Food: Steak & Co

Another steak restaurant and another qualification that no, I'm not actually that big a fan of steak. The exceptions have been pretty rare (bdum tish) - an Argentinian in Buenos Aires for example, or halal ostrich in Capetown - but given the choice I'll always choose the convenience of a burger over a slab of filleted meat. The point being that if I do actually like an offered steak then I must have found it special. Now it's easy to argue that the steak served today was more gimmick than substance, but I'm not sure that it was. But wait a second: I'm skipping ahead.

The novelty at Steak & Co is in the presentation of your food. It all starts when ordering - My medium rare was downgraded to a rare, while my colleagues' well dones were substituted for mediums. This was for our own good, as the steaks themselves are presented on a steak stone hot enough to cook the meat further to your exact taste. You're given butter and seasoning too, so it really does become quite the involved experience.

Now my initial reaction when presented with the concept resembled a little bit of denial - I don't cook at home so it would be almost perverse to do so while eating out. I even asked if we could do away with the hook and just get the chef to cook the steak. Luckily the look of disbelief given to me by the server convinced me to give the experience a try and I'm actually glad that I did.

Leave aside the novelty of eating meat you've prepared yourself, I do actually think cooking the meat myself added something to the taste and texture of the steak. Without even really realising it, I was experimenting with different amounts of butter, seasoning and time on the stone, meaning each bite was quite unique. Of course I'd be fooling myself if I ignored the fact that most of it was due to the preparation in the kitchen, but I do genuinely believe that the hot stone thing made a good steak great.

Along with drinks and dessert the bill came to a healthy £25 per head which isn't the cheapest meal, especially considering I had to cook it myself (that's a joke. Maybe). But overall I would recommend Steak & Co over some of the other more popular steak options out there.