2 /5 Cherie Cope: We took my 15 year old cousin here as he loves steak (cooking and eating) and Ive had good experiences in the past at the Mayfair location.
Prices are, like many steak places, eye watering. It was a Saturday evening and the restaurant was quiet, even when we were leaving at 8pm.
I dont object to paying for good quality food and service but I must say, we got a very mixed bag with this place.
On arrival, we were seated in a nice booth at the front.. Our server was helpful and pleasant, we were offered drinks and menus immediately, and shown the customary raw meat selection.
Interestingly most of the starters are seafood based (prawn, crab, tuna) which is a problem if you have a slightly picky teenager with you. He had the bread basket to himself (which youre charged for, which in and of itself, I find astonishing). Over 30 years of going to all kinds of higher end restaurants and this is the only time Ive been charged for bread other than specialised bread baskets. Last years teenager birthday meal was The Ivy, the year before The Savoy Grill. On neither occasion did either restaurant charge for the standard, pre-meal bread. In fact, the Savoy provided a second basket for the teenager free of charge.
To start I had the prawn tempura and the other guest had the burrata. The burrata was good quality and tasty. The prawns were generous but I found the creamy sauce and batter a sickly combination. I felt in needed more citrus, sharpness.
I ordered the sirloin as my main, teen had the Australian Ribeye and the other guest has the fillet. We ordered fries, chips and green beans to accompany alongside 2 x peppercorn sauce and 1 x Stilton.
The sirloin was beautifully cooked and very tasty. As was the Fillet. However, the ribeye was underdone and the Stilton sauce tasted only of beef gravy. We sent both back. The ribeye was refunded and the Stilton sauce left unimproved and replaced with a bernaise (at our request) in the end.
On taking the ribeye away the manager (? I assume, she never introduced herself) asked if we wanted another. We said no as we were half way through out meals. She did not return to follow up or establish what the outcome of the complaint would be. And she did not apologise.
Super disappointing.
Our waiter was very good, though, and apologetic. They did provide a Birthday sundae for the teenager but we opted not to order anything further.
In the end, the ribeye had been removed from our bill, as had the sauce.
Its worth noting that this place adds a 15% service charge. I once again implore all visitors to London restaurants to ask for service charges to be removed.
Restaurants that charge £40 for their cheapest steak and £9 for each side order should not be expecting guests to plump up staff wages. We have a living wage in the UK and, whilst I continue to (and encourage others to) tip for very good service, I dont believe in the ever growing trend on foisting service charging on customers.
And 15% is ludicrous.
A disappointment in the end, especially as it was the teenager who didnt enjoy his steak and it was his birthday. Wont be returning.
