London still impresses after 10 years with no shortage of new carnivorous restaurant options available. Selecting one as a host however is like deciding on what one stock to invest in ... go for a larger name that you hope has more certainty or head off to the AIM stocks for lesser known potential golden nugget surrounded by tread carefully signs.
Summary Steak Club Scores
In me assessing my "stock" options I came across an Esquire "best steaks in London" article covering many of the regulars, but one stood out as a worthy gamble, Lurra a Basque Grill in Marlylebone.
We met up first at the Grazing Goat pub for some spring beers and witty banter covering, pregnancies, stag do's, knees, cars, Vietnam, Cambodia and more cars. (Will it be Andre or Gary for a new car first?). Stacy missed out on the night with late notice that the company couldn't survive one night without him and with the risk of a giant media company crashing, he decided to prioritise business over buds.
Lurra is a casual atmosphere restaurant near Marble Arch. It takes it's influence from wood and charcoal Basque grills and looks to keep a small menu and do it well. It provides 3 speciality sharing plates for mains including lamb shoulder, rib on the bone and grilled turbot. The risk here is that there is only one steak on the menu - no choice in cut or size - one steak. We’ve only once tried a one steak restaurant before and that turned out well.
We were taken passed a trophy cabinet of steak proudly presenting the reason we came to Lurra before being seated upstairs where it was already at capacity, another good sign.
The menu is limited (very limited), but that wouldn’t' put me off recommending Lurra. There's a good array of appetising small and medium tapas and all of the food coming passed out table looks good.
Our meal started with Sourdough with butter, another with bone marrow, padron peppers and marcona almonds. It was more of a starter spread than usual, but needed to warm the guys up to not having steak options.
We eased into the Miros de Ribera Reserva 2011 wine providing a satisfying red before heading onto the Remelluri Reserve 2010 Rioja with the main event.
Three 14 year Rubia Galega "Galician Blond" 800g for two (dry aged on the bone) (£65) steaks arrived at our table and would share out among the 5 of us. Lurra definitely knows what it's doing with steaks and had them all cooked near perfectly. Oozing with flavour and juices. Scott in particular had a "when Harry met Sally" moment with his first mouthfuls of steak. The only criticism is the amount of fat that was on one of the steaks. I'm a man that is a fan of the fat on enhancing flavour, but it was the most I've seen one steak. One must order is the paprika chips, the boys couldn't get enough.
We had an attentive waiter at the table, but seemed new and let the waitress step in to answer questions and recommendations.
Venue - 6 (Nice location, nice atmosphere)Menu - 6 (Very limited steak wise, but does 1 steak well)Wine - 7 (Many options to suit all tastes)Waitress - 6.5 (Solid)Value - 6 (£81 per head with tip, but steak was split by 5 not 6 with Stacy not joining. So little above average top tier price)Steak - 7.5 x 5 = 37.5 (Full of flavour - small downside is you have to share with only 1 size offered - or go there hungry and eat big.)
Go to Lurra for a more Basque experience around your steak and an opportunity for that “When Harry met Sally” steak.
Summary Steak Club Scores
| Venue | Menu | Steak | Wine | Waitress | Value | Total | |
| Gary | 7.5 | 3 | 40 | 7.5 | 7 | 5 | 70 |
| Andre | 7.5 | 4 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 71 |
| Brad | 7 | 3 | 32.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 4 | 60 |
| Stacy | Miss | Miss | Miss | Miss | Miss | Miss | Miss |
| Warren | 6 | 5 | 37.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6 | 68 |
| Scott | Outst. | Outst. | Outst. | Outst. | Outst. | Outst. | Outst. |
| Average | 7 | 4 | 38 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 67 |