Experience New York Style Dining in the Heart of London
Walking into Chop Shop on Haymarket is a bit like walking into an old school New York butcher. It feels aged, full of character and cosy. Upon sitting down we were greeted by a lovely waiter who served us up a menu full of planks, flat irons, and finely selected cuts of meats.
To wet our palates, I started off with a royal blush cocktail, which was a gorgeous mix of absolut vodka, mint, fresh limes, morello cherry and sparkling wine. My dining companion tried the celery gimlet, which was a cocktail with celery infused beefeater gin and lime cordial. Both were an absolutely delicious, a terribly moreish taste infusion.
A drink or two later we got to thinking about our starters. I tried the crab cocktail jar that was served with sourdough toast. This was so yummy, that I ate every last bite. The avocado and the marie rose sauce perfectly complimented each other, making a tangy lemony delicious crab accompaniment to my sourdough toast. My friend had the smoked trout jar that she said was equally delicious. The sourdough was incredible also, it really brought our the flavours of our starters.
Moving on to the mains, we both opted for fillet steaks and some shared sides, which included chips, veg of the week that was pancetta peas, and a red wine bone marrow broth sauce. The fillet steak was possibly the best piece of steak I’ve ever had in London, a superbly tender piece of meat that was cooked to perfection. The pancetta peas were divine, and the chips were the perfect accompaniment to the bold flavours on our plates.
After we had finished our mains we considered rolling home as we were so stuffed. But the lovely staff persuaded us to peruse the pudding menu. Once we started looking I became increasingly tempted by the sticky date pudding and my friend on the butterscotch custard.
I wasn’t hungry at all after our feast, so I declared I would try a mouthful when my pudding arrived and leave the rest. But, like the rest of the meal, the moment I tasted it there was no going back. Both desserts were delicately flavoured, my sticky date pudding was a smoky but sweet party in the mouth, and the salted caramel was so moreish we just couldn’t put our spoons down.
At the end of the meal I left the restaurant pleasantly surprised. One thing that was clear about Chop Shop, was that plenty of thought had clearly gone into every minute detail. From the décor, to the dishes, the flavours, and the charismatic and friendly staff. The dining experience is certainly one I won’t forget quickly, I urge you to visit with friends and show up hungry, and ready to eat.
