Where to eat steak in Soho, from the cheap set to the big night
Soho steak runs from a single-cut bargain on Beak Street to fire-pit counters and Argentine charcoal, and timing matters.
By Only Soho Editorial
Soho does steak in every register, from a one-cut cheap supper to a long evening round a fire. The trick, as ever here, is knowing which door suits the hour and the budget. Some famous names are not Soho at all: Goodman is on Maddox Street in Mayfair, and Hawksmoor's Air Street sits by Piccadilly Circus. What follows stays within the postcode.
The cheap set
Flat Iron, 17 Beak Street
The idea is disarmingly simple: Restaurant Online reported back in 2012 that Flat Iron would take a permanent Soho home on Beak Street, and it sells just one cut, the flat iron. DesignMyNight calls it the most affordable steak in Soho, over three floors with bare brick and a steel bar round an open kitchen. Order the steak with chips and creamed spinach, the sides diners mention most. Go early evening, before the after-work crowd fills the room. Prices are not something to promise here, so check the menu on the day.
Blacklock, 24 Great Windmill Street
This is the one to know about on a Monday. Blacklock's own site lists Butcher Price Monday: big chops (porterhouse, prime rib, bone-in sirloin, lamb rump) at £8 per 100g, all day, lunch and dinner. The room is a basement on a street with a colourful past: a former brothel and the Le Reims lap-dancing club stood on the site, and the Nosh Bar salt-beef institution was also on Great Windmill Street.
On other days, the "All In" is listed at £28 on OpenTable: pre-chop bites, then beef, pork and lamb chops piled on charcoal-grilled flatbreads, with a side. Hot Dinners says the skinny chops piled on bread are the order, and recommends the white chocolate cheesecake to finish. Listed steaks run from a £16 Denver to a £25 fillet, though that menu snapshot is undated, so confirm before you book. Order the chops on the flatbreads.
Sucre, 47b Great Marlborough Street
Fire-led Argentine cooking from Buenos Aires chef Fernando Trocca, and Time Out ranks it twelfth in its London steak guide. The set lunch starts at £19.50, served Monday to Saturday, midday to four. That makes lunch the smart booking; dinner is the pricier, glamorous version. Diners on TripAdvisor praise the steaks and the Caesar salad prepared at the table, so order both.
The middle of the road
temper Soho, 25 Broadwick Street
A basement built around a giant fire pit, with counter seating so you can watch the cooking. DesignMyNight says the meat comes from English farms and is aged and butchered in-house, then cooked over fire. Harden's names Neil Rankin as the chef. The restaurant's own site lists a Sunday roast from £29.90 per person and a Three Beast Feast at £38.50 per person. For something cheaper, TripAdvisor has listed a rump steak sandwich at £14 and a cheeseburger at £12, though those prices are undated. Sit at the counter and order the steak by the cut.
The big night
The Devonshire, 17 Denman Street
Hot Dinners puts it first on its best steak list for Soho. DesignMyNight describes a pub downstairs and the steak room upstairs, with in-house butchery and British beef, from a team including Oisin Rogers, Charlie Carroll and Ashley Palmer-Watt. Book the upstairs room for the occasion and check the menu ahead.
Plan it by the clock
- Monday, any hour: Blacklock, for the £8 per 100g chops.
- Weekday lunch: Sucre, for the £19.50 set.
- Early evening: Flat Iron on Beak Street, for the single cut.
- A long dinner: temper for the fire, or upstairs at The Devonshire for the occasion.
Sources worth a look: Hot Dinners' steak guide, DesignMyNight's Soho list and Blacklock's own page for the Monday deal.
