Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 108 total)
  • Is it possible to get a decent steak in Britain?
  • Nick
    Full Member

    And I’ve eaten passable and I’ve eaten fantastic, guess which I’d like again 🙂

    justatheory
    Free Member

    Had a ribeye from Red’s True BBQ in Manchester last night and very nice it was too. Saying that I know where the OP is coming from, steak i’ve had in europe is consistently better than your average UK place.

    langylad
    Free Member

    Had fantastic in Switzerland a few years ago but it cost nearly as much as the ski weekend. Just saying if you don’t want to spend a small fortune, Lidl is worth a try.
    I had to cook the bloody thing myself in Switzerland as well.

    Neil-F
    Free Member

    Problem is, a lot of people won’t pay for decent steak cuts, they think they’re being conned. Some people do buy decent stuff, then totally pheck it up by “boiling” it in a cold pan or overcooking it.
    Take into account the initial quality of any given beast, the yeild, the drip loss, ageing/flavouring conditions, maturity process, labour…… there’s a lot to consider when pricing beef.
    http://www.campbellsmeat.com
    Try Campbells Gold or Mey Select. 😉

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Best steak I ever had was the fillet at the Aviator Hotel in Farnborough. I could hardly believe what was happening in my mouth.

    About 1/2 mile walk east of the Aviator is Woods Butchers. The best steak I’ve ever had comes from there and I’d say there’s a good chance the Aviator shop there too. There’s also a really nice Italian restaurant called Dolce Italia if toy fancy a change. 🙂

    fatsimonmk2
    Free Member

    Yep in my kitchen very soon griddle on max heat and has been for last 10mins steak oiled and seasoned and ready to rock and roll 😀

    DrJ
    Full Member

    As others have said, no shortage of excellent steak in Britain. I lived in various places including Holland, France and Texas, and never had steak as good as from my mum’s local butcher.

    matther01
    Free Member

    Had a fantastic steak in an Aberdonian restaurant once. Barring that, the best has been in Morocco and South Africa.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Jesus h effin Christ. No. Emigrate, today.

    Alternatively GO TO A BUTCHERS

    Genuinely mote depressing than the coffee in pubs thread

    peterfile
    Free Member

    We have farmers who rear some exceptional beasts.

    We have butchers who really know their way around a carcass.

    Find where the two coincide. it’s not hard.

    Or just go to to your local £15.99 restaurant or Sainsburys for your steak then complain about it 🙂

    freeagent
    Free Member

    you’ll get a good steak here –

    http://twofatladiesrestaurant.com/buttery

    Philby
    Full Member

    Bought a couple of rib-eye steaks from Lidl – was amazed at the quality, and the price was about two-thirds what my local Sainsbury’s was charging for much smaller, thinner and ‘redder’ rib-eyes. Unfortunately the nearest Lidl to me is a few miles away.

    timc
    Free Member

    Ive had a lot of great steaks on my travels over the years & done the dutch / gauchos experience on several occasions 😀

    One of the best steak experiences I have in recent times in the UK was in Bristol in a place called the ‘Cowshed’! WOW the fillet in there was what its all about! id recommend 8)

    RamseyNeil
    Free Member

    Blimey who really gives a toss . Obviously there are good and bad steaks throughout the world , good and bad butchers , chefs etc but who really goes into a restaurant for a steak . I like to go for something that is a little more involved than a slab of grilled meat and if I’m at home I would never choose to eat steak .

    timc
    Free Member

    so basically you never eat steak! cool story bro 🙄

    Nick
    Full Member

    So Neil either doesn’t like steak or has never had a really good one.

    Looks like I need to go to Glasgow, Edinburgh or London.

    Might was well go back to Amsterdam then!

    Or just go to to your local £15.99 restaurant or Sainsburys for your steak then complain about it

    We’ll I’ve paid a lot more than 15.99 and still got pretty ordinary steak, and I’ve paid only a little more than that and had fantastic steak. One was on an island, the other was on a continent 🙂

    But, I will try a Lidl steak, I will try a few different butchers, I will talk to them and ask where the meat comes from and how long it has been hung, and I might even seek out restaurants that have a good rep and give them a try, I think there is enough anecdotal evidence shared here that the UK isn’t a completely lost cause in one man’s search for a steak to be excited about!

    RamseyNeil
    Free Member

    I will talk to them and ask where the meat comes from and how long it has been hung,

    And where should it have come from and how long does it have to be hung for to pass your quality control test ?

    so basically you never eat steak! cool story bro

    I have eaten plenty of steaks and I will have ordered and cooked more than nearly everybody on this forum , I just wouldn’t choose to eat steak if I was paying or buying with my own money , I think there are far nicer things to eat .

    Nick
    Full Member

    Dunno, thought you were supposed to ask these things, 21+ days is supposed to be good no? Fed on grass rather than corn?

    I might learn something that will help me find that elusive UK based steak nirvana I’ve been looking for.

    I will have ordered and cooked more than nearly everybody on this forum

    Cool, so what is I should be looking out for?

    RamseyNeil
    Free Member

    Dunno, thought you were supposed to ask these things, 21+ days is supposed to be good no? Fed on grass rather than corn?

    Corn fed cows wow . So if it was hung for 28 days would you assume that it was superior to 21 day hung meat , at what age would you prefer it to be slaughtered ?

    Nick
    Full Member

    I don’t know, that is why I am asking the person who has eaten more steak than anyone else on here.

    RamseyNeil
    Free Member

    I don’t know, that is why I am asking the person who has eaten more steak than anyone else on here.

    If you read my post I didn’t say that .

    I’m sure all the information is available on line and my experience is of buying whole sirloins etc not just a couple of steaks . A rough guide 21 days was always considered to be how long beef should be hung to achieve best texture and flavour . 18 months IIRC is about the best age to slaughter cows , other than that you are looking for a firm texture , marbling of the fat in the meat , colour , not too bright . But as I say it will all be available on line . I’m off to bed now goodnight .

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    1) Read this

    2) buy proper steak

    Some of the best Steak’s/meat in the world that I have eaten has been british. We have some exceptional farmers doing great stuff. The best was probably one that we got killed ourselves from the farm.

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    I had an fabulous steak last night over here in the US. It should have been too considering how expensive it was. I’ve never had that sort of quality anywhere in Europe yet.

    Woody
    Free Member

    Lucky to have 2 butchers in my small village sourcing local meat. One is also a restaurant (Crinnions in Lanchester) and the steaks are excellent. As an added bonus, my dogs are often supplied with proper bones to keep them happy when I’m there. Gammon steaks are the best I’ve had anywhere.

    Worst steak I’ve had for years has to be the effort from The Marcliffe in Anerdeen last December. 6ox fillet which was cremated and tough as old boots. I wasn’t happy!

    Drac
    Full Member

    I will have ordered and cooked more than nearly everybody on this forum

    Oh dear.

    LHS
    Free Member

    In my experience it is incredibly hard to find good steak in uk restaurants. There are the odd good one who have some sense of how to age and cook the meat correctly but on a whole most wouldn’t know a good steak if they saw one. This includes Gaucho to which I have been to two different ones in London and the meat they “presented” was pink, un-aged and completely tasteless as well as well over-priced.

    Want good steak, head to North America.

    DrJ
    Full Member

    Want good steak, head to North America.

    I see a lot of people say this but in my experience it just ain’t the case.

    teasel
    Free Member

    I will have ordered and cooked more than nearly everybody on this forum

    Oh dear.

    I believe he used to be a chef, so the statement probably stands. Of course, it’s easy to read it in another way without knowing that.

    Stuffed out on steak last week. I sampled a couple of local butchers after much hype and collected a few cuts from Sainsbury’s, too. Results : local butch 1 was bland. Butch 2 – okay but nothing to post on a forum write home about. Sainsury’s TTD sirloin – not bad. TTD ultimate – full flavour. Not always the case, though, as I’ve eaten it before.

    Don’t know what that tells you – probably that I should ease up on the red meat for a few months…

    globalti
    Free Member

    The two steaks I remember eating, out of all the meals I’ve had, were in Durban and, believe it or not, Banja Luka. It’s all down to the age and marbling of the meat and the way it is seared. I don’t think UK supermarkets buy the best and their obsession with low fat means their steak is bland and tough.

    gobuchul
    Free Member

    Good British Beef is some of the best in the World.

    The fact that the OP seems to think that there is better beef on the Continent shows he know **** all.

    Due to the obsession with low fat, bright red meat the vast majority of beef comes from charolais cattle. A French breed that was originally used for pulling stuff and is very muscular and lean. Crap for eating.

    The best beef comes from Hereford or Aberdeen Angus,or a cross between the two. Should be heavily marbled and fed on grass.

    Also, don’t waste your time with fillet, overpriced and pretty bland.

    Had dinner at a colleague’s house in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago and he served up a piece of beef and carved it at the table, it was incredible, just so tender and tasty, beautifully pink but not running with red liquid.

    Well that doesn’t sound like steak to me, more like roast beef?
    Get yourself to a butchers and buy yourself a roasting rib on the bone. However, you sound like the sort who “won’t pay for fat and bone”! 🙄

    Drac
    Full Member

    I believe he used to be a chef, so the statement probably stands. Of course, it’s easy to read it in another way without knowing that.

    I believe you’re right but as a chef it would have been nice to offer where to look, what to choose if buying your own and how to cook them. But not he had to mention how on a thread about where to get good steak to not order any and how he’s had more meat than Desperate Dan.

    hopster
    Free Member

    Serve a lovely steak here.

    teasel
    Free Member

    he’s had more meat than Desperate Dan.

    🙂

    timc
    Free Member

    ^^ that’s what I said hopster, great place!

    pitchpro2011
    Free Member

    The matured steak in lidl is very good quality. I was a butcher for 6 years before being a manager and when working for asda was selected out of a handful of their butchers in the uk to do the craft butcher courses on top of the academy so I know my meats.
    Tips, just because it says British beef doesn’t mean it’s good. It’s usually Irish and Irish beef is no where near as good as Welsh or Angus steaks, secondly If you traced the plant number on say tesco british beef you’ll more than likely find its halal meat reared in Ireland.
    How the beast is killed does affect the Meat. If beef is stressed badly you will see blood splatters like chicken pox through the Meat when you cut it and it will be tough as hell.
    Don’t select really lean meat, cuts like sirloin should have at least a little marbling. Flank or frying steak is super lean but is much tougher where as ribeye is fatty and marbled but tastes much better.
    If I’m not buying the matured steaks from work then I go to the local butcher for locally sourced beef.
    Happy eating.

    konabunny
    Free Member

    I had a great steak last time I was in London, it’s actually from a little boutique specialist steak restaurant, it’s a little tucked away, but you can probably google it: think it was called the Aberdeen Angus Steak House.

    Drac
    Full Member

    I’ve heard of them Konabunny I think I spotted one the last time I was there, I must have been walking around in circles as seen it a few times.

    MrOvershoot
    Full Member
    lemonysam
    Free Member

    As a Northumberland suggestion, we use North Acomb Farm Shop for most of our meat, it’s ace. Their steaks easily rival the best I’ve had anywhere.

    Drac
    Full Member

    Not for awhile no but they’re very good. I use the 2 in Alnwick as also very good but I can walk to them so easier. Might have to pop over to Fram sometime soon though.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 108 total)

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