On Sunday it my boyfriend's Dad's birthday and so we all headed into town for drinks and some good, substantial Sunday lunch!
Our first stop was for drinks in Covent Garden. We headed for a cosy little wine bar nestled right in the heart of Covent garden. The Crusting Pipe is popular in all seasons - a beautiful, cosy wine bar with quiet vault interiors and also atmospheric outside seating where you can watch the world go by, and if you're lucky may catch an operatic performance or two from the street performers. We opted to delve inside and found the cosiest vault, surrounded by candlelight, and snuggled down to enjoy our glasses of champagne and red wine and catch up from the weekend.
I love Covent Garden all year round, but especially at Christmas! It's perfect if you are looking to find some unique Christmas gifts for family and friends or just to spend the day browsing in all of the beautiful shops (you can't help but feel festive!) before you wine and dine one of the many eateries. All of the decorations are gorgeous, London really does do Christmas well! There is always such a buzz in Covent Garden, people gasping at street performers, children's squeals of excitement, people laughing and enjoying a drink at many of the cafe's surrounding the piazza, such a special place. I squeezed through the crowd to get some shots.....
Feeling nicely refreshed after our drinks, and with a slight hunger rising in our tummy's, we then headed to our chosen restaurant a short walk away on Langley Street, The Hawksmoor. This is a favourite of my steak-loving boyfriend yet he usually dines at the City restaurant and so this was a first visit for all of us. After hearing rave reviews about the quality of their steak we all had very high expectations.....
Once inside the huge black heavy doors (there's something quite inquisitive about big black doors!) we were greeted by a hostess who promptly took our coats, guided us to our table and in no time we were all nicely settled and ready to browse the menu.
After choosing our wine of choice (we plumped for the Chianti Classico - Vigna Paronza 2007 which was nice and light with a toasty richness) we then ordered our starters. These came quite promptly and looked divine....
Nicola opted for the 'Potted beef and bacon with (huge) yorkshires'...
The boys all went for the Tamworth Belly Ribs and I opted for the Brixham Crab on Toast
I think the silence that descended on the table shows how much they were enjoyed!
As we were sat there licking our lips we saw the Sunday Roast being served to the table next to us, boy did it look good!! A huge roast rump of beef surrounded by all the trimmings with one of their famously large yorkshire puddings on top..... A pure feast!! Peter exclaimed how he would have chosen that if he had known how incredible it looked (& surely tasted), our waitress straight away offered to change his order and was in the kitchen in a flash with the kitchen kindly obliging! Fantastic service.
I usually love a fish main course yet being in a steak restaurant surrounded by all of this delicious red meat, how could I refuse? I was not passing up one of those bad boys! Both Nicola and I opted for the bone-in 500g sirloin, the birthday boy had his roast, and the boys opted for the Rib-Eye. We all then shared a sumptuous array of side dishes all served in gorgeous mini casserole dishes - creamed spinach, beef dripping fries, triple cooked chips, macaroni and cheese and buttered greens.
Unfortunately everybody had tucked in before I could even snap the rest so you will have to take my word for it that they all looked (and tasted!) insanely good!
I have to say that my steak was slightly too salty and a little tougher than expected however it was still of very good quality and extremely tasty! (When mentioned to the waitress she immediately apologised and compensated for this, portraying this was a one-off!). Such excellent service. The sides were also so delicious and the Bearnaise sauce was to die for!
After a few more glasses of wine we left with very full bellies and a very happy face. It was a thoroughly delightful lunch with impeccable service and fantastic atmosphere - we are already putting a date in the diary to go back for their Sunday lunch!
You can find The Hawksmoor at four locations around London so if you are looking for a great steak in a buzzy environment you really should give them a try! Bookings taken here.
Labels:
Food,
Lifestyle,
London,
Restaurant
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Lovely steaks, and great (if a little pricey) wines! xx
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