Flat Iron Kings Cross — Restaurant in London

Booked in today for lunch, lovely looking place from the outside, set on Caledonian road just before it turns into kings cross and gets really busy and affluent.

We were greeted by a friendly man who showed us to our table and brought us some complimentary popcorn, and a big jug of water for the table. It was a really nice start and made us feel welcome and relaxed.

Inside was bustling with people and had a really warm and relaxed atmosphere and felt so cosy on a wet and chilly London afternoon.

Another young man took our order and again was really friendly and our drinks arrived shortly after, We ordered two rose lemonades and an apple and rhubarb soft drink, all were delicious and moreish.

Food arrived later and all looked the part, I asked the lady who served the food for another rhubarb and apple drink but was told a bit coldly to find a waiter to take the order and then walked off. Didn't like that exchange and felt quite rude to be honest.

Garlic mash was delicious. Thick, rich, buttery, topped with a strong garlic oil and crunchy croutons.

Chips were crispy and fluffy inside, seasoned well and could taste the beef dripping.

Creamed spinach was deep and earthy and packed with spinach flavour with just a touch of creaminess.

Side dishes were fairly small but the flavour they packed was immense.

My Mother ordered the aubergine dish as a main as she's a vegetarian, she said it was delicious and being served in a pan was a quirky touch.

We ordered three flat iron steaks, two medium rare and one medium.

The medium was well done, one of the medium rares was medium well, and the final medium rare was literally half medium, half rare. Cooked really unevenly.

We gave them the benefit of the doubt as I expected the beef to still be delicious and tender regardless of the cooking, but we were wrong.

All three were so tough and chewy and even a bit watery to taste. There was no real sear to any of the steaks and it lacked any real flavour apart from the salt flakes on top. They literally looked boiled, tasted like it too.

The rare half of the unevenly cooked steak that belonged to my brother was literally inedible as it had long streaks of uncooked fat running through it and he gave up and left it on the plate.

I desperately wanted the steak to be amazing as everything up until then was so wonderful and wanted this to be our go to restaurant for going out as a family.

I hate criticising, and it brings me no joy, and I'm really sorry, but the steak was so unbelievably poor, quite possibly the worst I've ever had and I'm not trying to come across as dramatic, they really had nothing going for them.

I've had better from Harvester restaurants and even the local wetherspoons which is such a damning thing to say about a steak restaurant.

My late grandmother, god rest her soul, used to cook the hell out of her steaks and we had no choice but to eat them, even they were better.

I wish you all the best and maybe today we were just very unlucky or the chef was having an off day, but unfortunately we won't return to find out.

Have a wonderful new year and all the best to you...

I'm gonna be as honest as I can be... Service... really good!! Nice deco which makes you feel very comfortable, however... about food,I ordered one of the two specials they had on the board which was 'wagyu skirt' £23 200gm cos the other one was sold out.I was very excited about trying for the first time this kind of Beef,they brought it very quickly as it looked to me they have plenty of staff in the kitchen as I was sitting right next to it. First bite I had didn't really impressed me at all because the beef wasn't tender at all and flavour wise nothing to write home about,Soon after which I believe was a person in charge asked me how was it and I said to her ...let me be honest,I was expecting the beef to be much more tender as is a chef's recommendation,she immediately apologized about it and she took it back to the kitchen to replace it for another one after having a word with one of the chefs.Again, very quickly another one arrived to my table which was at least more tender but similar flavour, maybe I had too high expectations about this place after seeing some impressive reviews on social media.Will I come back?...I don't think so,I think there are better steak houses out there .Something it's funny to me it's about people mentioning how good is to have some popcorn on the table while you're waiting for your food,as it was a really great treat from them, that's not relevant to me as well as a free ice cream they offered you at the end of the dinner which has to be taken away.It's something really appreciated don't get me wrong but the food your having it's the most important thing.Another thing I forgot to say it's about the very few choices you have on the menu which makes you expect much better quality every single...

We visited as a group of four. I had been to a Flat Iron before and so knew roughly what to expect: a small menu with a choice of a few steaks and a number of sides and sauces. As before, the beef dripping popcorn was very welcome.

The pink gin cocktail concoction, less so. It was very bitter and unbalanced and I certainly wouldn't order it again. We ordered and we didn't have to wait long for the food to arrive.

Service was generally friendly but a bit unprofessional. One of the runners serving the food dropped one of the sauces with enough force for it to splatter over the table and my dining companion. She was apologetic and brought a new sauce but maybe this could have been avoided with more care. I also had to stand up to wave someone down to take the bill after trying and failing to get the attention of the waiters.

Fortunately the food was all great; I upgraded to the aged ribeye, which was delicious, very tender and easily one of the better steaks I've had in London. The Mac n cheese was as pleasing as ever, the aubergine with mozzarella was lovely and the bone marrow mash was very satisfying. The gentleman serving up the complimentary ice cream cones at the end was the friendliest of the evening.

For the quality of food at this price point in this location, it's easy to see why Flat Iron continues to be booked weeks in advance. I'll chalk the service slipups on this visit up...