Located in the old Witney-Coombe brewery complete with original vaulted brick ceiling, Hawksmoor Seven Dials is tucked down a quiet street a few minutes from Covent Garden and Seven Dials. Founded in 2016 by Huw Gott and Will Beckett, Hawksmoor had a "meaty" reputation to live up to. The Brewery’s first owner Alderman Combe, hosted an annual steak supper for London’s great and good, with his guests in 1807 including the Prince of Wales and Duke of York. A newspaper reported that: “At a late hour the company left the Brewhouse, highly gratified with their beef-steaks, on which the Duchess of York was lavish in her praise, and very pleased with their worthy host’s hospitality.”
Said to serve the best steak in London, the meat comes courtesy of The Ginger Pig in North Yorkshire, where Tim Wilson breeds Longhorn cattle which is the only beef used at Hawksmoor. That's before it enters the hands of Hawksmoor’s grill chefs, but that unfortunately is where the wheels begin to fall off the cart. Looking forward to a lovely steak dinner after a month in Japan, the service and food was nothing short of terrible. Our waitress disappeared each time we posed a question about the menu, and then disappeared completely halfway during the evening, never to be seen again. Over an hour and half later, our steaks finally arrived. My beef tenderloin, cheekily priced at £36, was stone cold as was the Abshot Farm broccoli, which perhaps was cooked enroute from Hampshire. The only bright spot of the evening was the wine, a lovely 2015 Vietti Perbacco Nebbiolo, and the manager, who upon hearing about our cold meal, promptly whisked both dishes away and brought them back hot and properly cooked. Very apologetic, she insisted on removing the side dishes from the bill. A fine gesture, but too little too late. My husband was almost finished his steak before mine arrived. Nothing says fine dining more than eating alone. For what is reputed to be the "best steaks in the UK", we expected more. Paying our bill, we left Hawksmoor vowing never to return.
Located in the old Witney-Coombe brewery complete with original vaulted brick ceiling, Hawksmoor Seven Dials is tucked down a quiet street a few minutes from Covent Garden
The Hawksmoor dinner menu
Glass of Palmer & Co Rosé NV Champagne at £11.50
2015 Vietti Perbacco Nebbiolo
Devon Crab on Toast
Doddington Caesar Salad drowning in dressing and a layer of grated cheese,
it was a challenge to find the romaine lettuce
My beef tenderloin, cheekily priced at £36, was stone cold when it arrived
The broccoli's also arrived cold as was the cast iron pan it appeared to have been thrown onto
Roast field mushrooms
Triple cooked chips
Salt-Baked Beets with Goat Cheese
Serves 4
Recipe courtesy of Hawksmoor
1 lb mixed beets: striped candycane, golden and standard
3/4 lb coarse sea salt
5 oz caster sugar
2 oz freshly grated horseradish
1 tsp thyme leaves
Zest of an unwaxed orange
2 egg whites
A bunch of watercress
7 oz Childwickbury goats' cheese or other soft goats' cheese or goats' curd
1 tbsp salted capers, rinsed
Dressing:
1 oz wholegrain mustard
1 oz clear honey
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp white vinegar
Maldon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the salt, sugar, horseradish, thyme, orange zest and egg white together in a small bowl. On a baking tray create a pile of the salt mix for each beet and press it round the beet so it is completely covered, then bake for an hour.
Remove the beets from the oven and allow to cool. Crack open the salt crusts and peel the beetroots. Twist the ends of the stalks off the bunch of watercress and wash and dry the leaves. Divide the leaves between four plates.
For the dressing, whisk together the mustard, honey, lemon juice and vinegar with a little salt and pepper. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking continuously. Slice the beets and cheese and arrange over the watercress leaves. Scatter over the capers and drizzle over a little dressing. Don't add extra salt as there is already enough in the cheese and capers, and the beetroot will have absorbed some salt from the baking process.
Ultra-Slow Roast Rump of Beef & Yorkshire Puddings
Serves 4-6
Recipe courtesy of Hawksmoor Cookbook
2 1/2 - 3 lb Longhorn rump
Maldon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Remove the beef from the refrigerator a couple of hours before cooking. Preheat the oven to 170°F and place a large griddle over high high. Once the griddle is smoking hot, season the meat with lots of salt and pepper, then sear each side twice, creating a criss-cross pattern over the surface of the rump. Once the outside of the rump is seared, place it in a roasting tin and insert an ovenproof meat thermometer. Roast for 4–5 hours, removing when the thermometer reads 130°F for rare, 135°FC for medium rare and 140°F for medium. Leave to rest for at least 20 minutes while you make the Yorkshires, by which time the internal temperature will have risen by a couple of degrees.
Yorkshire Puddings
Makes 6
Recipe courtesy of Hawksmoor Cookbook
3/4 cup semi-skimmed milk
3/4 cup plain flour
beef drippings
Start the Yorkshire batter the night before, as it gives the starch cells time to thicken which will give you a lighter, smoother batter.
In a medium-sized bowl pour the beaten eggs, milk and salt, then add plain flour by the spoonful, whisking constantly so you create a smooth batter (or whizz together in a food processor). Once all the ingredients are mixed, cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.
Once your beef has roasted and is resting on the side, turn up the oven to 425°F. Put a dollop of beef dripping from the Rump Roast at the bottom of each hollow in either a Yorkshire pudding or muffin tin, and place over a high heat on the stove top. Fill the "cups" just over halfway up with batter. The secret to great Yorkshire puds is cold batter crashing into intensely hot beef dripping. It should look alarmingly volcanic with lots of crackling and voluminous batter turning into pillowy puddings. Place the pudding tin in the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden, turning them over towards the end so the bottoms crisp up. Serve with the sliced Rump Roast.
Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 8 as a side / 4 as a main
Recipe courtesy of Hawksmoor Cookbook
The ultimate comfort food, perfect with a crisp green salad, but also surprisingly good as a side with steak
1 lb elbow macaroni (Hawksmoor uses long fagiolini lisci)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
1/4 lb Colston Bassett Stilton, crumbled
1/4 lb Ogleshield, grated
1/2 lb Montgomery Cheddar, grated
Maldon sea salt
White pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
We make these in individual cast iron pots, but you can make it in any medium-sized ovenproof dish. Brush the dish with half the olive oil and rub with the cut clove of garlic. Cook the macaroni in salted water until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then mix with the remaining oil.
Preheat the oven 400°F. In a saucepan bring the milk up to boiling point, then reduce the heat and keep warm.
In another saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat, whisk in the flour and keep whisking until you have a pale golden ‘roux’ or grainy looking paste. Return this saucepan to a medium heat and ladle the hot milk into the roux, a cup at a time, whisking all the time and completely incorporating each cup before adding the next one. After all the milk has been added, continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and bubbles gently, about 2 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat, add the Stilton, Ogleshield and half of the Cheddar and stir until completely incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Pour three quarters of the sauce over the pasta and mix well. Tip the mixture into the baking dish. Top with the remaining sauce and half the remaining Cheddar. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the rest of the Cheddar and bake for another 10–15 minutes, or until brown.
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