I’ve heard from many a trusted source that Goodman is arguably London’s finest steakhouse, yet I’d never actually been. Seeing as my parents were down in London for the weekend, I decided to rectify that and booked us in for a bit of beef at their Mayfair restaurant (there’s also a Goodman in Canary Wharf and The City).
The restaurant had the perfect atmosphere; loud and lively yet not overbearing, meaning you could actually hear each other talk. We were seated at a table near the bar which added to the buzzy vibe. The leather chairs were particularly comfortable too; I would have gladly spent all night sitting there glugging red wine and shoving steak in my face.
At the beginning there was a lot to take in; our waitress brought over various cuts of meat on a plate whilst explaining the menu AND the special cuts on the board. Everything sounded so good I wanted to order the lot.
We decided to skip starters and went straight in for the steaks – which ended up being a rather wise decision. My parents chose the 350g USDA New York Sirloin (£32 from the menu) and the 300g Galloway boneless sirloin (£24 from the board), so they could compare the difference in flavour. The USDA cows spend their last 150 days before slaughter eating corn meaning the meat is much sweeter, with a more subtler flavour. The opposite could be said for the British grass fed cows which had an almost gamey flavour – it was seriously intense! Both steaks were cooked to medium-rare perfection.
My sister and I decided to share the 900g USDA bone-in Porterhouse (£72) which was a thing of meaty beauty. On one side of the bone was sirloin and the other fillet, and both were soft, tender and divine. The fatty parts of the sirloin were my favourite as the flavour was really rich and smoky. The three sauces available; peppercorn, bearnaise and a red wine gravy, were brought out in copious amounts which was a serious plus. They were all equally incredible I must say.
For sides, we opted for the truffle chips (£5.50) and the beef dripping chips (£5) which were both cracking; well seasoned and both provided plenty of their said flavouring. Mushrooms with garlic butter (£5) did exactly what they said on the tin, but in the most satisfying of ways. The creamed spinach with gruyere cheese (£4.50) was possibly the richest thing I’ve ever eaten but it was heavenly. The only dud came in the form of the mac and cheese with truffle and Parmesan (£5) which was disappointingly greasy, over cooked and totally cheese-less.
We somehow made room for desserts and decided to share the honeycomb parfait with banana sorbet (£7), which was a pleasantly light pudding, and the warm chocolate tart (£7) which was anything but! Encased in the crisp pastry case was a warm, gooey chocolate mixture which was worthy of every single calorie and clogged artery. Along with a spoonful of the hazelnut praline and blood orange sorbet, I was one hell-of-a happy chappy.
We were then lucky enough to have a tour of the kitchen afterwards, which was quite an experience. We got to see the insanely hot Josper grills where they cook the steaks and even the fridge where they dry age all the beef; a brilliant end to a truly brilliant meal.
If you love steak then a visit to Goodman is a real must and I can easily say it’s the best steakhouse I’ve been to. Our waitress looked after us from beginning to end and ensured that we had a faultless evening – and she knew everything there was to know about the meat on offer too. What a brilliant restaurant.
9/10
