Mon–Sat midday–3pm and 5pm–10.30pm; Sun midday–9.40pm
Hawksmoor, just off the Brompton Road, is a large, cavernous space, which may well have been a church hall in an earlier life. In its current incarnation it resembles more the dining-room of a luxurious 1930s ocean liner with its high ceilings, green leather banquettes, dark wood panelling and elegant Art Deco detail; very pleasing but also very noisy with most of the tables comprising groups of at least six guests, all seemingly in celebratory mood. This is not the place for a romantic dinner à deux.
However, the staff are exceedingly accommodating and gave us a number of options, one of which was the bar, which was a quieter, more intimate space. It also meant that we fell felicitously into the capable hands of the assistant bar manager, Murray Drysdale, whose passion for his work is almost palpable.
Plus One was looking forward to coming to this restaurant, as he knew the menu catered for carnivores and had starved himself in anticipation. However, it also has an impressive selection of seafood. The restaurant’s chef Mitch Tonks purchases most of the seafood at Brixham market at dawn thus ensuring that it arrives on Hawksmoor’s doorstep by late morning. I had the charcoal-roasted scallops with white port and garlic (£14.50). They couldn’t have been fresher and had the taste of seafood, which has grown up in very cold salt water. Their flesh was firm and, joy of joys; the corals had been left on which always provides a pleasingly earthy counterpoint to their delicate flavour. Rob, the sommelier suggested a Meursault (Michelot ‘Perrières’1er Cru 2008 £100) to accompany the scallops. It is a richer wine than I would normally have chosen to accompany scallops but one’s experience in a restaurant is always enhanced when the sommelier can suggest wines, which surprise and delight. This one did: it was vibrant, minerally and a perfect foil to the soft, round flavour of the scallops.
Meanwhile, across the table, Plus One was rubbing his hands gleefully as he surveyed the Tamworth belly ribs (£10.50). Having tasted them (one would have sufficed), he declared they were not for the faint-hearted: the marinade is a spicy concoction of mace, fennel, aniseed and indeterminate fire. He followed the ribs with a Chateaubriand (£13/100g), which had a luxurious and deeply intense flavour, and triple-cooked chips (£4). Now, Plus One knows a great deal about a great many important things in this world including triple-cooked chips (which he believes are a gastronomic phenomenon) and they did not disappoint (they were the perfect combination of fluffiness on the inside and crispiness on the outside).
The sommelier suggested a glass of René Leclerc’s ‘Clos Prieur’ Gevrey-Chambertin 2008 (£19 a glass). This was a silky wine, with distinctive notes of red currants. I had perfectly roasted hake with rosemary and garlic (£25), which was a more delicate but none the less distinctive dish to that of Plus One’s. It is a truism that really fresh food speaks for itself but many restaurants don’t understand that. Hawksmoor has the gumption, as Murray proudly informed us, to remain faithful to that adage. The hake was very fresh, firm in texture, and subtly seasoned with the merest hint of rosemary and garlic. Again, the sommelier came up with an inspired choice of wine – a Puligny Montrachet, ‘Referts’ (£95) from Marc Morey’s domaine which had a rich, almost robust character to it with notes of hazelnuts on the palate: a perfect winter white wine.
We were defeated by the desserts, which, if the quality of everything else in this restaurant is anything to go by, must be delicious.
The food at Hawksmoor is unbelievably fresh; the wine list is diverse and offers very good wine by the glass. It certainly appealed to Plus One who pronounced, gazing rather mournfully into his empty plate, that ‘the quality is damned good here: I’m definitely bringing my mates.’ There goes another noisy table for six!
Meal for two with drinks and service: around £200. Set meal (Mon–Sat midday–3pm, 5pm–6pm) 2 courses £24; and 3 courses £27
