Hawksmoor Guildhall

Went to Hawksmoor with a group from work last week and it was a fantastic experience. We were in a group of 10 and had the 'beef tasting menu'. At £700 in total, it's a lot of money, but it was well worth it. From the beef tea at the start, to the amazing steak and veal tartare, to the steak and chips and finally the sticky toffee pudding, we enjoyed every mouthful of it (though I couldn't face breakfast the next morning). Service was slick and friendly. In total it was £110 each. Not cheap, but value for money given the quality of the ingredients and cooking. We all thought it was a brilliant experience.

Of all the things we had that night, I still thought the steak was the best - tender but amazingly tasty - so even if you're not in a big group, or can't face forking out £100 for beef - I would still recommend Hawksmoor wholeheartedly.

I am very surprised at all the negative reviews below. Either others are a lot more fussy than I am, or they came on an off day.
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Nick - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 15, 2013

In a city like London, where low cloudy skies are the norm, and daylight hours are in short supply, this place does nothing to lift your spirits. Depressingly, it's in a basement. And then, some designer guru thought it needed further dark, heavy wood, inadequate lighting etc...perhaps they were trying for that mythical "gentlemen's club" feel? To compound, it is not very well ventilated either, and so all that grilling etc of meat finds its way into your hair and clothes etc. This is probably why so few women were present. I mean, after all the effort for their hairdos, perfume, clothes, makeup etc, they walk out smelling of grilled fleisch. Prices are stratospheric, for food that requires no particular technical ability. And mark-ups are at the many multiples of retail for the wine. Just about everything is an extra, so watch when the waitstaff pushes you to order more vegetables than you can actually consume. The burger (which was my companion's reaction to the attempt to upsell into a more expensive steak than he wished - he downscaled into the burger!) was average at best, and in the dreaded seeded bun. The noise, due to the low ceilings and decor was amplified and echoed in a crescendo. My steak was also, average. Not a patch on steaks stateside. Suit was sent to be cleaned, and a long hot shower gave me back my hair. Not a place I would rush back to anytime soon.
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C.Elder
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Thursday, February 14, 2013

So, it's expensive.

However, it is the best steak I have ever eaten, bar none.

My advice, forget the starters and dessert. Stick to the steak and sides and get a good bottle. It's what they do best, so invest in the steak!

Highly recommended.
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Tom
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Thursday, December 20, 2012

Maybe it’s just me! As you perhaps have seen in a previous review my first experience of Hawksmoor (Seven Dials) wasn’t entirely successful, nice place, great bar but cold red wine and luke warm steaks hampered my enjoyment. I complained they responded nicely so I thought I would give it another go. My next attempt was Sunday when my lovely wife and I thought we would see if we could get a walk in at their new Air St branch. They were full but the receptionist was a touch snooty in brushing us off which was a bit out of order. Never mind we went to Burger & Lobster and had a great meal. As it turned out I was fated to try their Guildhall branch on Monday anyway. Damian was back over from Oz again so Shandy Andy had arranged for a few of us to catch up for a meal. He had used Guildhall before so got us a table in the bar.

I got there first and had a very friendly greeting from their very chatty manager. Like Seven Dials, the restaurant and bar are in a basement. This is smaller though so I felt it worked better as a space especially with all the wood panelling, it was a bit more intimate. He led me down to my table sorted me with some water and the waiter took my order for their Pete’s brew alcoholic ginger beer. It was lovely, a really nice cocktail to kick off the meal. The bar was about half full being a Monday night but it had a nice buzz. They allow non-eaters in here which is good as the cocktails and booze selection is top draw. The other 4 arrived and we settled down to the important job of eating. We eschewed starters for steaks all round and a selection of sides.

I ordered my usual ribeye medium rare. The steaks all came together but the sides were another few minutes. This concerned me as the my steak plate was only just warm and I had visions of the same problem as last time. The sides turned up and were lovely, lovely chips, creamy spinach and huge onion rings. The bone marrow gravy was very nice as well. But what of the steak? Well the medium rare came rare but properly rested so no blood. However they had made the same mistake as last time, it was luke warm, first few bites lovely but it soon lost temperature and the last 100gm weren’t pleasant. I also rushed eating it as I didn’t want it to get cold. Is it too much to ask that they serve the steak hot on a hot plate? Goodman manage it everytime! There is something wrong with their passe system, the steaks need to go out to tables as soon as there are ready. For the most part everyone is having steak so this should be easy to achieve.

Anyway disappointing steak dealt with we had dessert. I had the chocolate tart with salted caramel and popcorn ice cream. It was really rather nice. Not too rich and very tasty, it made up for the steak. I washed it down with a very nice glass of tawny port. The bill came and it was a fairly whopping £350 which for 2 courses a few drinks and 1 modest bottle of red is really going some. So I spent £73 on a dinner in a very nice place with good service, nice drinks but cold steak. The others were happy enough but Hawksmoor just can't get it right for me. As they are fond of saying on Masterchef, if you play it this simple then it needs to be perfect everytime! Based on this I will give Air St a miss!
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Slightly disappointed.

Apparently the steak is to die for.

I went here on a client breakfast and it was all just a bit....much.

Heavy sausages, bacon, trotters in the beans, ribs in the bubble and squeak, meat, meat and more meat.....probably every mans dream to be fair. For me it was just a bit too heavy and everything just felt a bit over indulgent without the substance of actually being tasty.

Freshly squeezed orange juice was great. Apparently the pastries are also top notch.

If you go....stick to the steak, starve yourself for a week prior to your visit or make sure there's a sleeping pod in the office.

The decor was also not to my taste but then again....I am yet to hit the age of retiring to the drawing room for cigars and brandy.....

I shall say it was okish value for money but then again...I didn't pay......
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- View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

This new steakhouse is hidden away in a basement but what a treasure! A huge room beautifully fitted out with comfortable seating. My favourite time to visit is for breakfast when you can take your time to enjoy a feast. Their special breakfast platter has everything with pork chops, sausages, black pudding, tomatoes and even bone marrow. This is one to share between 2!

Their drinks are exceptional and the service is also spot on. I still prefer Goodman nearby for steak at dinner but Hawksmoor has a better casual feel to it for breakfast and lunch.
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Alexsb - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 05, 2012

steak!!!!...it's a piece of steak on a white plate....

nice though.....but come on......this isn't cooking....

sides??? OK-ish. Bearnaise......maybe they should learn how to make it...I could teach them....

service nice but very pushy on spending....rude when you ask for a Chateaubriand 600 g for 2 to say "sorry but we have only 700g...is it ok?"...cheeky

never again.....

I like real food and real creativity in cooking....here it's for people who eat to survive....not to appreciate.

and on top of that....it's one of the noisiest place I've been in the UK......good luck for listening and get ready for aspirin in the end..

Shame to waste such amazing decor with that kind of food......
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Vince75016 - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 17, 2012

I went here shortly after the Guildhall restaurant opened as I missed out on the soft launch. The restaurant itself is huge and I would imagine that if it is not at least 2/3rds full it could look quite empty and lacking in atmosphere. That said the night that we visited it was fairly full.

We ordered some cocktails whilst we were perusing the menu and they came promptly and tasted delicious. Having been to their sister restaurant at Seven Dials I was looking forward to the ribs that they serve there (Tamworth belly ribs - which are to die for) but sadly they didn't have them on the menu at Guildhall :(

My partner chose half dozen oysters to start with which were declared delicious and I had the mushrooms on toast which was lovely although a little on the salty side. For mains we both had steak (why choose anything else!) and whilst his cut was amazing, my bone-in-sirloin was way, way too salty. These comments were passed back to the waiting staff who in fairness took them on board and took the offending steak off the bill but I was a little disappointed as the meal that I had at Seven Dials was just amazing in every respect and I would expect them to get steaks perfect each time as this is something that they specialise in.

Service was a little slow at times in terms of trying to attract the attention of the waiting staff and also there was quite a large wait between our starters and mains.
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JG - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Thursday, December 08, 2011

I'm a huge fan of Hawksmoor, so this review is in any case biased. My friends tell me Goodman is even better, but i refuse to go in case they're right. I really can't get enough of Hawksmoor. So, that being the case, my girlfriend and I trotted off to the new Guildhall site last night, on day 3 of their soft opening.

The Good - The steaks never fail to amaze me. I really can't imagine a steak being any better than this. We were both grinning from ear to ear as we tucked in to our wonderfully tender fillets.

The service, despite only being the third night was very good. They've pulled in staff from their other sites to help smooth the opening, and it shows. The sommelier was extremely knowledgeable, and helpful, the waiting staff friendly, and generally everyone was on good form.

The Bad - The only bad thing I can say about Hawksmoor in general is the cost. It was expensive before, but they've now put their prices up. Not much, but on a 700 gram steak between 2, it'd be an additional £7, and on the Chateaubriand, you're looking at an additional £14. Their argument is that it's the best you can buy, and that may be the case, but I also know they get their meat from The Ginger Pig, and if you go to their site in Borough market, you certainly aren't paying those sorts of prices. True, you'll never cook it as well yourself, but it does grate on me that they appear to make such a margin. I say appear, because the rent on their sites can't be cheap, and i'm sure in reality their margins are razor thin. .but in a time of recession, i'm more likely to go to Borough market and try to cook it myself than pay £30 upwards for a steak..

The other thing specific to the new site is the sheer size of the development. I don't know how many covers they have, but it's huge. I'll be interested to see how it is when it's full (they were running on 1/3rd for the opening few days while they bed things in). I strongly suspect it'll be unbearably noisy, particularly if they get a lot of city folks in there, and the number of covers means that both the staff and the kitchen will have their work cut out. This will be the real test, and a clear sign of whether they've over extended themselves. In any case i'm sure it'll be full every night.

I've already booked a return visit, which should say it all really.
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Digitalgoldfish - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Thursday, October 20, 2011