Social media – for those of us who follow lots of London fooderati – was filled with photos of plates piled high with grilled meat when Blacklock opened its doors in the heart of Soho last February. Mounds of beef, lamb and pork chops cooked on a charcoal grill and served over bread that soaks up the meat juices.
Despite my best intentions, I never managed a visit last year. Starting a new job last spring – based outside of London and a pig of a commute – put a bit of a brake on my central London dining experiences. But lately I’ve been keen to make up for lost time. And meat is at the top of my list.
Blacklock, then.
The brainchild of ex-Consultant Gordon Ker who decided to swap a desk in the City for running his own restaurant, pausing to take some time working in Hawksmoor along the way, inspiration has come not only from Hawksmoor but from Joe Beef in Montreal, London’s Turkish ocakbasis and steak houses around the world.
The offering is a short menu of top quality meat cooked over charcoal, a trio of snacks to start and a few simple vegetable sides. To wash those down, a handful of surprisingly affordable cocktails, a couple of craft beers, tapped wine by the volume and a soft drink or two.
Named for its main cooking method – meat is cooked ‘on a homemade charcoal grill and seared with scorching hot vintage irons, made in the 1800s by a cast iron foundry in the Deep South called Blacklock’* – the restaurant is located in a basement in the heart of Soho; a former brothel, no less. Note that access is not great for anyone with mobility issues; I expected no lift access – common in basement-only restaurants in historical properties – but what I didn’t expect was a staircase with no handrail for the top few steps. Probably not an issue for the vast majority of customers, but difficult for me.
Image courtesy of Blacklock restaurant
Downstairs is an impressively open space with unusually high ceilings for a basement and a slightly retro, low-budget-cool decor. Much of the seating is at large tables with stools, at least one of which is communal, or at high tables with high chairs to match; both are a no-no for me – I need a backrest and I find clambering onto high chairs uncomfortable – but probably not a problem for most customers. There are some tables available with proper chairs or back-supporting banquettes, so reserve in advance to request these.
Skinny Chops are listed on the two-sided printed menu (all at £4 each) but Big Chops are chalked onto pillar blackboards, impossible to read from our table and staff didn’t seem eager to run through the contents for us before ordering – have a quick browse before settling in at your table.
In any case, we went for the All In option – £20 per person for 8 Skinny Chops between two – 2 beef short ribs and one each of all the rest, we were told, plus 1 each of the three Pre Chop Bites, and one Side each.
At first glance (of the menu), Pre Chop Bites (£3 for the set or £1 individually) didn’t sound very exciting but actually, they were bloody marvellous! A precarious pile of pickles over sharp cheese, a draping of Dripping Ham and – my favourite – egg mayonnaise with an anchovy fillet and raw onion, all served on bite-sized Peter’s Yard crispbreads; these were perfectly balanced mouthfuls of texture and flavour. A good reminder that the supremely simple can be superb!
With these we enjoyed some of the very keenly-priced cocktails (£5 each); Spiked Lemonade and Aperol Negroni both get a thumbs up.
Impatient though we were, we didn’t have to wait too long before the main event arrived. A magnificent mound of ‘Skinny Chops’ of beef, lamb and pork that looked anything but skinny to me – fat, juicy cuts of meat cooked on charcoal and served over bread that soaks up the meat juices. What was served didn’t quite match up to the menu list – we had two beef short ribs as expected, but only two of the pork cuts and four of lamb. This wasn’t a problem, but it would have been nice to be advised on ordering that one skinny chop was not available and asked for our choice of replacement.
Still, the chops were tasty and beautifully cooked. The beef short ribs were the least favourite, for both of us I think – nothing wrong with them but not a cut that’s particularly tender cooked this way, so a little chewy to eat. Pork was superbly tender, with nicely browned fat – the best bit! Lamb had the best flavour of all, and was juicy and tender. I was full after three chops, but luckily my friend has an appetite that belies her lithe body and hoovered up the other five with no hesitation at all!
For our two included Sides we chose Beef Dripping Chips and 10 Hour Ash Roasted Sweet Potato. The restaurant also sent out Charred Courgettes, Chicory & Stilton and a green salad with parmesan. Next time I visit I’ll likely do the same and order extra; at £3 each these sides are great value (especially compared to those at fellow meat purveyor, Zelman).
The sweet potatoes were the best I’ve had for a long time, superbly soft flesh full of smoke and sweetness; very special indeed. The green salad (listed on the menu as kale and parmesan but served as rocket) was a welcome addition, refreshing against the unremitting mountain of meat. I’m not a fan of chicory but the courgettes were cooked just as I like them – with a little firmness of bite – and the flavours of charring and stilton worked well. Chips were as good as they sound and look – excellent flavour, and perfect combination of crunchy exterior and fluffy inside.
Not pictured are the sauces (£1 each) – we ordered both available – Chilli Hollandaise and Green Sauce, the former served in a sauce boat and the latter in small jam jars. Both excellent and a nice change from the usual Peppercorn and Béarnaise (even though I adore it).
I was full to bursting but my friend was confident she had space so we went ahead and ordered dessert (£5); there’s only one available and on the night of our visit it was a white chocolate cheesecake with rhubarb compote. Served at the table straight from a family-style dish, my friend would have happily devoured a teetering tower but the portion served was generous enough; a bit of mess dolloped into the bowl, but homely and tasty and a good way to end the meal.
I asked owner Gordon Ker to describe the Blacklock experience in a nutshell; he suggested, ‘the very best meat cooked simply over charcoal for great value in a fun setting with great hospitality.’ Based on our visit, he’s achieved his goal. Three courses (including that impressive pile of meat), 5 alcoholic drinks, a softie and 2 extra sides resulted in a very reasonable bill of £40 a head plus service and the food was certainly an enjoyable feast.
Kavey Eats dined as guests of Blacklock. Interior image provided by the restaurant. Info on Blacklock’s name* and sources of inspiration courtesy of top London restaurant review site, Hot Dinners.
Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!26 Comments to "All The Meat! Blacklock, Soho"
Good to know about the seating!
It all sounds and looks great, but as a Jewish vegetarian I doubt I’ll be visiting anytime soon! Hey ho. That dessert looks particularly luscious… yum.
Yes I think that would be a difficult diet to cater to here! 😉 Luckily, London has so many wonderful restaurants for all of us!
Those fries look amazing! And I actually really love that way of serving dessert. Yummy!
Yes, I like it too, though they do give you fairly small bowls, presumably to forestall anyone asking for more more more too too much! 😉 The fries were very good, just what fries to go with lots of meat should be!
Wow the chops look great and what a pile on the plate! I’m drooling over those vegetable sides too. If we get a babysitter one day soon we’ll have to check it out.
Such a nice thing to have properly tasty and well-priced sides
This place looks phenomenal! And it comes at the best time since we are heading to london later this spring…. Its on the list to do now! Thanks
Excellent! Hope you enjoy!
I am actually drooling. I’ve just ordered a take away and you have made me SUPER hungry. I hope my food comes soon….. Blacklock sounds right up my street. It’s good to see that although the meat is the star they haven’t scrimped on the sides. Nothing worse than getting a fab bit of meat with limp creamed spinach on the side that doesn’t taste like a lot…The only slight issue is that the OH is veggie so might not be easy convincing him to go to a restaurant where even the chips are cooked in beef fat 😛 great post Kavey!
Completely agree and that’s why I’d think twice before returning to Zelman’s. You’ll have to ditch OH for a night and take a meat lover!
Beef dripping chips…. and that sweet potato sounds amazing. I am stupidly hungry now. This place looks fab.
So so good!
Looks like a fabulous restaurant with great simply cooked food, also think it’s a great idea to just have 1 dessert available:-)
Unless you’re not keen on rhubarb! But to be fair, their focus is that meat!
I wish we had this in Birmingham. Sounds amazing!
Perhaps it’ll come!
Wow, that is a meat feast. Randomly what caught my eye though is the lavender lemonade. I love it when restaurants have something a bit different for soft drinks.
Yes it’s so nice to have decent soft drink options!
It’s always good when you’ve wanted to try somewhere for a while, you finally go, and it was worth it! Really like the sound of that chilli hollandaise and beef dripping chips!
Yes, I think sometimes you build expectations up over that long wait… I am glad it lived up to mine!
Those prechop bites look amazing! I can’t wait to try this out!
They were really good; I thought they sounded rather dull on the menu but actually, they were delicious and a perfect start before the meat!
All the food you ordered looks great! They really have nice food presentation. I am glad that you had a great time.
Thanks Dionne, yes presentation was good.
Those sides look good enough to have on their own, without the chops.