On Michael’s actual birthday, I treated him to a meal fit for a man.
Steak & chips, obviously.
Goodman is often proclaimed to be the best steakhouse in London.
Having previously eaten at Gaucho, Hawksmoor and M (and with an upcoming reservation at MASH), I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Michael & I to decide for ourselves where we thought Goodman fitted into the mix.
Considering it was a Monday evening, the restaurant was impressively packed full of merry suits, sipping on cocktails and tucking in to steak suppers.
Thankfully we’d both come straight from work, so managed to blend in with the crowd unnoticed.
Goodman is very traditional in décor, with dark wood features, deep-red cushioned banquets and B&W pictures.

But it also has modern (manly) touches, such as the exposed pipe ceiling, industrial steel low-hanging lights, and metal grates separating diners.
We had two glasses of celebratory bubbly to get the party started (‘NV Prosecco, Giavi, Extra Brut, Italy’ (£10.00 each)) whilst perusing the menu.
With minds almost made up, our waiter brought out the big guns and placed a mammoth blackboard displaying all of the additional cuts of beef that we could choose from beside us.
Flummoxed by all the meat, we focused on our starters, both opting for the tiger prawn tempura, avocado, Cajun mayonnaise (£12.00 each).
Beautifully presented, and even more delicious.
The tempura was light & airy; the prawns a generous size & well-cooked; the smooth avocado added both freshness & creaminess; and the Cajun mayo introduced a hint of spice.
It was a superb plate of food.
Although I found it more akin to rock shrimp tempura, such as is served at Buddakan, Sushi Samba and Roka, versus tiger prawn tempura, also served at Roka and Eight over Eight, it was a fantastic dish, and as good my favourite variations of this dish served elsewhere.
In need of a good bottle of red to accompany our meat, we ordered ‘Dona Paula Estate, Malbec, 2013’ (£35.00), which is a wine that both Michael & I (and my parents) love.
On our waiter’s recommendation, we chose the 850g Hereford porterhouse T-bone (£59.50), providing both rib-eye and sirloin steak, to share.
And then arrived the sides, glorious sides.
We had truffle chips, sea salt (£5.00).

Spinach, creamed with gruyere cheese (£4.50).

Mushrooms with garlic butter (£5.00).

And a selection of all 3 sauces; béarnaise, pepper and mushroom.

Words cannot describe how good this plate of food was. I don’t think I’ve ever had steak quite like it. It really was unbelievably tender & so very tasty.
The sides were all perfect.
And the béarnaise sauce? Well, it was the best I’ve ever had.
So there, I think you can decipher what our conclusion on the steak war was.

With me failing to make Michael a (chocolate, obviously) birthday cake for the first of his birthday’s that we’ve spent together yet (I forgive myself on the basis of the surprise party at Radio Rooftop Bar, and that I now actually have a job), it’s safe to say that I was relying on the dessert menu to come through strong.
And that it did.
Two orders of the Goodman City choc chip brownie ice-cream sundae (£8.00) later, I was sat next to an extremely happy Quarter Century old man.


Although I’m not personally a big fan of chocolate ice-cream – I know, even I find it shocking, the chocolate chips, brownie pieces and caramel sauce did make it pretty epic.

Plus, it was the birthday’s boy’s absolute DREAM dessert; he went just as crazy for it as I did the dulce fondant that we had at M for his ‘pre-birthday dinner’, so I couldn’t really have asked for much more.
The total bill was £181.13, which I thought was very reasonable taking all things into consideration.
It’s also cheaper than Gaucho, Hawksmoor and M, AND Michael’s dessert was on the house, which makes me love Goodman even more.
MASH better be good, sa’ll I’m sayin’.
10/10
Michael looks like the cat who got the cream! What a fab birthday treat!
Lots of love,
Angie
It was delish, loved it! xxx
Your meal looks delicious!! The tempura tiger prawns look especially mouthwatering!
http://thecourtneydiaries.com
They were pretty epic – an amazing starter, especially for a ‘steak house’. Recommend it highly! 🙂 xxx
Sounds amazing! We went to Hawksmoor for Pauls last birthday, so think I have a good idea for where we will be going for the next one….! x
Haha, I personally waaaay preferred Goodman to Hawksmoor so hopefully you will too if you go! xxx
When we went a few years ago, they had me at truffle chips – Goodmans is the BEST! (For your next hunk o’meat you might want to try Boisdale – different atmosphere entirely but the steak, ohhhhh the steak!)
Ooo Emma THANK YOU! ALWAYS open to a great steak recommendation and if you’ve been to Goodman and rate ‘Boisdale’ then I simply must give it a go 😉 mouth watering already! xxx
What an absolute treat of a birthday meal! Such good value for what you had – I took Andy to Hawksmoor and it was a little more pricey than that! Definitely going to have to take him to Goodman!
Lauren xx | The Lifestyle Diaries
Yeah Goodman is cheaper (and, in my opinion, better) than Hawksmoor! Defs give it a whirl and let me know what you think if you do 🙂 xxx
how delicious!!
TheVogueWord
TheVogueWord
I like the variety on offer at Goodman, but my heart lies with Hawksmoor. I don’t know what it is – I think I just like the vibe!
You’ll really like MASH. It’s such a beautiful room and really reasonable too! Look forward to hearing what you think…
Sam x
Really? Fair enough!! I did absolutely LOVE Goodman though. Am super excited for MASH, am going with my dad and brother and think they’ll really like it 🙂 xxx
I haven’t been to Goodman yet! Definitely on the top of my ‘steak lists to try’ now ;).
Also love how Michael was very spoilt!! I’m guessing he had the best birthday ever 😉
Tahira | ramblingsofafoodaddict.com/
YES Tahira, hands down my favourite so far (excited for MASH on Friday). And he was definitely a very lucky boy this year 🙂 xxx
I think I would have also gone crazy for this dessert!
It was pretty damn good! xxx