Goodman's exceeded my expectations by some way. Yes, I've read the reviews, I've heard the hype and built it up in my mind.
The menu is perfect in size with delicious sides to pick from and a separate board of cuts of the day.
We shared a starter of tempura prawns. Huge juicy prawns in crunchy batter. Absolutely perfect, never had prawns so well cooked in tempura.
Then I had a ribeye steak and my friend had the fillet. Both were perfectly cooked and insanely good. We shared sides: triple cooked chips, hand-cut chips, creamed spinach and...........truffled...........mac&cheese. Lordy, if there's anything I'd like to die after eating, it's this. Creamy, trufflely, soft, rich, silky, yummy, most delicious thing ever. That good.
The triple cooked chips were excellent, as was the spinach but the hand-cut chips were more like wedges in texture and it just wasn't what we wanted with our steak. Personal choice.
The whole meal came together perfectly, the amazing, charred steak, the soft spinach and mac&cheese, the crunchy chips, totally gorgeous, high quality, beautiful meal.
The only negative I can give and it's barely worth noting is that bearnaise sauce was not to my taste and actually, because everything is so flavourful, you don't need sauce.
At this point, we were full to the tops of our heads and beyond. But we still had dessert. Nougat dessert with banana sorbet was well thought out in taste and presentation. The crème brulee was executed well.
Overall, this place is unforgettable. The service is kind, knowledgeable and helpful. The restaurant is charming and the food is impeccable. It's the perfect place for a steak lover and a celebration. No, it's not cheap but value for money is good here and I can't see anyone leaving disappointed.
I'm also going to briefly say that Hawksmoor is a poor little brother in comparison in every way. Their service is too cool to care, their mac&cheese is disappointing and the steaks, not as good. The only thing I can see that's better at Hawksmoor than here is the soft drinks and cocktail list. I'm taking down their rating as a result and am forever converted to Goodman's. read more