Hawksmoor - Air Street
Though I used to enjoy the occasional steak, I never referred to myself as a steak aficionado, that is until I was introduced to the Hawksmoor club some years ago. I’ve been to Gaucho, Goodmans, STK and other less note-worthy restaurants for slabs of meat but none, I repeat none, compare to Hawksmoor.
The restaurant is located on Air Street and is almost easy to miss, but can be accessed off of Regent Street. Though they have several restaurants in London and the UK, Air Street is one of their largest. The closest station is Piccadilly Circus and a maximum 2 minute walk from there.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, it looks like a small hotel lobby with reception staff warmly greeting you. Whether you have a reservation or not, you are invited to ascend the marble staircase and have a drink at the bar whilst waiting for your table. Though you could have any drink of your choice, I always find it fitting to drink whiskey on the rocks or whiskey sours. I personally enjoy drinking whiskey but somehow I feel it fits into the theme of the decor, which looks like a 20s (non-seedy) gentleman’s club to me. The Art Deco is tasteful and there are nods to this influence throughout the restaurant including the lighting and windows. A cigar in hand wouldn’t feel too out of place, but that’s my imagination being silly.
As you enter the restaurant side, you can truly appreciate the size and length of the restaurant. The waiters are normally happy to seat you in an area of your choice if available. One of my pet peeves is when there are clearly available tables and the restaurant isn’t busy but the staff insist on seating you in the shittiest of places. That makes me think (a) fuck you and (b) thou shalt not be tipped. Hawksmoor thankfully, are not like this and have the grace and sense to seat customers where they feel happiest and most content.
Since my husband and I have been devout regulars, we know the menu like the back of our hands. Normally we have already discussed and decided what we will be ordering before we’ve even climbed the marble staircase. Sad? Yes. Efficient? Certainly. Once sat down, we will still pretend to scan the menu but it isn’t long before we’ve given the waiter a long list of foods, to the point where he is tempted to check under the table for a third or fourth diner.
All the starters are great, but I would highly recommend the perfectly cooked scallops and ridiculously tender pork belly. For mains, you have to go for a steak. I never understand people who enter a steak restaurant and order fish for main. Like, really?? That’s the equivalent of going into MacDonalds and asking for a salad. So back to mains, you have to accompany it with side dishes. We normally share the spinach lemon and garlic, he orders the beef dripping fries and I, the triple cooked chips because that’s the kind of woman I am! If you’re really hungry, I would definitely recommend the lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, which is as lobstery and cheesy as it sounds.
Normally we don’t tend to have stomachs left for desserts and I usually feel like a cow by the end of the meal. In honesty, the temptation is always there to ask if my husband could roll me out of the restaurant, piggyback me all the way back home or even curse the inventor who still hasn’t managed to succeed in a teleportation device.
Overall impressions: the grub is simple but exceptional food. It’s not instagrammble or pretentious as it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It doesn’t have flowers or any other crap that doesn’t need to be on the food, as it lets the taste do the talking. The steak is good old fashioned delicious steak. The chips are as good as they can get, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The scallops cooked to perfection. The pork belly so tender it just melts in your mouth…and the list goes on.
You have a menu and a restaurant where the ambience is so relaxed, the customers unpretentious and staff who are extremely well-trained on the importance of customer service. All of this equates to a successful business and one that will reign over the likes of Gaucho and Goodmans. All hail Hawksmoor! Xo
If Hawksmoor sounds like a bit of you, click below to make a reservation:
Credit: Courtesy of standard.co.uk
Though I shouldn’t have to say this, I have a strictly ‘no BS’ policy and will never write about anything that is inauthentic. All opinions and reviews are my own and I am not sponsored by anyone.
