I first wrote about Blacklock on my now archived site back in 2015 when they opened their flagship restaurant in a Soho basement. I’ve been back several times since, for superior Sunday roasts, butcher price chops on Mondays, affordable lunch time steak sarnies and more than one £5 Negroni. So it came as no surprise to me that their second site in The City is another marvellous meat mecca, offering everything that Soho has with the added bonus of reservations and a separate bar area.
As usual, after some deliberation about what cut of meat to order from their daily selection, we caved and just went for their unbeatable £20 “all-in” belt-stretcher. Pre-chop bites (which I can do without), followed by a mountain of “skinny” chops piled on top of coal flatbread that soaks up all of the juices, and a side each – it’s hard to look past the ash roasted sweet potato and beets, and beef dripping chips, but there are several decent options. Naturally, we added in some totally unnecessary starters too. Coal roast scallop and black pudding, and pig’s head on toast with pickles, chillis and gorgeous gravy – both excellent. I think we were eating for at least 45 minutes non-stop, with minimal conversation in between mouthfuls. To finish, the table service cheesecake is still a winner, but you should also grab a bowl of their comforting bourbon bread and butter pudding (which was slightly lacking in the booze department, but delicious nonetheless).
Blacklock remains a foolproof crowd-pleaser (as long as you aren’t vegetarian) and no doubt there are more sites to come in the future – hopefully above ground next time!
Blacklock City is now open at 13 Philpot Lane, EC3M 8AA
