Chop Shop, Haymarket

First of all, I have to apologise for my absence from the blog recently. This is my second week in an Internship at Healthista, an online women’s health channel. As well working behind the scene, and on the design side, I have had to opportunity to write some pieces! Do have a read here.

But I digress. The night before last, as a bit of a naughty treat, my mum and I had dinner at Chop Shop on Haymarket, which I had found on thenudge.com (worth a click or a follow, if you haven’t already). To make sure we didn’t miss out, my mum had waded through the online reviews that day, but it seems liked everything on the menu had at least one recommendation! To get our taste buds going, we ordered crispy hot wings with Cashel blue cheese and the cotechino scotch egg with salsa verde. Get our taste buds going they did! Both were so fresh and packed full of flavour. I also asked for the “Celery Gimlet”, a cocktail of lime cordial and celery infused Beefeater gin – it was absolutely gorgeous!

The décor of the restaurant is a kind of butcher shop chic, with lots of rich wood, royal blue and white. My grandma used to say that I probably knew every loo in every restaurant in London, because when we went out I would always slope off before pudding to use the facilities (back in the days when I crawled under the table to get out!). Looking back on it now, I think I was always just excited to discover a new room! Though often disappointed with the loos of my childhood, the ladies' at Chop Shop was very elegant, with tiled walls and small, framed photographs of Victorian butchers. Back in the restaurant, a soundtrack including Mark Ronson’s version of “You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine” played out, and was the perfect fit for the Hoxton meets Soho vibe.

And then our main course arrived. We both went for the Creekstone USDA hanger steak. It was the cheapest on the menu at £14, but I can’t imagine how it could have tasted any better! Sliced and tender, served with a grilled tomato, we had accompaniments of fries, spinach and grilled trumpet courgettes in romesco (a nut and red-pepper based sauce) and flaked almonds. Everything was stunningly delicious, although we forgot to ask for the taster sauces that were on the menu free of charge… Oh well, we will just have to go back then!

We were rather full, but our waiter managed to twist our arms, with not very effort at all, into having the butterscotch custard, which tasted just like a posh angel delight! Yum.

So definitely pay Chop Shop a visit for a relaxed but special evening out. I would say book ahead, though it was pretty quiet on a Tuesday night.