Harden's survey result
Summary
You walk past “chiller meat displays” as you enter Roberto Costa’s Italian group. Macellaio means ‘butcher’, and the focus is on quality steaks, particularly the Piemontese Fassona breed, but also including cuts from the UK (from Herefordshire) and with tomahawk and Halal options; all matched with an “extensive wine list”. “For a great and reasonable dinner (including pre-theatre) and excellent steaks” it does still have fans. But its support has waned in both quality and quantity in recent years, and the group has halved in size since the last edition, shedding branches in Bloomsbury, Borough and Clapham (all RIP) to focus on Theatreland/Soho, Exmouth Market and the South Kensington original. All of the (relatively few) reports say the food is still mostly good but increasingly there are caveats: “Hmmm, the steaks are getting pretty… not bad, but no longer as good value”. Top Menu Tip – the “dessert theatre of tiramisu created at the table”.
Summary
Fans do still hail the “fabulous meat” at Roberto Costa’s quirky Italian steakhouse group, but it has lost some of its red-blooded allure in recent years. “The restaurants look appealing and the menu looks promising”, but lower ratings bolster those who feel “the quality has dropped with expansion”, as it has grown to six venues across London (and a sister concept, Fish Game, opened in Canary Wharf in mid-2023); and at its worst, it can deliver “distinctly average steaks” at “steep prices”.
Summary
“Just the place to stuff yourself silly with beef!”, say loyal fans of Roberto Costa’s successful chain, where you choose your cut from “amazing meat displays to get the juices flowing”: a formula that’s brought expansion over the years to six locations across the capital, including on Shaftesbury Avenue (where it’s branded ‘Teatro del Carne’). Ratings sank this year, though, on a number of “disappointing” reports, with recurring themes including “quality meat undermined by poor cooking” and “high prices for wines considering their middling status”.
Summary
“Exceptionally fine beef” from the Italian Fassone breed in the valleys north of Genoa is theatrically presented – as if in a butcher’s shop – at Roberto Costa’s growing group of steakhouses, where the “superb cuts are butchered in front of you”. “I finally went to try out what looked like magnificent beef, from the haunches in the window. I wasn’t disappointed – it delivered magnificently.” The South Ken branch in Old Brompton Road remains the most popular. There are others in Fitzrovia, Exmouth Market, Union Street and Battersea. (The latest to open in summer 2021, in the West End’s Theatreland, is called Il Teatro del Carne – see also).
For 33 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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Restaurant details
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Opening hours
Last orders: 11 pm
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