Hawksmoor Seven Dials

Hawksmoor Seven Dials is a steakhouse in Covent Garden in London. It is in an attractive basement space and has a pub-like decor. Parking nearby would not be easy, but it is a short walk from many public transport options.

My husband and I were visiting London for our anniversary, and decided to stop into Hawksmoor for Sunday roast. It did not disappoint!! Price was fair for a huge plate of roast with some sides. Also- Hawksmoor has THE best sticky toffee of all the places we've tried, hands down!

I visited this spot after a long flight and it was nice to settle in for a comforting meal. I'd been to Hawksmoor on a few occasions previously and always enjoyed my experiences.

After looking through the offerings, I decided to have the Hawksmoor Hamburger. The burger was good - nice flavor, well-cooked and seasoned fairly well. The cheese added a bit of richness, which I really liked. Something I really enjoyed were the beef dripping fries - they really had so much flavor. For dessert, I had the Sticky Toffee Sundae and that was a nice twist on the typical dessert: clotted cream ice cream, toffee cake and sticky toffee sauce. It was a great way to end the meal.

Hawksmoor is a good standard spot to visit in London. There are many locations and each have their own unique vibe. They offer a Sunday Roast, which many people enjoy. I'd definitely go back for one of the steak options since I recall really enjoying those.

We visited Hawksmoor without a reservation on a Monday night and they sat us right away. I've heard about their Sunday Roast and was sad to not have had the chance to try it, but was excited to try their steak regardless. Also, I did want to try something different than Flatiron Steak and I'm so glad I branched out!

FOOD:
We ordered the Porterhouse steak, Mash & Gravy, and Garlic Mushrooms. The Porterhouse is great because you get a side of strip loin and one side of tenderloin, leaving you with a more fatty side and a more meaty side. Our cut of steak was cooked medium rare and was well-seasoned without being overbearing. You also absolutely cannot go wrong with the Mash & Gravy as it's a classic side to pair with any cut of steak. As someone who isn't a huge fan of mushrooms, I really loved the flavoring of this side. It has a pesto filling, which made the mushrooms really tasty. Lastly, we did also order the Béarnaise sauce to go with our steak. I'm not generally someone who likes sauce in my steak, but the Béarnaise at Hawksmoor was so creamy, which complimented the steak so well.

SERVICE:
Absolutely incredible service. Our waiter was extremely nice and was helpful when we asked how much food we should order, especially since we weren't too hungry.

I'd return to Hawksmoor in a heartbeat during my next visit to London!

My last lunch in London. I had to pick a good spot. I had seen a lot of stuff already. What was missing? I decided that a choice steakhouse was what was missing. So I looked at my data, and I saw this place, and the decision was easy. This place is classy, and I hear it's delicious. So I made my reservations, and came here to eat at halftime of my exploration of the British Museum.

Classy classy. We were lead down into a wine cellar-esque dining room that had glass windows looking into the kitchen and big, giant pillars studding the room occasionally, really making you feel the weight in the air of the massive city above your head. Our super nice server came by, got our drink orders, and then we studied the food.

We split an app, the Bone marrow & onions (sourdough toast). Probably the second best bone marrow dish I've ever had. A deep marrow flavor that is the epitome of unctuousness. Slathered with grilled onions to make the stuff infinitely more spreadable. And again, I've noticed that in this country, with the meals, they give you an appropriate amount of bread, unlike in the ol' US of A. So good.

So the main meal, we split a Porterhouse. This was like a real steakhouse, you ordered your steaks by weight, and you were given the price per pound, er, or the price per kilogram here. So I had to do some math to see how hungry I was.

I gotta say, this was the most beautiful porterhouse I have ever eaten. The filet side was So big, the sear on the meat was impeccable, she huge flakes of sea salt adorning the whole thing was beautiful, and it was cut off the bone all professional-like, revealing the perfect medium rare meat within. A lot of TLC went into this steak, and it showed. So tender and flavorful. Perfection.

We got a side for our steak, and I believe it was a special, because I can't see it on their online menu right now. The brie mashed potatoes. These were the most decadent mashed potatoes I have ever had. Supremely smooth mash, with the creamy, melted brie perfused throughout. To drive the message home, they have the rind on top, sinking into the potato abyss, like a delicious iceberg. My God.

If all this stuff hasn't sounded amazing enough, I finished the meal with the best part of the meal, the Sticky toffee pudding (clotted cream). I've heard of English puddings my whole life, without the chance to try any, of course. But now, my chance presented. The cakey pudding was entirely, 100% saturated with the toffee-flavored syrup. Very sweet and sugary. And the clotted cream on top added a nice, creamy fatness to it, providing that relief from the pure sugar. I'm going to stop now, because I could talk about this pudding literally all day.

Overall, this was a banger. All my meals were bangers, but this place was particularly banging. It really stuck out in my meals memory. Amazing marrow, steak, mash, and pudding. Amazing. Come here.

Had a nice welcome and from there every thing was wonderful. Great selection of beers, and a crowd that will help you choose should you ask. Very good, filling dishes. Friendly service, even when slammed busy.
Enjoy!

PROS: Delicious expensive food, friendly waiter
CONS: Super noisy.
Bizarre Lighting/Annoying Hostess: We were seated for dinner at a high Bar table which had extremely bright LED lamps that were piercing to the eye. We placed a paper on the top to try and shield us from the light. The officious hostess then marched over and would not allow us to turn them down or cover them up citing an unspecified "fire hazard". (Someone needs to inform her about LED bulbs... They don't get hot or catch on fire!) We were then moved to a noisy spot at the bar where chatty servers retrieved drinks and bartenders shook and banged their shakers. Ugh.

I was ready to leave without eating but our waiter, Allessandro, was very nice and encouraging. He got us a better, properly lit low table in the bar area and made a number of solid food recommendations.

Would I go back? probably not.

Just best steak in town! Service and consistency is always there, not matter what time or what occasion this place delivers always, good knowledge of the product and quality.

Maybe I went on an off night but this was not a particularly good experience.

Decent first impression on entrance. Has an old steakhouse vibe combined with what I might expect from being in central London. Very lively and busy but that was appealing to us.

Food was pretty mediocre.

The appetizer was a bread, beef and onion and potted bacon thing? I forget the order of ingredients but it was just really really flat and fatty tastes all around - I've never wanted for butter more in my life in contrast to putting this stuff on the bread.

However the big offender was the meat. Steakhouses have two key requirements: 1) serve high quality beef, 2) get the requested temperature right. They accomplished neither of these goals for my steak which was not flavorful at all and was well done on the sides rather than the requested medium rare (which only emerged in the center). I would have sent it back but at that point we were disappointed enough to want to just bail.

Having just relocated from Seattle I would say that every single steak house of note from the Emerald City is superior to this. Someone should fly the staff to John Howie in Bellevue and have them do a deep dive for a week in what great steak tastes like.

Outstanding steaks are prepared at this establishment, making it the perfect choice for those who appreciate top-quality cuisine. The presentation was impeccable, and the decor is superb. Although we were merely tourists, this stands out as one of the finest restaurants in London, and we look forward to returning!