mayonnaise...no mistaking it. So called over the waiter and informed him that the Bearnaise was in fact mayo. Took it away only to replace it with what looked again like plain old mayo. Only this time instead of having no taste to it it tasted 'off'. Called over the waiter to ask him what was going on and he said he had taken it upon himself to give me blue cheese Bearnaise instead of the ordered Bearnaise. What?!! apart from the fact it was foul..it was still not even resembling a Bearnaise. So not one of the 3 simple but expensive items were cooked correctly. jeez...food was taken off the bill but that was no consolation as we had gone in there to eat a nice birthday meal and one of us left hungry and both of us left cheesed off. No goodwill gesture of a free drink even....really shameful to be honest. We have eaten in the Spitalfields branch and have left more than happy but it appears this Covent Garden branch is just an expensive pre and post theatre tourist trap.

Never again.
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Dee - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, January 22, 2013

My Father (who is an amazing chef) now lives out of London, and he has tasked my boyfriend and I to find him the best steak in London for when he next visits. We both thought it would be easy - we eat out a lot and have tons of food friends who know their meat too! So, we booked a table at Hawksmoor and I was sure that we couldn't go wrong.

The service was pleasant enough and our waiter explained the menu well. I had potted mackerel to start, which was more like a mushy paste lacking much flavour. My partner had the bone marrow with onions, which was average.

For main, I had a rib eye - cooked blue. It arrived on the medium side of medium rare, a total let down! I did send it back and the waiter was very understanding, agreeing that it was overcooked and he said a new one was on the way. In the meantime, I nibbled on my soggy 'triple cooked chips' and my boyfriend on his 'beef dripping fries' which were literally stone cold. My second steak then arrived, cooked to perfection... And crusted with salt! I couldn't believe it. I was picking salt flakes off, both sides of the steak. It was just terrible, so I then sent that one back. My partner and friends all tried it too, and agreed. The manager then came over and the excuse was that 'chefs are human and make mistakes'...err not twice in one night when you're paying what we were.

Still hungry, I tried to console myself with the shortbread with salted caramel ice-cream. The short bread was more like a dense, crumbly shortcrust pastry. It was far too dry. The ice cream was just ok.

My whole meal was removed from the bill, although little consolation for such a disappointment. From what I read, it can really be a bit hit and miss. Either way, I definitely won't be returning or recommending it - and our hunt for the best steak restaurant continues. Hawksmoor is definitely not it.
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Georgie Terry
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Friday, December 21, 2012

I had really high hopes of visiting here as I heard this was the steak chain to rival “Goodman” but based on our visit Saturday this isn’t really up to scratch. Having said that we had a very nice leisurely lunch with groomsmen for my brother’s forthcoming wedding. We headed down to Seven Dials after getting measured up for our suits. The restaurant is in a large basement area and you enter through the rather nice bar. We stopped there for a sharpener. I had a really nice ginger beer concoction whilst the others had various variations on the Bloody Mary. All excellent, the bar staff were really top draw which sets you up expectantly for the main event. We were shown through to the main restaurant which is very similar to “Joe Allen” nearby. Exposed brick work, plenty of tables. Looked like the place to have a birthday based on our visit.

Our waiter was good, professional, not overbearing and looked after us during all our meal which was a nice touch. I ordered the bone marrow and onions to start with as I had been told this was a speciality. It came with loads of soft fried onion and some bread to spread it on. If I’m honest it’s not really my thing, I didn’t care for the taste or texture. It tasted like congealed fat. I’ve tried it now and I’m happy to proceed through life without bothering again. The others enjoyed their starters though so all in all a happy group.

Main course was of course steaks. Here is where it all went a bit wrong. I cook steak at home and the basics are simple, you get the best bit of meat you can, season it, grill or broil it, leave it to rest and serve it hot. I ordered a 400g ribeye and it came to the table under seasoned and it had been resting for too long so half way through the steak it had gone cold. It also meant the fat congealed, really not nice and a bit of an ordeal to finish. The sides were also a bit disappointing, beef dripping fries luke warm at best, Macaroni cheese tiny portion, tomato salad laughable portion. Most of the others enjoyed their steak but as I was munching on my cold fat I couldn’t help thinking “Goodman” do this a lot better.

I don’t think the temperature of the food was aided by the vigorous air con which caused another problem. Apart from if you are sitting out on a summer day in the South of France or the Italian lakes red wine needs to be served at room temperature. However when a restaurant has the air con set to artic then all the wine is too cold and can’t be appreciated properly. Hawksmoor has a great wine list but the 3 bottles we tried all tasted underwhelming. These were at about £50 a pop so should have been served correctly. Fortunately the half bottle of tawny port we had with dessert was fine served air con chilled! Dessert was fine, I had a sticky toffee sundae. The double expresso I had after though was awful, burnt beans so really horrible. Fortunately the end of the meal was saved by a truly lovely Blandon’s cask bourbon which I would return for alone.

My brother kindly picked up the tab for us 5 but it came to £700 which was going some, for that sort of money the drinks, food and wine should have been perfect and really only the drinks were in that class. Hawksmoor can only get so far on it’s cool dude hype, I hope for their sake the new Air St is a lot better than Seven Dials as this really wasn’t in the same league as “Goodman” or “Gaucho”.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, October 08, 2012

"Third burger" (with black pudding) at the usually reliable Seven Dials branch was a total let-down. Salty to the point of being inedible. Brother said same thing of his chilli dog. Ditto for the chips. I am one for putting salt on everything but my mouth is still dry after drinking 2 litres of water. Hope the issue is addressed soon.
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7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Totally Ace Place!!!

Staff were friendly and relaxed, cocktails were good and the food was great - what more can I say?

I also loved the fact that they followed up my visit with a request for feedback - if only all restaurants were this good!
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Sarah
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 15, 2012

Our experience at your Hawksmoor was one of the best we have ever had. In short, the service was excellent (we made a point of getting our waitress' name Joanna; kudos to her!) and the meal itself was amazing, the drinks, the wine everything was fantastic. At first we were a bit put off by the noise but somehow it fit into the evening perfectly. We will definately recommend to others and we will definately come back again! It was a special night for my girlfriend and I and it couldn't have gone better.
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Chidi
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 20, 2012

My husband and I enjoyed a lovely meal at Hawksmoor last night. We had intended to dine here 6 months ago but hadn't booked (an amateur mistake once you see how busy the restaurant is). Expect to book a few months in advance for tables between 7pm - 9pm.

Overall, the staff were fantastic, both at front of house and the waitresses - who patiently took us through each cut of steak, explaining what we can expect and what is the best value for money option. She even brought me over 2 samples of red wine as I was undecided as to which wine I wanted.

We started off with the Grilled Poole Clams in Bacon Bone Broth and the Bone Marrow and Slow Cooked Onions. The clams were lovely, however I was slightly disappointed that at least 6 of them were still shut. The bacon was of obviously good quality, but not enough of it. Unfortunately I couldn't drink the broth as it was so salty. Two huge bones with gelatinous marrow, topped with sweet and tangy onions were brought to the table, with bread on the side. The marrow was very fatty, but the onions cut through the fat and really lightened this dish.

We both ordered a 400g Rib-Eye steak, medium, for our main course. The steaks were huge and were perferetly cooked with a beautiful charred taste. Our steaks were accompanied by triple cooked chips and roast mushrooms. My other half had the bone marrow gravy which he loved. The chips were slightly salty, but were nice and crispy on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside.

After devouring or main and feeling that we couldn't breathe after eating so much....we then decided to share the sticky toffee pudding, and I'm glad as it was delicious and much lighter than expected.

This isn't the cheapest steak restaurant, but good if you're good steak in a variety of cuts. The staff were great and didn't rush us through our meal, however I thought that the courses came out too quickly and didn't give us enough time to begin to digest the course before. I would definitely come again, thank you Hawksmoor!
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Nerissa
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Had a Table for 5 on 13th December - booking was handled very efficiently and greeting and cloakroom above restaurant was handled well

Style of restaurant was good- retro and informal

Once seated getting attention of serving staff was difficult. I would have expected to have a dedicated waitress or manager of serving staff to manage our table-it wasn't particularly crowded as it was early evening

4 of us were served with bitter that was clearly 'off'' before meal but had difficulty getting waitress to accept that there was a problem .Another staff member eventually agreed to change order.

Service was slow even though there were plenty of staff milling around

Food was very good when it came

We were hurried out to bar area for coffee and drinks at end of meal because clearly there was another sitting after us - there wouldn't have been a problem if service had been sharper - this was very poor and not acceptable. This cost serving staff a tip

Overall our impression was food- excellent but service- very poor and unproffessional

We probably wont eat there again because of the service standard.
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Martin
6 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

went to Hawksmoor for the second time.first time late last year, It was bad then so havent been back since. thought i would give it another go as its local. second visit as bad as the first

waitress was lovely though,food total letdown.

starters overpriced,underseasoned and generally not good,although my husband enjoyed his bone marrow.

steaks a total joke.i ordered mine rare it came dry and well done, same for my husbands rib eye and our other two guests steaks were over cooled also. not even slightly but totally. sides arrived after we had almost finished our over priced steaks.

We were given one starter for free as it was inedible.

we didnt even bother looking at the pudding list, after getting the 250quid bill we were out of there!
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5 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Thursday, October 06, 2011