Three ways with beef

East London Steak Co

Hawksmoor Seven Dials, 11 Langley St, WC2H 9JG

From time to time, I resolve to eat less flesh. This generally occurs when I read something written by a genuinely healthy person about wanting to eat sushi/salad/tofu because they feel fat from eating red meat. This triggers my deep-seated envy of people who actually want to have a well-balanced diet, forcing me to pretend that I too live that way and not, as is the reality, like some pre-historic dinosaur woman, chomping her way through meat-based meal after meat-based meal with no thought for vegetables. That said, eating my way through three different cuts of beef in one weekend was a bold move, even by my standards.

When Mr F said that he wanted steak to celebrate the start of the weekend, it was the perfect excuse to try out the East London Steak Co. And what better steak for an indulgent Friday night than a Porterhouse? Juicy and flavoursome from being cooked on the bone, it was thick enough to cook to grill-pan blackened (and smoke alarm arousing) perfection on the outside whilst remaining quiveringly rare on the inside. Without a doubt, it was some of the best beef I have bought in this fair city and I didn't even have to leave the house to get it.

We hadn't intended to make the weekend such a meatfest but we found ourselves in town and hungry on Sunday afternoon. In deepest touristic Covent Garden, the only sensible course of action was to wangle a table in the bar of Hawksmoor and contemplate eating more beef. Although it has now been replaced, we were there for the tail end of their piggy back burger, a worthy effort which combined pulled pork with burger to better effect than the Bar Boulud offering. Even so, I am not convinced it is a well-balanced combination and would rather choose between the two than end up with a half-hearted combination of both. Far better, and much raved about, is the kimchi burger - an inspired combination of astringent fermented pickle and unctuous, marrowy meat. My only criticism would be the choice of cheese: a robust cheddar which overpowers the dish. The burgers are reason enough to love Hawksmoor but the cocktails further cement my affection for the place. A breakfast cocktail made with whisky and grapefruit juice was sublime and their Bloody Marys are some of the best you'll find. They even separate the sediment from the rest of the beer when serving an IPA so that you can pour it to your own taste  - such is their dedication.

When they brought round our porterhouse, East London Steak Co had also delivered 2kg of short ribs: an impulse purchase for the purpose of qualifying for free delivery. On Friday, with the weekend ahead of me, I had formulated an intention of slow cooking them to feed both the freezer and my depressed Monday night self. Reluctantly rousing ourselves from a burger- and cocktail-induced haze, Mr F and I duly knocked up a rich, aromatic stew for weeknight tacos loosely based on this recipe. Perfumed with cinnamon and orange and sweetened with muscovado, it was all the better for having sat on our balcony overnight. An improvised salad of peashoots and pineapple turned out to be the perfect accompaniment. 

Whether you buy it to cook at home or eat it chez Hawksmoor, give in to the beef: you won't regret it. Moo.