Steak Club. South Kensington. Were we finally going to go back to El Gaucho and validate the high scores that the Steak Club awarded the venue back when the members would barely have qualified as veal? Pre-drinks were arranged at a place called Janet's Bar and then quickly re-arranged on arrival (and the prospect of paying £10/pint) to the neighbouring Zetland. It wouldn't ordinarily have been the first choice venue but ticked the boxes necessary.
Brad managed to guess the restaurant as some Italian place; so no El Gaucho! When I think Italian I don't think steak. It would almost be unfair for a country who has the monopoly on good pasta and pizza (Croatians might argue this last point) to also serve good steak. I pictured a quaint Italian restaurant that happened to serve steak. I was wrong. Macellaio...
Venue-9
One of the more enjoyable settings we've had. From the in your face dry ageing fridge display as you walk in, to the cold cabinet of meat products, this was definitely not your quaint Italian restaurant. This shouted steak at you and barely whispered Italian. The restaurant was wood clad and the coup de grace was the wooden tables where the waitresses didn't simply place your (unserrated) Victorinox steak knives but literally planted them point first in (not on) the table in front of each of us. This kept us amused for quite a while. Simple things...
Menu - 7
The menu had its own unique selling points most notably the wines listed according to how you like your steak cooked. Haven't seen this before. All the steaks are from the Piedmont region in Italy (if my memory of the evening serves me correctly) and were generally served by the 100gr allowing you to choose whatever size you wanted. The menu had t-bone and rib steak, each served either with garlic, rosemary and rock salt (called old style) or simply with rock salt; they also served fillet and entrecôte served simply with rock salt and a rump steak served with an assortment of options.
Waitress - 7
Our waitress for the evening - Mariana, from Spain - was very friendly and explained the preparation and source of the meat. The recommendation was to order a couple of large cuts and share between the table. She also managed to persuade the manager to throw in a limoncello on the house at the end (apparently a first for the manager to agree).
Steak - 7.5
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We decided to go for the sharing option between the 5 of us. 2.5kg split between a T-bone and a rib steak (also on the bone). In hindsight another 500gr-1kg between us would have been optimal. Both were ordered medium rare and arrived sliced at the table. The fillet on the T-bone was disappointing and seemed the least tender of the three without the flavour to compete. The sirloin had some very good points but lacked a little in flavour apart from what almost tasted like crackling on the outer crust. That said, some of the less well cooked portions of the sirloin were almost like tuna sashimi. Amazingly tender - something I have not experienced in a steak before. The rib eye / rib steak was just ahead of the sirloin to take home the steak of the night prize. Generally more flavourful although like the others did still require some liberal seasoning.
Wine - 5
I wasn't too impressed by the Italian wines after being continuously spoilt by some good Malbecs. And also quite pricey for what they were. The first wine was a Mansini Focara Pinot Noir 2012 and the second was a 2010 Fay Ronco Del Picchio from the Sforzato di Valtellino region in North Italy.
Value - 6
Overall bill came to £70 a head. This covered the steaks, two bottles of wine and a starter that pushed the price up a bit. The pricey wines and the starter pushed the price up to what would otherwise have been a fairly valued meal.
Other
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The starter we ordered had an interesting mix of meats and an Italian cheese that seemed a cross between mozzarella and cottage cheese. The meats were beef carpaccio, bresaola, steak tartare, another raw mince selection but only dressed with olive oil, pork fat slices (I'm sure the Italian name sounds better than that) and a salami. Tasty start to the night. It was surprising how well the steak tartare went down.
Interestingly they also served heart, tripe, liver, tongue and snout (sorry for Brad no sweatbread). I'd be quite keen to back and try one or two of these options.
Steak - 7.5 x 5 = 37.5
Venue - 9
Menu - 7
Waitress - 7
Wine - 5
Value - 6
Total = 69.5
Brad managed to guess the restaurant as some Italian place; so no El Gaucho! When I think Italian I don't think steak. It would almost be unfair for a country who has the monopoly on good pasta and pizza (Croatians might argue this last point) to also serve good steak. I pictured a quaint Italian restaurant that happened to serve steak. I was wrong. Macellaio...
Venue-9
One of the more enjoyable settings we've had. From the in your face dry ageing fridge display as you walk in, to the cold cabinet of meat products, this was definitely not your quaint Italian restaurant. This shouted steak at you and barely whispered Italian. The restaurant was wood clad and the coup de grace was the wooden tables where the waitresses didn't simply place your (unserrated) Victorinox steak knives but literally planted them point first in (not on) the table in front of each of us. This kept us amused for quite a while. Simple things...
Menu - 7
The menu had its own unique selling points most notably the wines listed according to how you like your steak cooked. Haven't seen this before. All the steaks are from the Piedmont region in Italy (if my memory of the evening serves me correctly) and were generally served by the 100gr allowing you to choose whatever size you wanted. The menu had t-bone and rib steak, each served either with garlic, rosemary and rock salt (called old style) or simply with rock salt; they also served fillet and entrecôte served simply with rock salt and a rump steak served with an assortment of options.
Waitress - 7
Our waitress for the evening - Mariana, from Spain - was very friendly and explained the preparation and source of the meat. The recommendation was to order a couple of large cuts and share between the table. She also managed to persuade the manager to throw in a limoncello on the house at the end (apparently a first for the manager to agree).
Steak - 7.5
Wine - 5
I wasn't too impressed by the Italian wines after being continuously spoilt by some good Malbecs. And also quite pricey for what they were. The first wine was a Mansini Focara Pinot Noir 2012 and the second was a 2010 Fay Ronco Del Picchio from the Sforzato di Valtellino region in North Italy.
Value - 6
Overall bill came to £70 a head. This covered the steaks, two bottles of wine and a starter that pushed the price up a bit. The pricey wines and the starter pushed the price up to what would otherwise have been a fairly valued meal.
Other
The starter we ordered had an interesting mix of meats and an Italian cheese that seemed a cross between mozzarella and cottage cheese. The meats were beef carpaccio, bresaola, steak tartare, another raw mince selection but only dressed with olive oil, pork fat slices (I'm sure the Italian name sounds better than that) and a salami. Tasty start to the night. It was surprising how well the steak tartare went down.
Interestingly they also served heart, tripe, liver, tongue and snout (sorry for Brad no sweatbread). I'd be quite keen to back and try one or two of these options.
Steak - 7.5 x 5 = 37.5
Venue - 9
Menu - 7
Waitress - 7
Wine - 5
Value - 6
Total = 69.5