Smiths of Smithfield

Friday night is steak night! Well, not every Friday but last Friday at any rate. T had a windfall recently and opted to spend the monies (or some thereof) on moi and an epic plate of beef!
Owned by John Torode (best known for co-presenting Masterchef) Smiths of Smithfield is a good bet if you want some quality meat dishes as it is opposite the historic meat market still operating there. It was a first visit for both of us and with a little internet research I discovered the place is huge! Four floors of fun. The ground floor is a buzzing, industrial-chic bar where we stopped off to whet the whistle as we were early for our booking upstairs. Thumping base and chatty crowds, it is an intense and buzzing atmosphere when you first arrive, I was unable to stop gawping at the beautiful people who clearly frequent this bar on a regular basis. The drinks on offer here are excellent and varied and we sampled an excellent pale ale by the half pint. (I know, but we didn’t want to fill up on beer when we knew what was waiting for us upstairs). Each floor also has a cloakroom which is handy in the winter months.
So, to upstairs as we had booked a table on the fourth floor (or floor 3, as Torode confusingly has labelled one floor, level P which stands for private dining). We took the stairs, not only to truly earn our beefy delights but also to snoop on the other floors as we went past. Level 1 is home to The Wine Rooms where there is an extensive wine list and small tapas style dishes on offer. Then comes level P which is private dining, as previously mentioned, so no chance to peek in there. Level 2 is The Dining Room, think bistro style dining but it’s level 3 where we came to a halt (it’s the top one, after all) and we were very happy. Known as The Top Floor in the restaurant, this is where you find your more luxurious and stylish dining, yet the feeling here is also very calm and relaxed – far from formal or stuffy which was a relief. This was of course down to the welcome on arrival and from the attentive and friendly waiters, the view also made the stair climb wortwhile.
Our starters were a great way to kick start our evening of eating, sharing between us one dish of Scallops, Chorizo, Toulouse Sausage, “Baked Beans” and the other consisting of Roast Foie Gras, Pears, Cobnuts, Brioche. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the slightly spicy beans that accompanied them were perfectly cooked and spiced. The foie gras was unlike anything else, so tender, smooth and rich made all the more decadent by the brioche slice is came with.
The starters were just the right stuff to get the juices flowing for the main event – we ordered the big kahuna, chateaubriand. Chateaubriand comes from the tenderloin of the cow, and is so tender and so flavoursome when prepared correctly. This cut from Smith’s, as with all their beef cuts, has been aged for 26 days and the flavour is all the better for it. More importantly, we were bowled over by how juice the steak, it was astounding. We asked for the steak to be cooked medium and I would say that it came out the rarer side, but no matter, in fact that’s why I ask for a steak to be medium because it usually treads the right line on the still-mooing to charcoal scale. All I know is that I’m rarely disappointed in a medium steak. Without doubt this was the best piece of steak I’ve ever had. We opted for sides of kale and French fries – the kale came with anchovies and garlic whose salty contrast and bold flavours cut through the sumptuous flavours of the meat. The fries were pale, golden, crispy and piping hot. Delish.
Now, the sauces were amazing – with our big cut we were allowed two to try and we went for horseradish cream, obviously. The other sauce was bone marrow butter! Meaty butter with such richness to it that the beef was definitely enhanced by it – I’ve not seen this on any other menu so it was a great opportunity to try it. The horseradish cream was great, but not really horseradishy enough for my taste – the word cream should really have given this away but I was expecting more oomph. That aside, we were also offered a selection of mustards to try – wholegrain, Dijon and English – which were all superb, even if I did overwhelm myself with the amount of saucy blobs on my plate.
All this wonderful food was accompanied by a delicious carafe of red wine though I fail you in not knowing which wine it was. T is the wine geek between us and I just happily drink his choices! What I did like though, was how many of the wines are available in a carafe as we often struggle to finish a bottle so that was a real bonus.
The only thing that let me down from this amazing dining experience (did I mention the view?!) was the desert menu. What we both tend to look for in a desert is something simple, classic and a suitably decadent end to the meal, often we end up sharing. The offerings here were fussy, over the top and pretentious to the point where I opted for ice cream, albeit very delicious, caramel, chocolate and vanilla flavoured ice cream. T on the other hand had the Carrot & Banana Slice, Cream Cheese, Orange, Walnut Ice Cream. The slice was large and very dry looking while the other flavours were over the top and the presentation was fussy to say the least with a carrot just sat in the middle of the plate, pointing almost accusingly at the eater! The puddings somehow seemed incongruous to the rest of the offerings here, but perhaps that’s just me. The cheese options were impressive though, we didn’t have a cheese board but a selection of lovely English cheeses is always a way to win with me. Definitely the best steak of my life, not quite the best dining experience. I intend to go back and try the other floors though as they all looked so inviting.. watch this space. 

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