THE Grill Room on the East London beachfront offers a modern twist with the good traits and “extra bit of flair” of yesteryear.
Steak lovers would be happy to know that the restaurant ages their own beef.
For those who don’t know, all fresh beef is aged for at least a few days and up to several weeks to allow enzymes naturally present in the meat to break down the muscle tissue, resulting in improved texture and flavour.
The Grill Room makes sure they serve the best steak by aging it themselves for about two weeks.
On arrival, my girlfriend Bernie and I were greeted by our friendly waiter Sihle and manager Rory Vickers and I was immediately taken by the modern yet classic decor.
For starters, Bernie decided on the venison carpaccio, while I went for the black mushroom Florentine.
Bernie was very pleased with her carpaccio served with a light mustard mayo, parmesan and baby leaf salad.
We were both delighted with the black mushroom Florentine starter which was crammed with flavour. The mushrooms were smothered in a very delicious creamed spinach sauce topped off with some feta.
It was so good that Bernie soon had my plate and was chomping down on my starter, calling it the best mushrooms ever!
Onto the main and I decided on the boneless pork neck that was roasted with apples and a dark cider jus.
Bernie had the porterhouse steak with chunky mash as a side while I opted for spinach.
The pork neck was perfectly seasoned and worked well with the roasted apples – a simple but great-tasting dish.
Bernie’s steak was perfectly medium rare and was delicious with melt-in-your-mouth goodness. She had it with the mushroom sauce which is one of the best we’ve tasted.
The decadent chocolate fondant and chocolate mousse served with a vanilla sauce was just the perfect way to finish off our meal.
We shared as by now we could not have another bite and both enjoyed the dessert.
Vickers said the menu is designed to offer something of everything so that the Grill Room is able to cater for as many tastes as possible while still maintaining its authenticity.
It is a fine dining steakhouse that also offers salmon and prawns if you are not in the mood for the steaks, lamb shank, braised oxtail or the ribs (lamb, beef and pork available).
Any place that does not have the dreary malva pudding or ice cream with chocolate sauce as desserts on the menu is a place I’ll go back to.
Desserts such as the crepe Suzette and cherries jubilee that will be flambeed at the table or as close to the table as possible, to create that extra bit of excitement and flair, will be one of the attractions.
“We are planning cognac, liqueur whisky and wine tasting evenings to tie in with the fine dining theme.
“On a Thursday, patrons have the chance to try and finish a 1kg T-bone steak and a litre of beer in 45 minutes to get the meal free and one’s name on the wall of fame,” Vickers said.
All in all this is a modern fine dining steakhouse that has not lost track of some of the classics.
