Smith's of Smithfield

[Wilfrid]

Be warned.  The steak I ate, which was similarly packed with tendons and repulsively chewy was on the Top Floor.    

[olicollett]

Bit of a thread ressurection here!

Ended up here after some drinks for a friend's leaving do. First up, our performance as a party was terrible - we were late, and there were a small number of no shows (it wasn't that they didn't show, they actually ended up on the wrong floor and ate there). That said, the staff were understanding and did a good job of putting up with us!

The food on the other hand was not so good. I went with the "lucky squid" for starter (yep it's still on the menu!) but the squid was rather tough - probably as a consequence of cooking a little too long. The real disappointment however was the beef. We ordered 3 cote de boeuf between 6 people, each medium-rare, but when they turned up they were anything but. The one I was sharing was v rare in the middle, but overcooked on the outside, possibly as a consequence of not enough turning. The strange thing was though, it wasn't like a small patch was medium-rare, it just went medium/well straight to v rare. They did offer to cook it a bit longer but it was late, we were hungry and if it did go back on I imagine too much of it would have been overcooked! Sadly the steak was v much underseasoned and even with a generous helping of salt it was quite bland. It also seemed like it hadn't had enough resting - juices were still flowing after it had arrived at the table which isn't really a good sign.

Even worse, one of the other cote de boeuf was so rare it was barely blue - I'm not sure how they had even achieved it as it looked cooked on the outside but bright, glossy red on the inside. That one was sent back and it did return in better shape - but it did suffer from the same issues as the other steaks.

It was rather frustrating in the end really, it's not difficult to do good steak - you just need to source good quality, well aged beef, season it properly and grill it to order. Smithfield bar and grill on the other side of the market seems to get things right when I've been there and would be a much safer bet if you're in the area

[Harters]

Isn't this John Torode's gaff?

Too much Mastercheffing and not enough restauranting, perhaps?