Tag Archives: Mark Hix

Tramshed, Old Street

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Tramshed is the newest eatery to jump on the two-choice menu trend, following cult restaurants like Burger & Lobster. This East End establishment offers Chicken and Steak, just as the specially made Damien Hirst installation suggests – a cow and chicken are installed in formaldehyde above your heads – as you gorge on their relatives.

The venue is a feasting hall, a vault like chamber for cooking and consuming meat, not dissimilar to St John. It is a huge space with lots of wooden tables and stalls for the crowds to eat at. A concept like this usually delights the press and populace and yet on a Saturday lunchtime the place was far from full. We ‘enjoyed’ a  clear view of the creatures above our heads while we ate, but I was too hungry to be squeamish despite a little shudder beforehand.

Skipping starters, we went straight to the main event and tried the signature Roast Woolley Park Farm free-range Chicken (£25) and a 250g mighty marbled Glenarm Sirloin Steak (£20). Needless to say the two of us had way too much food to finish, but we needed to try both for the sake of the review!

The chicken is intended to feed 2-3 people… at home this amount of meat is enough for my whole family of six! It was sensationally displayed ‘feet up’ and sizzling hot when it arrived. Tender white meat and plenty of crispy skin, just like the rotisserie poultry you can cook at home. My only criticism? I needed more gravy, much more gravy. A few spoonfuls of salty brown sauce fill the bottom of the terracotta dish but for a whole Spring Chicken we needed more moisture, as the final mouthfuls were painfully dry.

The steak had a magnificent flavour and was prepared and cooked perfectly to my specification, with a portion of creamy herby Bearnaise sauce on the side. The steak had a lovely charred outer layer and was incredibly juicy inside, the ideal combination. We polished off the 250g portion no problem and spying a nearby table devouring a massive 1kg size… I got a tiny bit jealous.

Overflowing pots of chips arrived, thin and crispy just as I like them. They were a little dry but had a delicious flavour, especially with a sprinkle of salt… perhaps double fried for extra taste, though I’m not sure. Mayonnaise was eventually provided, yellow, creamy and homemade that I used for the chicken too.

It was necessary to try one dessert, luckily only one option really appealed to me from the menu – the Chocolate Rippled Cheesecake. It was bloody good, a dense square of chocolaty goodness with delicate flakes of white chocolate on top sitting on a crumbly, buttery base. Thinking about it is making me hungry again.

A meal for two came to £64 for no starters, a huge main course, one pudding to share and soft drinks.

And so as choice becomes more limited at London restaurants it seems the quality and popularity increases… as an indecisive foodie I am more than grateful for this new easy style of dining.

Visit the website here for more information.

HIX, Soho

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It was a precarious journey to HIX in Soho, two of my best girlfriends and I slid along the icy roads in the highest heels on that snowy night last week. Hix opened in 2009 and soon won over the critics and public, receiving London’s Time Out Award for Best New Restaurant in 2010. Ever since it has been near impossible to get a table at this hotspot, we only managed thanks to a last minute cancellation.

Celebrity chef, Mark Hix has now got various outlets across the capital, satisfying Londoners’ tummies everywhere. I am still desperate to try the original restaurant, Hix Oyster and Chop House in Smithfield, but in the meantime I was delighted to be visiting the smart Soho eatery.

As cocktail fanatics, we chose one each from the expensive list: for me, the strong but tasty Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, a drink apparently invented and enjoyed by patrons of the actual Yacht club. The drink included Mount Gay Rum shaken with Falernum, Fresh Lime and Cointreau. It was quite bitter but after getting used to it I really enjoyed it. My friends chose an inventive speciality cocktail each which seemed to provoke varying reactions: the gin based drink with Parma violet syrup was not very nice, despite arriving in a decadent silver goblet. The Bourbon based old school cocktail was much better though, a subtle mix of flavours, with a whisky kick.

We had intended on ordering the post-theatre menu, a reasonable £17.50 for 2 courses or £22.50 for 3 courses, but annoyingly this offer isn’t valid at the weekends so we were faced with the extortionately priced a la carte menu. Unable to afford most of the luxurious list, we opted for fish and chips and burgers.

My friend proclaimed that her fish and chips was the best she had ever tasted, and my burger was certainly among the best. The fish came delicately battered with a stack of different components. The burger was a huge, deliciously seasoned piece of meat with creamy melted cheese, the crispiest bacon and plenty of crunchy red onions and gerkins – delish. We ordered one portion of chips to share; they were good but not exceptional, soft and salted well but quite heavy.

Worrying about the icy journey back, we left promptly after our mains, and thank God we did as we had an epic trek through the snow to get home from Hix!