Foxlow is the latest venture from the guys behind Hawksmoor steakhouses and it’s based in St John Street, Farringdon on the former site of Michelin starred North Road – I was gutted when that closed!
Gone were the previous stark white walls and instead it was a very homely affair; beautifully done out. We were seated upstairs avoiding the buzzy downstairs area complete with self service salad bar, which was a shame. I’d request the ground floor when booking if you ask me.
It was awfully hot when we arrived and it only got worse – I remained positively moist for our entire visit. It was unbearably uncomfortable. We were kindly invited back with the offer of 50% off the bill to make up for it which was a nice touch. Rather worryingly, when we made our return visit it was equally as hot!
We started with some sourdough, olive oil and dukkah (£2.50). The thick slices of bread were really spongy with a lovely crusty exterior. The dukkah which is an Egyptian aromatic seed and nut mix remained mostly uneaten; it felt like an odd combination with the oil.
Starters suitably impressed. The crispy five pepper squid (£7) makes my mouth water as I write about; tender strips of squid encased in an impressively crisp yet light batter. The spicy mayo was great too.
Iberico pork ribs (£8.50) were some of the finest ribs I’ve ever eaten (you’re going to hear that phrase a lot FYI). The meat fell off the bone yet retained it’s texture and the flavour, my God the flavour, simply wow. I’m still undecided whether they would have benefitted from a sauce or not – I suspect they were good enough not to need it.
My main of Iberico pork pluma (£16) was even better. The slices of pork were served medium and they were utterly phenomenal. Just like the ribs the flavour was seriously intense – some of the most flavourful pork I’ve ever eaten. I really mean that.
The deckle (£22) was another winner. I’d never heard of deckle before but it’s one of the two parts of beef you get in a rib eye steak and it’s often underused. A nice layer of perfectly cooked fat sat atop each chunky slice which provided oodles of flavour. Some of the tastiest steak I’ve ever eaten.
The ten hour beef short rib (£16) was a generous portion. The tangy kimchi cut through the rich and slightly fatty meat wondrously; slow cooked meat doesn’t get much better than that. It could have done with a bit of a sauce perhaps though – or a nice bit of gravy.
The skin on fries with bacon salt (£3.50) were crisp and seasoned well but I preferred the beef dripping potatoes (£3.50) as they were brilliantly beefy. The sausage stuffed onion (£3.50) was a weird one; it came swimming in a watery brown sauce which wasn’t particularly appetising, a shame really as the flavour was ruddy lovely – ever so sweet and delicious.
For dessert, the cherry pie (£6.50) was a heartwarming delight. It was served with some soft serve raspberry ripple ice cream like you get from a Mr Whippy van. Great stuff.
That was good but the peanutella with sweet toast (£5) was even better – the best pudding I’ve ever had in my life in fact. An old Nutella jar was filed with a chocolate and caramel concoction topped with peanuts. Loading it onto the wedges of brioche that had been baked then fried in sugar and butter was a blissful experience. There was even a small mound of salt meaning you could season each mouthful yourself. Phooarr.
The food at Foxlow was worth getting sweaty for – although I couldn’t wait to leave and have a cold shower – I’ve never had meat quite like it. The staff were really sweet and friendly too; our waiter even gave us each a bag of their salted caramel popcorn as a sorry for the heating situation which was very kind indeed. Damn those ribs were good.
8/10
