Harden's survey result
Summary
Neil Rankin’s trio of venues all centre on cooking over fire – with fire pits more and less on display – and the choice of an array of steaks (rare breed, from UK farms), fish and other meats, backed up by a selection of tacos. Sunday roast, bottomless brunch and steak supper clubs also feature in their list of attractions. All reports are positive this year, although even those who consider the food “outstanding” can quibble over the pricing. A “lovely new outdoor space” in WC2 has been a great addition.
Summary
“Huge cuts of carefully sourced meat, such as great Barnsley chops, are expertly cooked over wood” at Neil Rankin’s “loud and atmospheric” Soho basement with a 6-metre fire pit, which nowadays also has two similar satellites in Covent Garden and near Bank: the set-up – “an open kitchen”, “with all the meat on display” creates “some real theatre and buzz”. And in WC2, the venue’s wood-fired oven is also pressed into service to deliver some “incredible deep-dish pizza”. There remain one or two reporters who consider the experience “totally overhyped”, but the general impression is of “a time to remember” and with “a surprisingly reasonable bill for such big hunks of meat”.
Summary
“Huge cuts of carefully sourced meat, such as great Barnsley chops, are expertly cooked over wood” at Neil Rankin’s “loud and atmospheric” Soho basement with a 6-metre fire pit, which nowadays also has two similar satellites in Covent Garden and near Bank: the set-up – “an open kitchen”, “with all the meat on display” creates “some real theatre and buzz”. And in WC2, the venue’s wood-fired oven is also pressed into service to deliver some “incredible deep-dish pizza”. There remain one or two reporters who consider the experience “totally overhyped”, but the general impression is of “a time to remember” and with “a surprisingly reasonable bill for such big hunks of meat”.
Summary
“The theatre of the fire pits” (“grab a table at the counter to see your food cooking, and to strike up a conversation with the chefs”) helps inspire fans of the “extraordinary culinary style” of Neil Rankin’s “loud”, “subterranean temple to everything carnivorous” in Soho, which has a spin-off in the City (“in a quiet alley by Bank”) and now also in Covent Garden (where most of the cooking is in a wood-fired oven, and where they also do pizza). The verdict on the food, however, is becoming increasingly mixed – to fans the smoked BBQ fare is “brilliant and creative”, featuring “dishes unlike anywhere else”, but the proportion of sceptics who find the food “bland”, or “over-salted” or “very over-hyped” is growing.
For 31 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
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