nasty skank byotch: Smiths of Smithfield

OK, so I lied. My sister offered to buy me my sixth (? I've lost count) dinner to celebrate PhD-dom and who was I to say no...?

Smiths of Smithfield is a four-storey converted factory opposite Smithfields meat market. It's the kind of place you might find in the Meatpacking district in Manhattan: bare brick, slick, minimalist fittings, a laid-back atmosphere and a LOT of customers. The ground floor is a bar, the first floor a cocktail bar, the second floor a dining room and the third floor a fancy (and rather pricey!) restaurant. No offence to chef John Torode (who, admittedly, annoys the heck out of me on TV), but the third floor menu is a bit silly, unless you're of the disposition to pay 85GBP for 30 grams of Beluga caviar, so we went for the second floor dining room. A word of warning, the place is LOUD. The architects seem to have thought that it'd be cool to open up the floor and connect the dining room to the cocktail bar downstairs, which is weird because not only does it waste space that could be taken up by tables, but also pointlessly adds to the background noise, which the bare brick does little to absorb.

That said, the menu has an interesting variety of starters and small dishes, ranging from gazpacho and salt cod dumplings to Thai duck salad and baby ribs with hoi sin sauce. My only gripe is that there seems to be no context for these things; it's a mish-mash of dishes from all over the place, but no recognizable identity, much in contrast to the setting in Smithfield, not to mention Smiths' eagerness to emphasize the importance of sourcing in its food. For the mains, however, there's only one thing you need to have, and that's Welsh black ribsteak with chips and mustard mayo. It's undoubtedly one of the best steaks you'll have in London. You might make the mistake of being tempted by more unusual choices, and the crisp belly of pork, for example, won't disappoint, but it pales in comparison to the steak and if you don't have it, you'll just have to come back for it anyway, so you might as well save yourself the trouble.

Desserts are pretty good, but not that sizeable, with the exception of the champagne jelly trifle, which HUGE (and not bad at all).

So for an incomparable steak, try this one out. It's very reasonably priced (a serious steak with for less than 12GBP in London - you won't find that easily elsewhere!), the food is great and it's a pretty cool place for an easy, mid-week meal out with friends or colleagues. Be sure to book ahead, though.