MAZE GRILL

Maze Grill by Gordon Ramsay in Mayfair was the first of the three Maze Grills to open (the other two are on Royal Hospital Road and Park Road) and sits adjacent to Maze, the original fine dining establishment that bears the word ‘Maze’ in its name. Whereas Maze offers an eclectic European menu with an Asian twist in a more formal setting, Maze Grill took its inspiration from the Manhattan grill rooms where steaks are the order of the day. Maze Grill is the kind of place where select US and British cuts of aged prime steaks are brought out on a board for customers to choose from. But also prevalent at the restaurant is a range of sushi and sashimi. On Saturday afternoons, Maze Grill Mayfair offers a bottomless bubbles and sushi menu for £40.

We visited Maze Grill on a Sunday afternoon, during which time the ever popular Sunday roast is served. For £25, diners can have a 35 day dry aged sirloin beef with slow braised shin of beef, Yorkshire pudding, rich bone marrow gravy and unlimited sides such as buttered carrots, honey glazed parsnips and wagyu fat roast potatoes.

But before tucking into the Sunday roast we decided to try a number of starters. Salt and Szechuan pepper squid (£5) with chilli and lime was fairly tasty with a crispy coating. Deep fried onion rings (£4.50) were fat and big and nicely done. Also pleasant (and also deep fried) were the buffalo chicken fillets (£5). These were crunchy and well made, but at £5 for a few measly pieces, this plate felt a tad overpriced.

Maze Grill – Salt & Szechuan pepper squid

Maze Grill – Onion rings & chicken bites

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CAU ST KATHARINE DOCKS

Cau (cleverly pronounced as ‘cow’) stands for Carne Argentina Unica, a chain of Argentinian steakhouses by the same people behind Gaucho. I visited the Cau St Katharine Docks branch which is located in the newly refurbished Commodity Quay. On good weather days, the front of the restaurant opens up for al fresco dining, overlooking the West Basin of the marina.

Designed to embody the spirit of the trendy area of Palermo, Buenos Aires, the design of the Cau St Katharine Docks was sharp and funky with booth seating and bright blue sky and grass imagery. Cau has a quirkiness to it, notably with the waiters and waitresses wearing endearing ‘cauboy’ and ‘caugirl’ T’shirts.

The menu at Cau displays the best of Argentinan grass-fed beef. Dominating the menu was a variety of steaks, burgers and steak sandwiches. But for non-steak eaters, there was also a choice of twice-cooked pork belly and fresh market fish.

We began with a selection of starters, the first of which came highly recommended – the homemade jamon and manchego croquettes (£6). These were excellent, with a crispy crumb coating and a gloriously creamy filling. I would highly recommend trying these.

Cau St Katharine Docks – Croquettes

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Established in South Africa in 2000, The Meat Co Steakhouse opened in London in 2008 at the Southern Terrace end at Westfield’s Shepherds Bush. It is an expansive space, with the ground floor operating as a bar, and upstairs as an enormous dining area decorated in warm dark tones. The headline act is the Connoisseurs’ Choice of Cuts, which includes chateaubriand, wagyu and kangaroo. There are also super-aged steaks, and these meats, sourced from both the UK and the US are firstly basted in a secret traditional recipe before being flame grilled to order. Also on the menu is a variety of chicken, seafood and veggie options. And paramount to its success is that The Meat Co prides itself on offering an approved Halal menu.

I first visited The Meat Co a couple of years ago and had a very respectable and enjoyable experience. This time around it was just as enjoyable. Moreover the desserts had stepped up another level and were even better than I remembered.

We tried a variety of starters including the salt and pepper calamari (£8), peri-peri prawns (£10.50) and chicken wings (£8.75). The calamari was excellent, being tender and coated with a light, crispy and well-seasoned batter. The prawns in a peri-peri sauce had been pan-fried with shallots and garlic and were firm in texture with a good flavour. The peri-peri sauce itself was decent, if a little bit too strong in flavour from the use of peppers. The chicken wings were solid and had been coated with a sweet, sticky sauce that was ever so moreish.

The Meat Co – London Food Blog – Calamari

The Meat Co – London Food Blog – Prawns peri-peri

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MAC AND WILD

Mac and Wild is all about meat – Scottish meat in fact. At the heart of its operation is wild deer which comes from co-owner Andy Waugh’s father’s estate, with the rest of the produce being sourced from other trusted highland properties.

The origins of Mac and Wild dates back to when Waugh first set up at Borough Market in 2010, selling raw deer meat. Before long, his next venture came about as ‘The Wild Game Co’ which saw him dishing out venison-based street food. A pop-up was next, which was so well received that Mac and Wild, the permanent location, came into being in 2015.

The finished product, Mac & Wild on Great Titchfield exudes a minimalist touch with wood tables and bare brick walls. Yet it manages to maintain a sense of a stylishness to it with its soft dim lighting and charming ambience. The menu is predominantly about the meat, but there are also a number of fish and veggie choice to ensure that every palate is catered for.

The highlight of the evening was without question the venison chateaubriand (£11 per 100gm – we ordered 310gm). Packed with flavour and mesmerisingly tender, this was staggeringly good. Perfectly cooked and well seasoned, this was truly a triumphant piece of meat and well worth the price.

Mac and Wild – Venison chateaubriand

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Zelman Meats is part of the Goodman Restaurant Group, the team behind the Goodman steakhouses in Mayfair, the City and Canary Wharf, as well as the hugely successful Burger and Lobster chain. It takes over the spot which was once Rex & Mariano, also another venture from the Goodman Restaurant Group. At Rex & Mariano, the focus was reasonably priced seafood which unfortunately didn’t take off. With Zelman’s Meats, the group has shifted its focus to meat, but again with an eye on reasonable pricing.
The décor at Zelman’s Meat is sleek with a tinge of industrial chic. The restaurant is spacious with an open kitchen, dark red leather booth seating, industrial-style lighting and exposed ventilation. In place of traditional paper menus are blackboards on the wall with that day’s offerings. There are three main cuts of meat, picanha (£6 per 100g), chateaubriand (£9 per 100g) and ribs (£12 per piece). The first two are priced by weight with the minimum portion size being 200g.

We ordered the sliced picanha and the chateaubriand, and we enjoyed both of them. The beef came out medium rare, was well seasoned and boasted of a robust charred flavour. Although both cuts of meat were tasty, the chateaubriand was unsurprisingly the better of the two. It had a better flavour as well as being the more tender. We also ordered some sauces to go with the beef, these being the bernaise (75p) and the chimichurri (75p). The bernaise was good with a nice hint of acidity, however the chimichurri was bland.

Zelman Meats – Picanha & chateaubriand

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BARBECOA BY JAMIE OLIVER

Named after the Caribbean word for barbecue, Barbecoa by Jamie Oliver is a barbecue steakhouse to satisfy even the most diehard of meat lovers. Founded by both Jamie Oliver and award-winning American barbecue chef and author Adam Perry Lang, Barbecoa boasts of luscious cuts of beef, roasts, pulled pork, ribs, smoked beer-can chicken, but to name a few. The menu is then rounded off by a plentiful assortment of starters, sides and desserts. The meat is prepared using a variety of modern barbecue methods – Texas pit smokers, tandoors, fire pits, robata grills and wood-fired ovens. Moreover, the beef is handpicked and dry aged for up to 70 days by the restaurant’s own in-house butchers (there is a Barbecoa butchery downstairs that sells to the public). Barbecoa also boasts of the widest range of American whiskies in the UK and also offers a list of global wines, American and British beers and an assortment of cocktails.

Barbecoa is every city slicker’s dream. Sleek, well appointed and decidedly modern, the restaurant plays to your appetite with its open kitchen where all the different types of meat, cooking merrily away, are on display and for all to see. But perhaps the most impressive view is that of St Paul’s Cathedral. Barbecoa is perched next to this striking London landmark and offers a perspective like no other – a view that one deserves to enjoy with a cocktail. P chose the Long Islay Iced Tea (£9.50) with Islay Whisky and I went for the Peach Ni-Ti (£10.50) with Matcha-Infused Cucumber Gin, Peach, Lychee, Lemon and Egg White. St Paul’s was breathtaking, but the cocktails were less impressive, particularly the Peach Ni-Ti which needed much more acidity to lift it from its borderline blandness.

Barbecoa – Peach Tea-Ni & Long Islay Iced Tea

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The World’s End Market

Words and photos by Katrina from Russian Revels and myself.

The World’s End Market is the second venture of the Markets Group which opened The Crystal Palace Market restaurant earlier last year. The Group set out to introduce ‘an innovative culinary concept’ to the competitive London restaurant scene by focusing on unfussy cooking using the best quality local ingredients, with the result being primarily grilled fish and meats with classic sauces.

The World’s End Market used to be an iconic pub which has been lovingly restored. Today it retains much of the atmosphere of a good old boozer. The interior design is reminiscent of an early 20th century canteen decorated in cosily hushed greens with a gleaming cocktail bar and easy-listening background music. On a Monday evening the restaurant was uncharacteristically quiet because of an important football game (so we were told by the charming French manager), but the loveliness of the restaurant no doubt can draw in the crowds on other nights of the week. We felt we could easily have spent many an hour drinking from a decent selection of wines, most of which were organic.

The concept at World’s End Market concept centres on ‘locally sourced ingredients’, and although the restaurant does not list the source of all their protein the locavore concept didn’t quite hold true as we saw scallops from the Pacific and prawns from Madagascar. But we tried these for our starters, and we found that we loved the plate of simply grilled scallops (£10.50). Three plump molluscs, with roe intact, were well cooked and served with a zingy dressing. This dish was one of our favourites.

World’s End Market – Grilled Scallops

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Gaucho – Steak tray

Gaucho is a name that needs little introduction. With a string of steakhouses throughout London, it is famous for it’s brand of grass-fed Argentinian cows which are left to roam freely over the fertile lands of the Pampas. The beef is then shipped chilled to the UK and is never frozen. Of interest to the diner is that Gaucho also offers a reasonably priced lunch menu (2 courses – £23, 3 courses – £26), a cigar menu, a selection of fine Argentinian wines as well as a take out service.

I headed to the Gaucho branch on Charlotte Street which is slick and shiny with black floors, black walls and chandeliers. Gaucho Charlotte Street has a clubby feel and a prevalence of moo-cow seat covers which are quite strong on the eye. There are also lots of circular booths for big groups. The restaurant has been designed so that diners can sit comfortably and really enjoy themselves.

The meal begins with a bit of theatre – the presentation of the meat board which showcases four key different cuts, these being the rump, sirloin, rib-eye and fillet, as well as the churrasco de lomo (more on this later). There’s a good range of cuts of steaks on the menu as well as varying sizes.

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