Hawksmoor to love

With the opening of the third Hawksmoor restaurant questions were raised about whether the group had overstretched.The good news is that the Hawksmoor Guildhall, on Basinghall Street, proves that it hasn’t.

Hawksmoor Guildhall on Basinghall Street, thehawksmoor.co.ukPacked when we visited, the cavernous subterranean site shows the familiar dedication to on-point cooking, original and delicious cocktails, and friendly service.

Each Hawksmoor has a point of difference and the Guildhall restaurant’s is its breakfasts. Opening from 7 to 10am Monday to Friday, Hawksmoor Guildhall will be fueling the bellies of the City with innovative breakfast dishes including steak and eggs, devilled veal kidneys on toast, Manx kipper with poached eggs or an enormous Hawksmoor breakfast to share – smoked bacon chop, sausages, black pudding, short-rib bubble and squeak, grilled bone marrow, trotter baked beans and HP gravy. 

Hawksmoor steaks are some of the best in LondonThe bar is licensed from 7am and the restaurant features a do-it-yourself bloody mary bar so you can knock up an eye-opener to suit your own palate (although the house-made mary is very good), or choose from one of the other breakfast cocktails including a Climpsons coffee Martini or Cornflake Hardshake – made with a shot of bourbon.

Another original touch at the Guildhall branch is a seven-course beef tasting menu, available for tables of eight to ten people. The menu features beef tea, tongue and tail salad, oysters with braised short rib and kimchi, beef shin macaroni, a selection of steaks and sides and sticky toffee pudding, £700 for the table.

Design of the Hawksmoor Guildhall is the work of Macaulay Sinclair, interior design and architecture studioThe main event for most people will still be the thick Longhorn cattle steaks and, as at the other Hawksmoors, these are perfect – still some of the best in London despite fierce competition from a growing range of high-end steak houses across the capital. Accompanied by a bottle from the restaurant’s extensive wine list, and served in the convivial, beautifully designed dining room, this signature dish means there are few places to rival Hawksmoor Guildhall for a slap-up City meal.

Meal for two with wine and service, around £150; Hawksmoor Guildhall, 10-12 Basinghall Street, EC2V 5BQ; thehawksmoor.co.uk