Angus Steak House on St Martin's Lane

Round the corner from the garish Leicester Square branch of the ‘Angus Steak House’, the chain has set up another more stylish restaurant. This one is on St Martin’s Lane and is a smaller more discreet venue, pleasantly decorated and furnished. I noticed while dining there that the music was a particularly well compiled playlist of jazz standards – my favourites, so this kept me well entertained throughout the meal.

I always thought of the Angus Steak House as a tourist hang out for visitors to London wishing to splash a bit of cash on a hearty steak. The big red signs are instantly recognisable in the city centre and tend of put off locals who are keen to eat somewhere a little more individual. Consequently I was surprised when I found this branch and intrigued about the quality of the food.

My consort and I were lead to a nice table for two, perhaps a little close to the drafty entrance. The service was very attentive: we were asked most minutes if everything was okay, and as sweet as our waiter was, I felt a little suffocated by it. By main course I wanted him to pay the other tables some attention instead, I couldn’t help chuckling to myself when he offered us desserts for the fourth time.

The Angus Steak House stick to what they are best at... and this is the way it should be at a steak joint. A select choice of starters includes crispy battered chicken strips and cheese and bacon potato skins, both very yummy but rather greasy, definitely not for those on a diet. We chose a white Pinot Grigio, which was light and crisp and tasted delicious with our ordered food, I was impressed at the price too, our bottle cost £17.

There is a lot of variety when it comes to choosing your steak, but if you don’t know what you’re doing the waiters are happy to advise you. They cater for less greedy customers too with lighter chicken and vegetarians options. We both opted for the fillet steak, one with garlic butter, and one with creamy pepper sauce. My companion had the biggest size (12 oz), cooked medium, and commented afterwards that it was the best cooked steak he’d ever eaten, compared even with much pricier meals. I had my steak ‘butterflied’ a technique that thins out the meat to let it cook more. It was delicious. To accompany, fries and salad filled us up so that dessert was not a manageable option, we were more than satisfied from the steaks.

This may not be the classiest Steak restaurant on the London scene, but don’t judge this book by its cover, the standard turns out to be very high.

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