The Meat Co is huge – in more ways than one!

I think I was almost 30 before I really enjoyed a steak. I recall trying to understand all the various cuts when I was younger and living on my own in Norfolk, but could never really work it out.

Chef at The Meat CoThese days I love steak. I often have to resist it from the menu simply because that’s all I’d ever eat given the choice.

While I do enjoy a chunky piece of fillet, if you want flavour, for me rib eye is the way to go, although I have eaten some great rump of late.

The chance to go and sample The Meat Co in London came up recently I wasn’t able to resist. It’s a restaurant I’m familiar with from when I visited in Dubai seven years ago and bizarrely my parents were there just last week and raved about them too.

With only one restaurant in the UK, they are located at the Westfield Shopping Centre west of London in Shepherds Bush.

Wings at The Meat CoFirst impressions are ‘this is huge!’ No intimate dining here. This is a big big restaurant located on the first floor above an area designated for drinking, the restaurant décor is modern, huge glass walls encase thousands of bottles of wine.

It kind of gives the feeling of wealth, style and grandure that I’ve only ever previously experienced in Dubai.

Service is outstanding at The Meat Co. The manager guided me through the menu and explained his favourites, and, as I often do, I take his recommendations.

A simple starter of chicken wings gets me off to a great start. They had been marinated and basted very well indeed, the chicken was extremely well cooked and the accompanying blue cheese dip worked perfectly with Rib Eye at The Meat Cothem. It’s a relatively light starter but that’s because I knew what was about to take pride of place on the table in front of me.

Main is a huge rib-eye on the bone, grass fed and dry aged, it’s flame grilled and served with what The Meat Co calls its internationally renowned house basting, it’s served with homemade chips and I’m encouraged to take a side of mushroom sauce and onion rings.

The steak is cooked perfectly – medium rare – just how I like it. For me the basting is just a tad too much and distracts slightly from the wonderful quality of the Herefordshire rib-eye beef. The chips are wonderfully cooked and crispy, the onion rings I’m not fond of (more batter than onion an almost like the scraps you’d order with fish and chips in the north), and the less said about the mushroom sauce the better. Think Campbell’s mushroom soup.

Dessert at The Meat CoWhile the steak is and should be the main event, I can’t help but think that at £47 it’s slightly overpriced, but this is London after all.

The popularity of my favourite dessert was evident and much to my joy the chocolate fondant was on the menu, served with a salted caramel sauce, and the flavours are spectacular – a dessert not to be missed. It was accompanied perfectly with a South African dessert wine that the manager recommended, and it worked beautifully.

In summary The Mean Co is without a doubt worth a visit. There’s something on the menu for everyone, from burgers to kebabs to various cuts of beef at various prices. Had it not been for the sauce and onion rings we’d be talking perfection.

The Meat Co | Unit 1026 | Westfield London Shopping Centre | Ariel Way | London | W12 7GA

www.TheMeatCo.com

  • Wings at The Meat Co