Hawksmoor Seven Dials — Restaurant in London

My last lunch in London. I had to pick a good spot. I had seen a lot of stuff already. What was missing? I decided that a choice steakhouse was what was missing. So I looked at my data, and I saw this place, and the decision was easy. This place is classy, and I hear it's delicious. So I made my reservations, and came here to eat at halftime of my exploration of the British Museum.

Classy classy. We were lead down into a wine cellar-esque dining room that had glass windows looking into the kitchen and big, giant pillars studding the room occasionally, really making you feel the weight in the air of the massive city above your head. Our super nice server came by, got our drink orders, and then we studied the food.

We split an app, the Bone marrow & onions (sourdough toast). Probably the second best bone marrow dish I've ever had. A deep marrow flavor that is the epitome of unctuousness. Slathered with grilled onions to make the stuff infinitely more spreadable. And again, I've noticed that in this country, with the meals, they give you an appropriate amount of bread, unlike in the ol' US of A. So good.

So the main meal, we split a Porterhouse. This was like a real steakhouse, you ordered your steaks by weight, and you were given the price per pound, er, or the price per kilogram here. So I had to do some math to see how hungry I was.

I gotta say, this was the most beautiful porterhouse I have ever eaten. The filet side was So big, the sear on the meat was impeccable, she huge flakes of sea salt adorning the whole thing was beautiful, and it was cut off the bone all professional-like, revealing the perfect medium rare meat within. A lot of TLC went into this steak, and it showed. So tender and flavorful. Perfection.

We got a side for our steak, and I believe it was a special, because I can't see it on their online menu right now. The brie mashed potatoes. These were the most decadent mashed potatoes I have ever had. Supremely smooth mash, with the creamy, melted brie perfused throughout. To drive the message home, they have the rind on top, sinking into the potato abyss, like a delicious iceberg. My God.

If all this stuff hasn't sounded amazing enough, I finished the meal with the best part of the meal, the Sticky toffee pudding (clotted cream). I've heard of English puddings my whole life, without the chance to try any, of course. But now, my chance presented. The cakey pudding was entirely, 100% saturated with the toffee-flavored syrup. Very sweet and sugary. And the clotted cream on top added a nice, creamy fatness to it, providing that relief from the pure sugar. I'm going to stop now, because I could talk about this pudding literally all day.

Overall, this was a banger. All my meals were bangers, but this place was particularly banging. It really stuck out in my meals memory. Amazing marrow, steak, mash, and pudding....

Went here Monday 27/05. We’ve reserved a booking at 12:00.

Staff at the reception was really friendly at went straight to showing us our table. Not just the staff from the reception who was approachable and friendly but all their staff were friendly, knowledgeable and it made our lunch pleasant and comfortable. After sorting out everything, we had a quick talk with Taki explaining the restaurant and that they have a published book for their recipes in the restaurant. I took the opportunity to ask how to cook the garlic mushroom(side) I had ordered. I didn’t find it in the book but Carolina kindly sent it to us via e-mail and I’m really thankful for that.

Paul was kind enough to be in our service. We ordered drinks first, and then ordered starters and mains since we were starving.

For the drinks, I ordered the non-alcoholic one, which was the Shirley Temple. ( I loved it, especially with the cherries on top) I had to ask Paul if I could top up the cherries after I finished the first batch.

For starters, we ordered Hawksmoor Smoked Salmon and Bone Marrow with Onions. I was not able to taste the salmon though. But one thing I can say about the Bone Marrow was it was tasty and has a very unique combination. It was so full, and the onions compliment the bone marrow. It has a bit of sweetness (from the onion) and saltiness which is the perfect balance. I was already full from my starters. Had to adjust my stomach so it can fit more food.

For the Main, we ordered the T-bone medium rare 650g. When it was served I was so excited. They have explained each side of the T-bone. Sirloin and fillet. It was cooked beautifully and you can definitely appreciate the pinkness and tenderness of the meat. I preferred the sirloin part since it has a bit of fat compared to the fillet but it was really melting in the mouth and you can’t really resist having more from it. You don’t need a sauce from it as well. Good for sharing as well (2person).

For the sides, we ordered Beef dipping fries and garlic mushrooms. The fries were cooked well and it was crispy with their intended taste. For the Garlic Mushroom, I can say never miss ordering this side. It was delectable. It has some buttery salt taste, with other unique combination of ingredients in it. I was really loving it and if I wasn’t full enough, I would have ordered a second batch of the Garlic Mushroom.

For dessert, we ordered their Sticky Toffee Pudding. I have been always a fan of sticky toffee puddings. It’s always my first choice of dessert when eating out. The sauce was sweet, balanced with the pudding and topped with cream. Loved it all the way.

The ambience and the vibe of the interior were elegant. The bar was separated from the dining area. It was a comfortable experience with no pressure. Because every staff was really capable and...

An underwhelming £300+ Sunday lunch for two; it’s fine to charge top prices if you can provide an experience to match.

Our booked 2pm table wasn’t ready. (Fine, it happens…) so we were told to head to the bar and wait. Bartender not interested in serving anyone, but we eventually managed to interrupt his housekeeping. “Do you want water?” he asked. Erm, yes, I suppose. He got us two waters then walked off. We managed to get his attention a second time to order two martinis. By 2.15pm we hadn’t heard from anyone so we ordered a second round. Almost immediately, a manager appeared and said our table was ready so we cancelled the second round of drinks, to the bartender’s visible annoyance. Upsetting customers before they've even sat down is quite the achivement. The lovely, pleasant waiter explained the delay had been due to the restaurant rearranging the seating plan overnight, and subsequent confusion among staff.

There’s a whole section of the menu dedicated to oysters, and we ordered some to start, plus a bottle of red wine. Waiter returned to say the kitchen didn’t have any oysters, so we had to choose a different starter. Also, it didn’t have any of the wine we ordered, so we had to choose another wine, too. We chose a second, then the waiter returned to say they didn't have any of that either, so we ordered again on the waiter’s recommendation - a £77 bottle of valpolicella that retails for £25-£30.

As we were finishing our main, we were asked to move to another table in the bar area as our originally-allotted two-hour time slot had run out (ignoring the delay to getting seated). We finished our wine in the bar. On getting the bill, we discovered we’d been charged £5 extra for roast potatoes (the waiter asked if everything was ok with our meal and if we wanted anything else, and we’d asked if we could have a couple more roast potatoes…) as well as the drinks while waiting for the table.

We got in touch with feedback about waiting almost 20 minutes for our reserved table; in response, Hawksmoor offered us a free drink on a future meal but said we had only been seated 13 minutes late. Besides being a petty response, it was incorrect as I clearly remember waiting until 2.15pm before even discussing whether to order a second drink, so it couldn’t have been any earlier than 2.17pm.

If the energy and attention to detail spent on charging customers or mistakenly quibbling over the length of their inconvenience could instead be spent on ordering in supplies or generally getting their stuff together, the experience would better...