Hackney butcher Hill & Szrok cooks imperious steaks by night - Review - London - The Infatuation
"Broadway Market loves a football-style scarf. A David Shrigley here, a Yohji Yamamoto there. Only true London Fields diehards will have one from Hill & Szrok, though. The butcher has been at the forefront of all things east London for years. It isn’t just a supplier of premium meat, it cooks it to the highest quality too. This isn’t a complicated setup. It’s a butcher first and foremost, but come evening from Wednesday to Saturday, the wiped-down marble butcher’s block becomes the candlelit scene of several beefy dinners. You’ll see the carcasses, then you’ll smell them too. This doesn’t make for the cushiest environment, and you could feasibly come here on a faintly sinister date, but this place feels best enjoyed with your most bloodthirsty friends. photo credit: Jake Missing Most of the streamlined menu is dominated by beef, though you may well see a couple of east London crypto types head first in a plate of glistening lamb cutlets. They’re immense half-forearms, perfectly rendered, in a pool of shimmering jus. You won’t be asked how you want your steak cooked here because that shouldn’t, really, ever be a question. A hulking Hereford rib-eye comes scorched on the outside and blushing in the middle. You can see the ivory fat, but it only just registers before oozing away in your mouth. Hill & Szrok is one of the few London restaurants doing steak justice. The ‘restaurant’ isn’t exactly pretty. It’s lipstick on a cow, lit by Diptyque stuff. Still, there’s something romantic about it. Not not a restaurant. Not not an abattoir either. One thing is for certain, forked with a creamy leek, a chip, and a smear of English mustard, this beef is about as good as it gets. Food Rundown photo credit: Jake Missing Dry-Aged Beef Sobrassada Soldiers Somewhere in a townhouse off Victoria Park, there’s a kid having sobrassada soldiers and runny eggs for breakfast. For everyone else, there are these. This house-made sausage spread is alive with paprika, chilli, and black pepper. It’s a beautiful, smoky bite on toast, and the sharp guindilla chilli on top is a nice touch. photo credit: Jake Missing Romney Lamb Cutlets + Mint Sauce At a tenner each, these three cutlets don’t come cheap. That said, they’re about as good as it gets. Earthy, rich, and so expertly cooked that every bone should be gnawed dry. The attention paid to jus and sauces here is also second to none. Hereford Rib-Eye Chop When your body has that primal urge for meat, an uncontrollable, neurochemical craving for iron-rich, sunset pink beef, this is better than your wildest fantasies. Charred almost black, still bouncy, and with melting fat that equates butter on butter, this rib-eye is glorious." - Jake Missing
