Steaks in London

[Matthew Grant]

The stuff they had at Hedone last weekend was incredible, and hung for 10 weeks, previously it was good, last weekend it hit another level completely.

[Matthew Grant]

Two schools of thought there, if you season with salt in advance it draws out moisture that you may wish to preserve especially if the meat has been dry aged for any length of time.

I totally agree with you regarding getting a good piece of meat and cooking it at home however I think Goodman is the only place in London I can get a better steak than I can normally buy and cook at home. If we move away from steak houses I reckon I can cook a better meal at home 75% of the time but if I thought about that too much I'd never eat out and eating out isn't all (I say this through gritted teeth) about the food

I won't go too much into the drawing out moisture thing but it's a bit more complicated than that - especially if you're salting for 20mins or more

Please do I guess your talking about the possible tenderising effect it might have but surely that would go beyond seasoning and towards curing?

[olicollett]

Two schools of thought there, if you season with salt in advance it draws out moisture that you may wish to preserve especially if the meat has been dry aged for any length of time.

I totally agree with you regarding getting a good piece of meat and cooking it at home however I think Goodman is the only place in London I can get a better steak than I can normally buy and cook at home. If we move away from steak houses I reckon I can cook a better meal at home 75% of the time but if I thought about that too much I'd never eat out and eating out isn't all (I say this through gritted teeth) about the food

I won't go too much into the drawing out moisture thing but it's a bit more complicated than that - especially if you're salting for 20mins or more

Please do I guess your talking about the possible tenderising effect it might have but surely that would go beyond seasoning and towards curing?

Well, my point was as per this excellent post on the subject in that after a certain period the liquid released gets drawn back in:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/the-food-lab-more-tips-for-perfect-steaks.html

I wouldn't call salting meat for such lengths curing any more than any other form of brining is - for me it's the perfect way to season the meat through giving it a much fuller flavour. I believe they do this at Goodman - I spoke to Jack O'Shea who said he always salts for 30mins or more before cooking. If it's good enough for him..

[Matthew Grant]

So we're talking relatively small amounts of salt? For some reason I thought we were talking larger a quantities and for a little longer than that. I've never done side by side tests but in the past found that pre salting for any length of time left the surface very moist, I can't recall timescales but I'm surprised that the liquid is being reabsorbed so quickly, when I've done this in the past it is normally against pieces of meat that weren't aged quite as long as I would like. I wonder how they are measuring reabsorbotion against evaporation? I shall give it another go

[olicollett]

So we're talking relatively small amounts of salt? For some reason I thought we were talking larger a quantities and for a little longer than that. I've never done side by side tests but in the past found that pre salting for any length of time left the surface very moist, I can't recall timescales but I'm surprised that the liquid is being reabsorbed so quickly, when I've done this in the past it is normally against pieces of meat that weren't aged quite as long as I would like. I wonder how they are measuring reabsorbotion against evaporation? I shall give it another go

Hmm, depends what you mean by relatively small - I'm fairly generous but haven't yet managed to overseason a steak. You will get a residue left over but it shouldn't be too much and I just dry this off before cooking. I've found with well aged cuts you end up with a lot less moisture loss which I guess is what you would expect as you haven't got as much to start with.

[offcentre]

Well, my point was as per this excellent post on the subject in that after a certain period the liquid released gets drawn back in:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/the-food-lab-more-tips-for-perfect-steaks.html

I wouldn't call salting meat for such lengths curing any more than any other form of brining is - for me it's the perfect way to season the meat through giving it a much fuller flavour. I believe they do this at Goodman - I spoke to Jack O'Shea who said he always salts for 30mins or more before cooking. If it's good enough for him..

you gotta love egullet - another generally-accepted piece of advice out the window. gotta give this a go

[Matthew Grant]

So if there is residue left over isn't this a sign that the meat has lost moisture prior to cooking, so negating the lack of moisture loss during cooking? My experience with well aged cuts (7 weeks plus) is that I would cook them less than something less aged because of the lack of moisture in the first place. I once had a piece of beef fillet from O'Sheas that had been aged so long it needed only a sear to cook and the texture was similar to something that had been cooked for much longer.

Anyhow, Goodmans is my preference for good steak in London

[patrickamory]

Definitely salt my steaks (usually dry-aged usda prime grain-fed strips from Ottomanelli butchers in Greenwich Villlage) before cooking. Usually only a couple minutes before, if that. For an inch-and-a-half thick strip, 1-2 minutes on each side in a cast-iron grill band an inch away from the broiler flame produces perfect rare to medium rare, crusty on the outside and juicy on the inside. They are heavenly. YMMV.

[battleofthebulge]

Returning to the original topic, Casa Malevo (Connaught St, past Tony Blair's policemen) is pretty good and not as wallet-lightening as Hawksmoor or Goodman.

http://casamalevo.com/menus.html

Or try the cosy bar at the Duke of Wellington just off Marylebone High St.

http://www.thedukew1.co.uk/

IMHO there are now a number of gastropubs or smaller restaurants which provide excellent meat and a good value wine list, where you're not paying for the group's expansion plans ...

Sarah

[Andrew]

I went to Goodmans at Canary Wharf yesterday. I understand it has only been open for a few weeks. They demonstrated perfect customer service.

THe starter was a good (alhough nothing out of the ordinary) salad. It consisted of rocket, goats cheese, figs and iberian ham (£8?).

For a main I ordered a 500g (or 600g I can't remember!) bone in rib eye. It was around £36 + a portion of chips (£4).

The chips were perfect - hot, crisp and fluffy.

The steak came exactly as I asked for it - medium rare. The first two mouthfuls were wonderful. I then started to encounter a fair amount of grissle. Not every mouthful but more than I would have expected. When I was half way through the manager saw me struggling (somewhat inelegently remove a mouthful of grissle) and came over and asked me what was wrong. I explained that it had a great flavour but there was more grissle than I would ahve expected. She immediately offered to replace the steak. Given I was half way through and there was no way I could have eaten another steak I thanked her and declined saying that it was a kind offer but my waistline wouldn't take a further 500g of meat.

As an apology they took the whole price of the steak of the bill. They were apologetic and it was clear the chef should have spotted it before cooking. Having said that it was excellent customer service, these things happen and they dealt with it pefectly. They have also ensured I will return.