The Colony Grill - Art Deco Glam, Champagne Cocktails and Tomahawk Steak (Plus the Best Mac n' Cheese This Side of the Pond!)

Name: The Colony Grill

Where: The Beaumont Hotel, 8 Brown Hart Gardens, London, W1K 6TF
http://www.colonygrillroom.com

Cost: The all day menu is served from 7am until 11pm. Starters cost from £8.95 to £25, main courses from £12 to £49 (for a 14 oz rib-eye steak). Sides are £4.50 to £6.25, with desserts from £6.75 to £9.50.  

About: Opened in 2014, The Colony Grill at The Beaumont Hotel is a haven of tranquility and Art Deco glam, and surprisingly, just a stone's throw south from manic Oxford Street and west of Bond Street.

Owned by Chris Corbin and Jeremy King (who also brought to London the restaurants Le Caprice, The Ivy, The Wolseley and The Delaunay), the American Bar and Grill Room is an elegant spot, and its hard to believe that its Art Deco murals and red leather banquets and linen-clad tables have only existed for 4 years.

On the mid-week evening we were there, the restaurant was packed with a well-healed crowd.

This is my second visit to The Colony Grill, my first time there was only a few months ago during the kitchen takeover by the New Orleans restaurant Galatoire’s, this was a superb meal which you can read more about here - http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk/2017/10/do-you-know-your-cajun-from-your-creole.html.

What We Ate: We started with the dressed Weymouth crab (£18.75). This was fresh and fragrant, with roughly chopped chives and a half lemon in a muslin sleeve daintily designed to keep lemon pips out of the food.

The steak tartare with toast and salad (£12.25) was assembled at the table (I loved watching the waiter doing this) with a mixture of hand-chopped fillet of beef, ketchup, mustard, shallots, capers, cornichons, anchovy, parsley, Worcester sauce, Tabasco and a raw quail egg yolk.

This was excellent - a bracing combination of chilli and spice, with succulent raw beef still retaining great texture.

For main course, we shared a Tomahawk steak (£35 per person). An Ayrshire 30-day dry-aged Aberdeen Angus, this was served with French fries and a choice of beurre maitre d'hotel, pepper or Béarnaise sauce.

The steak was brought with a section of rib to the table, and carved with some theatricality. It was then transferred to a tin-lined copper pan, and served with tomatoes roasted on the vine.

The aroma of roasted bone marrow was sensational, and with a combination of Béarnaise sauce, pepper sauce and fries, this was absolutely stunning.

As accompaniment, we had a small macaroni cheese (£8). The signature dish of the restaurant, this was rich, creamy and beautifully seasoned with nutmeg and pepper, enriched by double cream and Gruyere cheese.

For dessert, we chose the Knickerbocker Glory (£9.25). This was an authentic version of an all-American classic, a very sweet but refreshing dessert. The small ruby plum and sherry trifle (£5.50) had sponge cake and a splash of sherry, but lacked the unctuous custard I was hoping for. The raspberry jelly used was too sweet for my palate, it tasted a tad naïve.

What We Drank: We kicked off with a couple of pre-dinner cocktails in the American Bar.  The Classic Champagne Cocktail (£15.75) with Cognac, Angostura bitters, sugar and Champagne, was a fine example of the genre. The Boulevardier (£14.50) blended Woodford Reserve Rye Whiskey, sweet vermouth and Campari, and was strong and invigorating.

In the main restaurant, the wine list is well thought out, and has a good range of European and New World wines. The entry level wines, both red and white, are from Chapoutier priced at £27.50. They are a Luberon Blanc and a Marius Rouge from the Languedoc. 

We chose a bottle of Montes Alpha Carmenere 2015 from Colchagua Valley, Chile (£43.50). A fruit-driven wine, this had plenty of blackberry fruit, and was more than a match for the rich steak in our dinner.

Likes: The steak tartare and tomahawk steak were excellent, as were the cocktails. The Mac n’ Cheese is probably one of the best I have had this side of the pond.

Dislikes: The desserts were the weakest link, a tad naïve, overly sweet and lacking in sophistication.

Verdict: The Colony Grill is home to one of the most elegant American Bars and Grill Rooms in London. With well-made cocktails, fantastic food and Art Décor glamour plus very friendly service, it is one of the few restaurants in London that I cannot wait to return to. Very highly recommended.

Smith & Wollensky – Art Deco Chic, USDA T-Bone Steak & Truffled Mac n’ Cheese

Name: Smith & Wollensky

Where: The Adelphi Building, Covent Garden Riverside, 1 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT, http://www.smithandwollensky.co.uk

Cost: At dinner time, starters range from £7 to £19, salads from £10 to £12. There is of course a wide selection of steaks, including British rib-eye at £38 for 400g, the tomahawk 1kg steak to share at £74, and Beef Wellington with porcini cream sauce at £39. The USDA prime dry-aged steaks come in at a higher price point, include a sirloin at 395g for £48, and a T-bone 700g steak for £78. 

About: Located on the south-side of the Strand by the Savoy Hotel, the Adelphi Building in which Smith & Wollensky is situated has been extensively redeveloped.

The building, once a drab Westminster Civil Service office block, now hosts the first UK branch of the American steak restaurant, Smith & Wollensky, which opened in 2015.

Constructed with a great deal of care to create a 1920s feel in keeping with the building's exterior, the restaurant has wooden floors made from recycled railway sleepers.

There is bespoke artwork on the walls, and the seating is a mixture of soft red leather banquettes and jade-green leather chairs. I loved the gorgeous selection of art deco lights, and the bar and serving areas all topped in white marble.

The restaurant is huge, set over two floors with more than 300 covers. Since Autumn 2016, it features a fully licensed bar in the basement which is a great spot for a glamorous cocktail, with or without dinner.

But what drew me to Smith & Wollensky was their legendary top quality steaks, hailing from across the pond. Pride of place goes to the USDA prime steaks from corn-fed American cattle, imported then dry-aged for 28 days in-house.

I was given a pre-dinner tour of the kitchen and chiller room, and saw for myself the huge chunks of USDA and British meat dry-aging there. It’s a huge cost for the restaurant to age its own steaks, but this guarantees diners at Smith & Wollensky that every steak they eat is dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days.

In addition to USDA beef, there is also a comprehensive selection of steaks from British and Irish grass-fed cattle, as well as seafood and lobster platters.

What We Ate: We shared three starters – the hand-dived Scottish scallop with garlic and parsley butter was meaty and delectable with the herbed butter topped with shavings of lemon zest.

Their signature jumbo lump crab cake was equally good – with a generous ratio of crab to other ingredients, it was again meaty and full of flavour. I just wish I could have had another one!

The yellow fin tuna tartare was delightfully fresh, served on a base of cucumber, lemon, avocado and wasabi. It came with a sweet citrus ponzu sauce, and topped with a lotus root crisp.

We wanted to try a like-for-like comparison of USDA corn fed and Irish grass-fed beef, so went for the USDA 28 day aged T-bone steak 700g (£72), to compare with the Irish tomahawk (1Kg, £74).

The Irish beef was flavoursome and tender, accompanied by a perfect hollandaise sauce – rich, velvety and with refreshing acidity.

The USDA T-bone steak though was in another league – intensely marbled and with a remarkable depth of richness and flavour. This was the best steak I have eaten in years. I am told that it was aged for 33 days, rather than the usual 28.

To accompany, we struggled to make a choice as the options all looked so good, including the very tempting lobster mac n cheese, but we decided against it as we were eating enough steak for 4 people!

We settled on an utterly delicious truffled mac n’ cheese (£10), some divine creamed spinach (£10), crispy French fries (£4) and pan-fried field mushrooms (£5). I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

For dessert, we shared a refreshing coconut and passionfruit mousse, with tarragon poached pineapple (£8). 

What We Drank:  The wine list has a strong focus on American wines, and particularly on full-bodied red wines. There is a very large selection of first-growths from Bordeaux as well. The entry level white is a Touraine Sauvignon at £34, while there is a Mont Rocher Carignan red from Languedoc at £28.

Before dinner, we had the two house special cocktails (£16 each). These were super-sized, triple-measure American-style Martinis and Manhattans. The Manhattan was a mix of three parts Bulleit Bourbon, to half parts each of sweet and dry vermouth, with a drop each of Angostura and Peychaud's bitters.

The Martini was marvelously dry, with 75ml Tanqueray gin to 5ml dry Vermouth, stirred.

With our starters, we had a bottle of Grgich Hills Estate Fume Blanc from Napa Valley (£95) which was elegant, rich and creamy, with lemon, vegetal and mineral notes.

To accompany our steaks, we shared a bottle of The Federalist 'Duelling Pistols', from Sonoma, California (£95). This blend of Zinfandel and Syrah was a massive, powerful wine with rich cherry fruit, sweet cedar and vanilla notes, a good grip of balancing tannins, and an admirably long finish. 

Likes: Gorgeous 1920s Art Deco interior, great location on quiet John Adam Street just behind the Savoy Hotel, huge wine list, and the best steak I’ve eaten for a very long time. Friendly and knowledgeable service.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: Smith & Wollensky is my steak house of choice in London right now. I cannot wait to return for more of their 28-day aged USDA T-bone steak, the truffled mac n’ cheese, and the super-sized Martinis. Very highly recommended.

Manhattan Grill Steakhouse, West India Quay

Name: Manhattan Grill West India Quay

Where: The ground floor of the Marriott Hotel, West India Quay, 22 Hertsmere Road, London E14 4ED, http://manhattangrill.co.uk/

Cost: Average spend is around £50 per person (not including drinks). There are 6 appetisers, priced from £6.50 to £15. Steaks are £24 to £34, with non-steak main courses costing £8 to £15, and side dishes at £4-8.   

About: The Manhattan Grill is a steakhouse in Canary Wharf, specializing in wet-aged USDA prime Black Angus from Creekstone Kansas, and dry-aged Scottish cuts from Inverurie – the birthplace of Aberdeen Angus steak.

Situated on the ground floor of the Marriot Hotel, right next door to the station, it overlooks the waterfront of West India Quay. The Manhattan Grill is an elegant restaurant, if a tad corporate in feel.

The dining room is long and spacious, with comfortable cream leather chairs, and an impressive open-plan kitchen.  There are floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the quay, and if the weather is fine, there are outdoor tables too.

What We Ate: We started with the seared black pearl scallops (£15). With a delectable pea puree and bacon grilled until crisp, the scallops were meaty, of great quality and well cooked.

Equally good was the baked blue swimmer crab cake, presented with soft flakes of fresh crab and a dressed green salad, served with a tartar sauce (£12).

For the main course, we shared two of their signature steaks: the Creekstone Kansas USDA Black Angus Rib Eye (bone in) 16oz (£34) and the Scottish Aberdeen Angus T-bone 20oz steak which was a whopper (£32.50).

Creekstone Kansas USDA Black Angus Rib Eye (bone in) 16oz at £34

The steaks were both delicious, and cooked medium rare as requested. They were evenly marbled and well-flavoured, generously encrusted in salt. The steaks were served with a selection of sauces, including horseradish, chimichurri and béarnaise. I am not one to leave food on my plate, but I must admit that in the end, we were sadly defeated by the enormity of those steaks!

Scottish Aberdeen Angus T-bone, 20oz at £32.50

The restaurant claims to feature a Montague grill that heats up to 650°C, a grill oven that is similar in concept to a Josper grill. The steaks though deliciouls could have done with a little more caramelisation in my opinion so the benefits of a Montague grill are still to be seen.

Meat comes from Russell Hume in Chelsea, who supplies to most of the Marriot group, while the USDA steaks come from Freedom Foods.

To accompany our steaks, we chose the sides of mac'n cheese (£4) and chips (£4). The mac'n cheese was cheesy and creamy, a perfect example of a long-time favourite. The chips were deliciously chunky with a crispy outer layer while fluffy and very soft inside just as I like them.

The JW Steakhouse is another American-style steakhouse located at the JW Marriott Hotel on Park Lane, London (reviewed here). JW Steakhouse serves some of the best cheesecake I have ever tried (allegedly the best cheesecake on this side of the pond), so I was sad not to see it as a dessert option on the menu at Manhattan Grill. I had no space left at this stage of the meal, but I could have been tempted by that cheesecake!

What We Drank: We started with a couple of cocktails from the G & Tea bar next door (they are all priced at £10.50) - the Londinium 75 (with Hayman's sloe and dry, lime, champagne and passion fruit syrup), and the Red Spy (with Hayman's Royal Dock, Southern Comfort, peach and raspberry puree, lime juice), both well made and strong.

The restaurant has an Enomatic machine, and diners are invited to sample wines between their starters and steak, to decide which wine to pair with their meat choices.

For the rib eye, the restaurant's recommendation is a Chateau des Laurets 2011, from Puisseguin Saint-Emillion. The restaurant has a special relationship with the Rothschild family, and claims to have the largest variety of Rothschild wines in Canary Wharf.

We were offered 4 tasting samples of powerful wines, but opted for the Chateau des Laurets (£62) - a classic Bordeaux. This was excellent  - still youthful and slightly purple in colour, it had plenty of black berry fruit, well-integrated oak and firm but supple tannins. It was a pleasure to drink by itself, but better still with the steak.

Likes: The restaurant has a small menu, but what they serve (judging from our visit) was of great quality and expertly cooked. The sommelier-led wine tasting with the restaurant's Enomatic machine is a good option I have not seen in any other London restaurant. I enjoyed sitting by the open-plan kitchen and watching the chefs preparing the steaks. The mac'n cheese was creamy, with a crispy cheese top, and well made. The service was efficient, friendly and well-informed.

Dislikes: The restaurant has a slightly corporate, hotel-chain feel to it.  Annoyingly, there is no free car-parking available at the hotel or in the surrounding area even at night, although there is a multi-story car-park available over the road for a fee (£4.60 for 2 hours or £6.20 for up to 4 hours), but you can ask for a small discount at the hotel reception before you leave.  

Verdict: Manhattan Grill is a local American steakhouse serving top quality beef and well-made seafood dishes. The menu is focused, well executed and priced. It is a good option for lunch or dinner if you find yourself in London's Canary Wharf. Recommended.