City, Burgers, Etc Restaurant Guide

“Still the go-to New York-style steak house” – this Russian-owned chain has “a distinct style from Hawksmoor” which it somewhat resembles; and though its fanbase is much smaller, it’s held in equal regard by those who recommend it. Well located for expense accounters, its branches in Mayfair, the City and Canary Wharf are a “safe bet for good steak” and deliver a straightforward formula inspiring few grumbles. “The prices aren’t dirt cheap, but those AAA steaks never were”.

2021 Review: In less than 20 years, Danny Meyer has transformed his New York City hot-dog cart into a global fast-food brand giant with eight outlets in London – including a Covent Garden flagship that was revamped earlier this year. Ratings remain remarkably solid for “a chain that does what it’s supposed to do”.

“The best burgers in town” – “the juiciest, the most flavourful” – are a credible claim for this quartet in Spitalfields, Victoria, the City’s Bloomberg Arcade and Westfield White City, the highest-rated of the non-mainstream burger chains in our survey this year. New Yorker Zan Kaufman named them after the Greenwich Village street where she ate the burger that inspired her to quit her job as a corporate lawyer and start flipping patties on the back of a London truck, 11 years ago.

“Bloody good, succulent steaks”, with “epic cocktails and wines”, all served in “rather clubby”, “classy” surroundings is a formula that’s won fame and fortune for Huw Gott and Will Beckett’s steakhouse phenomenon. “Many happy afternoons have been lost in these places!”, which continue to be voted as London’s “best steak chain by far”, and “a go-to for business”. “Everything is top-notch: the quality and cookery of the beef; the exemplary seafood (be it Salcombe crab on toast or their lobster); even down to their excellent sides of mac ’n’ cheese, bone marrow or Caesar salad”. However, a visit “is not exactly easy on the wallet”. “It’s verrrrry expensive” (and “if you go with mates who like to chug back the wine, the bill will be massive!”). And ratings are coming under ever-more pressure due to “staff who seem unable to cope”, or meals with “too many misses at too heavy a price to be a reliable bet”. Last year, the team expanded to Manhattan and also opened a “stunning floating boat/barge” in the docks at Canary Wharf. Later in 2022, the group will also add a Liverpool branch to rival Manchester’s; and a few months later make a Dublin debut on College Green too. “Are they losing some of their je-ne-sais-quoi as they get bigger and badder? There’s a sneaking suspicion the lustre is being slightly lost.”

“Does what it says on the tin”, with “no delay making choices”. This “simple, good and easy” surf-and-turf chain has grown to nine sites in the capital in 11 years – most with “sufficient space to eat and talk” (rare enough in fast-food joints). The formula is working around the world, too, with openings from New York to the Genting Highlands in Malaysia. “Love the way they give you plastic sheets to cover yourself from flying bits of lobster!”