Walking down Old Brompton Road after being given brief directions on it’s location, I spied a shop front with a bright red awning, and a strangely matching sofa at the front. I remembered Marie saying to ‘look for the shopfront with lots of meat’ – I looked at the window and knew that I was in the right place.
Upon entering, it feels like I’ve just walked into a butcher’s shop. After a slight hiccup due to a glitch in the system, we were shown to our table, our menus brought to us which at first looked like folded sheets of newspaper. Some homemade bread is placed before us which we dipped into grassy Ligurian olive oil poured generously from a tin can.
I can’t resist ordering a steak tartare whenever it appears on a menu. I ordered it as a starter, and liked that it was not over-minced and still had a bit of texture to it, seasoned quite lightly.
I tried a bit of Marie’s oxtail in vaccinara sauce, which although was a bit tougher than we both expected, was served with a smooth, creamy mash.
The starter dishes were cleared away, and minutes later butchers knives drop down from above onto the table, snipping off a couple of stray hairs hanging from my fringe (!). One lands an inch away from Marie’s manicured nails.
… Okay, maybe not quite as dramatic – our waitress actually carefully stabbed a couple of sleek Pintinox knives upright before us.
Sometimes my imagination gets a little carried away – I also don’t even have a fringe, just some very unruly strands of hair that aspire to be like one.
Whilst perusing the menu, my eyes focused in on the ‘Meats Fit For Prince’ – or ‘Prince-ss’ in my case. A girl can always dream.
I was recommended the Filetto, a beef tenderloin cut from Fassone cattle (a breed native to Piemonte, in North-west Italy) which was nicely seasoned with Toscana extravergine and rock salt.
I requested it to be medium rare and was happy to see that it was tender and pink in the middle. Marie had the rump steak with some sweet gorgonzola on the side.
We both shared a couple of sides of mixed vegetables and creamy mash.
We finished off with some sweet desserts – Marie went for the traditional tiramisu, whilst I felt a bit more naughty and went for the latte dolce fritto. Crispy, golden, deep-fried desserts, filled with nutella – how could I say no?
Overall we had an enjoyable evening, and we left feeling full and satisfied.
I haven’t eaten a lot of meat recently, but I would say that this would be a good option if you’re looking for some good steak.
They have a couple of locations in London, and you can find more information from their website.
The Cheekster, signing out x
The meal was complimentary, but views remain my own.
