I love me some red meat. Age it for at least one score and 8 days, season it to death, seal it on a smoking hot grill and serve it to me bloody and I am, quite literally, yours. Dramatics aside, there is something special about steak. It’s a simple thing, the product of its treatment by both farmer and grill cook alone and can be really quite beautiful. When (famous last words) done correctly.
Recently, in need of my meaty fix, I tried out Manhattan Grill in Canary Wharf. It has a good reputation for steak having placed in the Top 40 restaurants (London Lifestyle Awards) and in the Top Ten Steak Restaurants (Bookatable) and the chef has cooked for both President Obama and the Dalai Lama! The nail in the coffin was when the PR told me that Benedict Cumberbatch has recently been visiting. A smear of lipstick on and I was there!
When I say ‘I was there’, this is an exaggeration. I’m not used to Canary Wharf and got thoroughly lost trying to find its location on West India Quay. It’s beautiful when you get there but really, what a total nightmare of mysterious bridges and eerie waterways Canary Wharf is to the outsider.
The space itself is beautiful from the quay side entrance. All glass walls, high ceilings and drop lighting. If you held your bladder for the whole meal this illusion could perhaps be maintained. The way to the toilet brings you out into the lobby of the Marriott Hotel, which sits above it. All well and good – I like the Marriott – but on return you can’t help but notice how the restaurant can be transformed into hotel breakfast mode the next morning. Lights up, a few bowls of sugar cubes and service is up.
Spoiler alert: I enjoyed both a lot and each had their plus points. The USDA one came with a stonking great bone in it – which is a great thing as bones trap in flavour. Texturally it was superb – incredibly, incredibly juicy, owing in part to the wet aging process which essentially packs in moisture, and in part to my preference for steak cooked bleu (beyond rare). Flavour wise it was sweet and grassy. In comparison, the Aberdeen Angus was far meatier, rich in those gamey beef flavours coaxed out during dry aging. Texturally it lacked the juice of its US rival and this wasn’t helped by it being slightly, ever so slightly over cooked, but in flavour it was certainly the winner and had the most exquisite crust on it. I suppose both had their pros – it comes down to you and what you’re looking for in your steak.
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For dessert I had a very slutty chocolate molten cake with an oozing liquid centre and vanilla ice cream. Quite why you’d want this after a 20oz steak I do not know, but being the consummate professional I pressed gamely on.
The drinks menu is almost as impressive as the meat. Next door to the steak restaurant there is a G & Tea ‘tea room’ and lounge, serving up a big old list of gin based cocktails. I tried a Genever Fashioned – a twist on the bourbon Old Fashioned made with Zuidam Genever 5yo gin and a home made Greenall’s infusion. The thought of 2 shots of straight gin, unassisted by any mixer whatsoever could be enough to make one gip, but it was fantastic! Sweet, but not overly, and rich with layers of herbal botanicals.
7/10
Marriott Executive Apartments London, West India Quay, 22 Hertsmere Rd, Canary Warf, London E14 4ED
020 7517 2808
manhattangrill.co.uk/
