The Grill on the Market - Brad's review

This was a steak club very typical of others. Filled with trends (and a few exceptions), banter and celebrations. The first of the trends (that we really need to break) is the big gap between events. This one was delayed due to Gary making us wait due to getting married and going on honeymoon. This obviously also qualifies as a celebration, being the first get together after another great man becomes spoken for.

Stacy chose to have pre-drinks at The Blackfriar, just outside the tube station. The first trend exception was that everyone (yes even Warren) arrived on-time (within the 15 minute tolerance). In fact, I was the last to arrive due to the need to mission across from West London. And again, true to trend (or tradition as the saying goes) it did not take long before Stacy got some banter about engagement (or not for that matter). Stacy opted for a cab this time, which we have not regularly used within steak clubs for some time (the recession is obviously over), to take us to the Smithfield's area. Obviously, being Stacy's hosting, we had some trouble finding the location and had a few 'de ja vu' moments of stopping outside buildings with scaffolding and renovations. Stacy disclosed that he was nervous that the steak club had been to his chosen venue, however he was sure (sort of) that it was under a different name and management. He was correct. The venue for the evening was the Grill on the Market which was previously called the Smithfield's Bar and Grill. Only Andre and Warren had been there previously as it was in the earlier years of the steak club outings.

The venue is nicely laid out with cubicle and seat arrangements. They also have a really cool large fish tank with red bellied piranhas. We only realised with when some food was dropped into the tank and we noticed how they savaged the food. The waitress said that at times they eat each other, so they have to replace the fish from time to time. We were unfortunately seating in a small cubicle (which I normally like) which felt like a 4 seater for 5 of us.

The 2 chunky boys (Warren and Gary) got to have one bench while the three of us squashed onto the other bench. The venue is nice but I have marked it down for squashing us onto a table that was too small for big serious steak gurus! My score for venue is 6.

As one would expect from a specialist steak restaurant, the menu had a decent selection of steal options and cuts. There were a few on the 'specials' menu that accounted for 3 of our 5 orders. My score for menu is 7.

As mentioned above, on the 'specials' menu they had a 1200g rib-eye (my hands down favourite). This obviously would only be an option if I could find someone to share with. Luckily Andre agreed. When it arrived, it was pre-sliced and laid out ready to devour. It looked fantastic. Unfortunately, it did not live up to our first impressions. It had decent flavour, however we asked for it to be cooked medium rare and I think it was probably rare (which is not the best way to prepare a rib-eye to melt the marbled fat). It also had a lot of sinewy bits, which definitely is not the case in the best steaks.

I think Stacy and Gary went for the standard T-Bone. Warren went for an interesting specialist 'small' cut (I think it was only about 250g). For the first time in all the steak clubs that I have attended thus far, this was the first that we did not give others a taster. I think it is because Warren's steak was too good and too small to share. Generally we would decide on the steak of the night.... who knows? My rating for steak is 6.

Much to Stacy's delight, we were served on the evening by a waitress. She was a nice friendly French waitress who had burnt her arm earlier in the evening. She was chatty and friendly and even dealt well with Stacy's grumpiness. I think we might have put him on edge from our banter (as he takes the waitress score very seriously) about him getting another waiter and reminding him of the rude waiter he had at MASH. My score for waitress is 7.

I was not feeling on top form with a cold on the way, so I took it easy with the wine. We started with a 2013 Dona Paula Malbec, which was really nice. It was smooth with a relatively deep flavour. The second wine was a Rioja Crianza Dinastia 2010. This one was a lot lighter and easier to drink, but would have been better before the Malbec. My rating for wine is 7.

The total bill came to £62 per head. This included a few sides and a round of very nice Dom Pedros. This is probably quite average in terms of value relative to other restaurant ratings. My rating for value is 6.

The plan was to spend the night at Andre and join the guys for the normal night cap en route home. Not feeling great, I decided to trek home to save myself the hassle in the morning. It is however always good to get out with the boys. Thanks for hosting Stacy!