DBMA: London - The Hawksmoor

Being a dililgent reader of this blog, you do remember the announcement published here a couple of weeks ago that I would be visiting London. Well, that visit came and went, and here I am now, with a couple of new experiences under my belt and in my belly.

Today, I will tell you about our visit to Restaurant in London: The Hawksmoor The Hawksmoor, the place that since its inception has been heralded as the best steakhouse in London. Since I subscribe to hypes rather easily, I had to see whether that was true.

So off we went to Commercial Street (we, by the way, is my gracious sister who took me in for the weekend, and myself).

The interior, as opposed to what others have written, is actually very suave. Dark floors and dark wooden furniture contrast with the light that floods in from the windows. I think it does get a bit dark in back of the restaurant, but that in itself isn't such a bad thing either. I just like to see what I'm eating, is all.

Well, here's what we had. An 800g Porterhouse steak (for the two of us, obviously) with sides of chips and mashed potatoe with gravy. We ordered medium-rare, and yes, that's exactly what we got. Take a look:

Yes, that's one big steak, but it was cooked to perfection. They seemed a tad hesitant on the seasoning side, but I guess that's a personal taste (and taste buds that have been abused by years of smoking and drinking).

Now, the price. Hawksmoor is not a cheap place. It's probably, by London's standards, not an expensive place either. But it'll cost you some money if you want to eat a good steak there, so if you're not prepared to pay for something as extraordinary as this, then don't go there (even though they have a lunch special with a burger and chips, which is quite reasonably priced).

All in all, I'm very glad I went there. The steak was spectacular and the service, contrary to what I've read somewhere else on the great Intarwebs, was friendly and quick.

Tagged dbma hawksmoor london restaurant steak

Augustin in Vienna - Eat well, lounge well

While I am very much into cooking my own food, going out and enjoying what others have cooked up for my consumption is something I'm very fond of as well. Of course, it does cost the equivalent of money, so if you don't have any, home cooking might be a better solution for you.

If you do indeed have scraped together enough dough to be able to buy yourself some food and drink, here's a place you should visit: Augustin. Set in a rather shabby part in a rather shabby district of Vienna (well, it's true. It just isn't really pretty, that district), Augustin is a great surprise. Not only does its exterior work hard on betraying the splendid interiour, the food is also quite delicious and plentiful.

Decked out in Biedermeier sofas, chandeliers, sturdy wooden tables and loads of candles, Augustin is as cozy as it can get. The fact that almost every night there's a chap playing the piano, only adds to the undeniable charm of the place.

Foodwise I opted for nothing less than a Bauernkotelett (farmer's cutlet), which consisted of tender grilled pork, covered in loads of roasted onions, with fried potatoes, little cubes of bacon and pole beans on the side:

The only problem with the cozy interior of Augustin is, that sitting on a sofa as soft as the one we sat on, means, that your food sits somewhere on eye level, which makes it a tad difficult to eat (having been confronted with that dire situation myself, here's a trick that actually works: simply sit on a chair for the duration of the meal!).

Here's just a small thing I'd like for the owners to do. Update your website! While I think your Bauernkotelett was worth every single cent I paid for it, advertising your food roughly three Euros cheaper than it actually is, may be frowned upon by people less lenient than me!

Anyway, I absolutely recommend going to Augustin, especially round eight, when the pianist will be playing one of his tunes, while you, stuffed with most exquisite Austrian foods, can recline on a sofa with cigarette in mouth and beer in hand.

Augustin is located in the 15th district, Märzstraße 67, a three minute walk from the U3 station Johnstraße:

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Austrian Restaurant in Vienna: Augustin Augustin

Tagged augustin austria bauernkotelett food meat restaurant restaurants vienna