The Meat Co is a luxury London restaurant which serves Halal food, something of a rarity, this detailed review will let you know what the food, atmosphere and value is like.
The Situation
Meat and Co Halal review : Class in the details.
Meat and Co (formerly Meat and Wine Co), is just outside Westfield Shopping Center, so its best to park in the shopping center itself, which itself is well worth a visit. This is not a take away or cheap sleazy chain, from the moment you walk through the door you can feel there is an atmosphere of class and quality. There are some beautiful backdrops and decor and as you look around you can tell that the people dinning here are looking for more than just food, they are looking for a classy ambiance to enjoy their dinning company for the evening. Its a great place for a date, or special meal with a partner. You also get this impression from the tempo of the staff, you are offered drinks first, then starters and mains will come 15 minutes or so later, and that is fine, this is the place you come for an evening to savor and enjoy. We enjoyed the “mocktails” especially the Mint Mojitos.
The Food
Boerewors at Meat and Co
When you go in, you make your way upstairs and will be greeted by a member of staff, be sure to ask for a halal menu if you want halal food, as there are two menus. The menu focuses on meat, so if you are a vegetarian your choice is a bit limited, there are options, but you can tell just from the name “Meat and Co”, they are specialists in meat. Their prime focus is the steaks, and as someone who enjoys a professionally prepared steak, it was exciting looking through the menu. For starters we opted for the onion rings and a Boerewors (spicy sausage). The onion rights were freshly prepared battered onions, which were crunchy and full of flavor, and its worth noting a very generous portion size, easily enough for two. The Boerewors was a novelty for us, we saw it on the menu, didn’t know what it was, so we thought we better try it ! It was nice, however it was just a spicy sausage and fairly forgettable.
As I mentioned earlier, the pace of the food delivery is relaxed, and it suits the setting, if you come to a restaurant like this for a quick bite to eat on your own, then you have picked the wrong place. For the main course we naturally ordered steak, a super aged New Yorker and a regular Rib Eye. Obviously the steaks are cooked to your preference, so ensure you let the staff know how you like them done, I chose medium, but if your not sure what to say, here is the list of options :
Medium Rare: Hot RED Center
Medium: Pink Throughout
Medium Well: Slight trace of Pink
Well Done: Browned throughout.
Super aged steak at Meat and Co
You also have a choice of sauces to accompany your steak, we chose a peppercorn and a garlic mayonnaise, both were full of flavor and complimented the steaks well. The steaks themselves were some of the best we have ever tried, perfectly cooked, well cut pieces with minimal gristle and a deep flavor that I suspect is due to a sauce that I saw being added when cooking. There was a difference between the super aged steak and the regular steak, it wasn’t a massive difference, I would say the super-aged meat is softer, richer in flavor but I would say this is only noticeable if you had the two different steaks there in front of you to try. If you ordered a regular steak you will not be disappointed, and at the same time if you order a super aged one, you wont feel that this is something utterly different to steaks you have had before.
We ordered chunky chips or wedges with the steaks. They a crispy on the outside soft on the inside affair, however they were just potato and therefore a little bland tasting.
For Dessert we ordered a brownie and a chocolate fondant. Both were lovely, if nothing special, however we were really stuffed by this point and I think this tainted our opinions slightly.
Overall the food was excellent, if I had to be picky I would say the menu is somewhat restrictive , it would be nice to see a little more variety, especially as they appear to have the capabilities of delivering gourmet food, why not give the halal foodie something they haven’t had the chance to try before?
The Conclusion
Its a great restaurant and the food is very well prepared and of a high quality, its really refreshing to have the option of high quality halal food that isn’t Asian or Arab. If you wanted to take your partner out for a special evening, or celebrate an anniversary in style its hard to go wrong here. The only way I could see people not enjoying their time here is if they are very traditional and looking for a “curry and rice” type of meal, this is not that type of restaurant, this is international cuisine with halal food. Our meal came to around £100, that was for 3 courses and a few drinks for two people, so it is not cheap, but there are restaurants which charge a lot more and give a lot less in terms of atmosphere and food quality. This is our once or twice a year “special occasion” restaurant, its great to dress up, come early, leave late, chat and relax. We have been several times now and you sometimes get lucky with “groupon” offers for weekday lunches, so be sure to check before you go, we had a lovely lunch which was two courses and a drink for £12, which considering what you are getting is amazing value.
Have you been to Meat and Co? Share your experiences in the comments box below, thanks!