After a recommendation from a lady in one of my dim sum classes the other week – “If you like meat, go to Blacklock” – I did.
You indeed have to like, nay, love meat to make the trip here worth it, as this chop house is all about serving up piles of tasty, tasty meat.
Eating at a time reminiscent of the early bird senior citizen special, 5.30pm, the restaurant is empty, but it gradually fills out and has a nice buzz to it by the time we leave at 7pm. The evening is off to a good start with £5 cocktails. I enjoy their Nettle Gimlet (housemade nettle syrup) very much and my Partner in Crime enjoys his Apreol Negroni. Another round please!
For £20 you can do an “all in” which means you get all of the skinny chops listed on their menu – pork, lamb and beef – flat bread and a side dish each. A pretty good idea and for central London, a bargain… We were going to do this, however, the lovely lady suggested just two of us do this and then order some prime rib. It’s nice when restaurants let you pick different combinations of their specials. Obviously this is the more expensive option, however, with almost a kilo of prime rib, several rounds of drinks, mountains of meat and amazing canapé starters, and sides, it still worked out at just under £50 a head.
My Partner in Crime loves this type of cuisine: rustic and honest without pretension. High quality ingredients without too much clutter. That flat bread soaking up the juices at the bottom of the plate… <insert Homer Simpson drool noise>
The sides were rather gorgeous. Simple heritage tomato salad with labneh and almonds, and utterly delicious 10 hour ash roasted sweet potato.
The 900g of prime rib was 900g of awesome beefy goodness; tender, pink and juicy with a lovely char on the outside. 900g even between four people is still large serving, especially when the table is already filled with dishes. I would highly recommend adding some prime rib to your trip to Blacklock.
As already mentioned, the service at Blacklock is certainly above average with the staff wanting to make sure all your needs are accommodated. It is definitely a spot that will remain on my radar.
