Blacklock City

Five years is a long time in London restaurant history terms. Gourmand Gunno visited the original Blacklock site in Soho when it first opened in 2015. Since then, the venture has gone from strength to strength. The mini-empire now comprises three outlets, with more rumoured to be on the agenda. It was a pleasure then to visit the Blacklock venue in the City for a recent working lunch. Similar to Blacklock Soho having a backstory (located on the site of a former brothel), Blacklock City has historic pedigree, located in a cool basement venue (formerly an electricity substation) of a Grade II listed building. Sure, there’s the usual exposed brick and piping, but the site is nonetheless a talking point. The real reason for coming, of course, is the food. It’s a predictable, yet successful formula: lots of meat (all sustainably sourced) grilled on Blacklock’s signature flatiron. For £20/head, it is very hard to fault Blacklock’s ‘all-in’ lunchtime offering. We began with a selection of light bites, artfully presented, light in body yet piquant to taste (egg and anchovy was my favourite). Onto the main event and a platter of sizzling meat comprising beef, lamb and pork arrived at our table. Dig-in is the mantra, with the race to the bottom being of prime importance, since there reside the herb-crusted flatbreads. Not that exciting you may think, but once they have absorbed the juices of the meats, this is soggy decadence in every mouthful. Many around us were drinking cocktails (about which I heard positive things), but we stuck to wine, chosen from an inventive list. A South African Cinsault worked as a lovely foil to the earthy richness of the meat. If all this were not reason enough to visit, then note that Blacklock City – unlike its Soho sibling – can be booked in advance.

We had a lovely meal on Friday lunch, it was just let down by service a little, which was a little slow. We waited quite a while for food and we weren't offered pudding and had to wave a few times for the bill. We also had a 'disagreement' with our waitress - our lamb cutlets came out as starter, but we wanted them with our mains, she recultantly took them back to the kitchen, she did feel the need to tell us we had ordered them as starters (we hadn't). Perhaps it was just a one off though as usually their service is fantastic in their Soho and Shoreditch branch.