Cut

As I noted in my previous review, this is a smart steakhouse by serial American restaurateur Wolfgang Puck. The room is beautifully fitted out, all marble and moody lighting. In decor and pricing it is well suited to its location on the dark blue section of the Monopoly board. The steaks are presented in their raw state before you order, and you can try a selection of three different ones (totalling 10ooz of meat) for a little matter of £58. 

The wine list was extensive at 650 bottles and had good growers but the mark-ups were very high. What was odd was that some of the costliest wines had the highest percentage mark-ups e.g. Antinori Tignanello 2009 was £190 v a retail price of £69 (2.8 times retail price), but Lafite Rothschild 1996 was £5,200 compared to a retail price of £986 and Vega Sicilia Unico 1999 was £950 compared to a retail price of £249. 

Tuna tartare was fine, the tuna of good quality and the seasoning accurate, though it was less good than I recall from last time (14/20). This evening we tried sirloins of both grass fed UK beef and a USDA corn-fed steak, the corn-fed one being better though hardly dazzling. The grass-fed steak was cooked properly but was on the chewy side. The meat was cooked as requested, and at £38 for a 10oz steak of USDA beef and £30 for Devon beef well it might be. However there is a limit to how high I am prepared to score a steak unless it is truly exceptional in quality, as for example I have encountered in Japan (14/20). 

I enjoyed the apple crumble for dessert, the apple cooked through just enough to retain a hint of texture without being hard, the crumble itself comforting, the portion size generous (15/20). Service was excellent throughout the evening but the prices were very high. 

Further reviews: 03rd Nov 2011