The Hawksmoor, Commercial Street

MEAT MEAT MEAT.

The best steak I have ever eaten. 

Today I visited the Hawksmoor restaurant, and I would highly recommend it to anyone, even if you are vegetarian/vegan, the creamed spinach is incredible.  

The restaurant itself is remarkably humble, with the staff dressed very casually which I found added to the relaxed ambience of the room. Apparently they only play strictly British bands so my afternoon was filled with the sounds of Blur, The XX and Massive attack -something my mum couldn't get to grips with however I felt was quaint.

Although I entered the restaurant with my stomach rumbling, something now the entire of the overground train knows, cocktails came first. Our table was filled with the distinctive and distinguishable choices of; French 75 (Gin, lemon juice, sugar, home-made orange bitters and champagne), Shakey Pete's Ginger Brew (Gin, ginger syrup, lemon and London pride) and The Zombie which states "maximum of 1 per person".

And this is why:

Three Rums churned with fresh Grapefruit & Lime juices, Falernum, Absinthe,

Bitters & Homemade Grenadine, with a Navy Rum float.

The flaming passion fruit topped cocktail was only the start of an extraordinary brunch.

I was completely overwhelmed by the first glance of my menu.

"Trotter Baked Beans"

"Short Rib Bubble & Squeak"

"Ginger Pig Streaky Bacon"

This was different to your bog-standard fry-up to say the least.

Although the pricing may be off-putting, I'd say it's definitely worth saving up your pocket money for.

The Hawksmoor Breakfast: The only thing that I found wasn't personally perfect, was the addition of the "Grilled Bone Marrow". The gelly-like texture was not for me, however my Dog was very happy with the concept of an aptly named 'Doggy Bag'. However, the smoked bacon chop and Sausages (Pork, Beef & Mutton), Bury Black Pudding, Short Rib Bubble & Squeak, Trotter Baked Beans, Fried Eggs, Grilled Mushrooms, Roast Tomatoes, Unlimited Dripping Toast & HP, Onion and Bone Marrow Gravy was heavenly. The individuality and surprising nature of the Trotter Baked Beans filled me with intrigue, something I could quite easily get used to.

What may look like a MacDonald's Sausage and Egg McMuffin, which is a personal favourite of mine, is actually bursting with a variety of flavours - and the sausage containing apparently 100% meat, no rusk. The combination of the mutton, pork and beef with the Colston Basset Stilton worked handsomely well.

(NB I did actually share these dishes with 4 other people...)

In addition to this we shared a 850g bone-in prime rib, and it was the best steak I have ever tasted. With the immaculate amount of char, and the fat only adding to the sublime flavouring, the steak was paradisical.

I somehow salvaged space for a dessert, and I'm so glad I did. I had the Chocolate Brownie with Salted Caramel ice-cream, while my brothers went for the Sticky Toffee Pudding and cornflake ice-cream. The brownie was somewhat of a deflated chocolate soufflé, in the best way possible. The velvety tones of the hugely rich chocolate provided an explosion of flavours, and the salted caramel provided a palette cleanser. The perfect dessert. 

Regardless of not having the Sunday Lunch, I could tell why it had been voted the "Best Sunday Lunch" by The Observer last week. The pure quality and devotion put in to their cooking, and secret ingredients work together to produce a firework of a meal, and I'd happily return if anyone would like to sponsor me.

all images by me.