Smiths of Smithfield is a behemoth of a venue with four floors of this converted warehouse providing four distinct offerings. The ground floor is a lively bar that provides informal breakfast and lunch (and live football on TV), the first floor is termed the 'Wine Rooms' and offers 20 wines by the glass with simple sharing plates, the second floor is the 'Dining Room' with a brasserie style offering, and the top floor is their top end dining most notable for its steaks. The venue itself has been open well over a decade and has been perennially popular throughout that time.
But it's not just having four restaurants in one that makes Smiths an über venue but the covers it can process. The 2nd floor Dining Room room for example seats 130, and with the first dinner sitting at 6pm (table back by 7:45pm), it can turn tables up to three times in a night. Together with lunch, on the best of days, it could serve north of 400 people. Even the top end top floor seats 70. This is simply a huge operation then and for the year to May 2011, sales at Smiths were a staggering £9.8m. A single post on Smiths therefore hardly scratches the surface of their offering.
I've eaten at Smiths many times before, in every area of the building and 10 years ago, it was my go to place for a steak as meat provenance featured highly on Smiths' menu long before it became common currency elsewhere. Located opposite Smithfield market, delivering good steaks was an obvious direction in which to take the restaurant and owner John Torode also has a cookbook simply called 'Beef'. Indeed, Smithfield has been a chartered cattle market since 1638 and local road names like Cowcross Street point to the stampeding cattle routes of the past, more often than not seeing the beasts entering shops en route and thought to be the origin of the phrase 'a bull in a china shop'.
Time has actually been kind to Smiths as it continues to feel relevant. It also remains popular, but it undoubtedly has felt the competition from the likes of Goodman and Hawksmoor in the carnivore market. Today though, it was not the top floor steaks on the menu for me but a more informal dinner with a friend in the second floor dining room. Starters here include the likes of mussels, grilled mackerel, chicken liver parfait and Thai beef salad and are priced between £7 - £9. My friend passed on a starter while I opted for the day's special, a lamb and ricotta ravioli. This delivered well on flavour but the pasta was too thick making the ravioli edges far too much hard work, a shame as the lamb filling was excellent.
But it's not just having four restaurants in one that makes Smiths an über venue but the covers it can process. The 2nd floor Dining Room room for example seats 130, and with the first dinner sitting at 6pm (table back by 7:45pm), it can turn tables up to three times in a night. Together with lunch, on the best of days, it could serve north of 400 people. Even the top end top floor seats 70. This is simply a huge operation then and for the year to May 2011, sales at Smiths were a staggering £9.8m. A single post on Smiths therefore hardly scratches the surface of their offering.
I've eaten at Smiths many times before, in every area of the building and 10 years ago, it was my go to place for a steak as meat provenance featured highly on Smiths' menu long before it became common currency elsewhere. Located opposite Smithfield market, delivering good steaks was an obvious direction in which to take the restaurant and owner John Torode also has a cookbook simply called 'Beef'. Indeed, Smithfield has been a chartered cattle market since 1638 and local road names like Cowcross Street point to the stampeding cattle routes of the past, more often than not seeing the beasts entering shops en route and thought to be the origin of the phrase 'a bull in a china shop'.
Time has actually been kind to Smiths as it continues to feel relevant. It also remains popular, but it undoubtedly has felt the competition from the likes of Goodman and Hawksmoor in the carnivore market. Today though, it was not the top floor steaks on the menu for me but a more informal dinner with a friend in the second floor dining room. Starters here include the likes of mussels, grilled mackerel, chicken liver parfait and Thai beef salad and are priced between £7 - £9. My friend passed on a starter while I opted for the day's special, a lamb and ricotta ravioli. This delivered well on flavour but the pasta was too thick making the ravioli edges far too much hard work, a shame as the lamb filling was excellent.
My friend ordered a burger for the main though requested it well done so no criticism can be given based around the charred burger that arrived and he spoke well of the dish. The burger was £13.50 though it comes without sides, chips will set you back a further £3.50. My choice was a risotto primavera with Parmesan crisps (£14.50) and while the crisps were absent, the risotto was good, exceeding my expectations. Cooking was pretty much spot on so there was a nice creaminess to it and a gentle bite to the rice, and it generally held my attention through to the end, pretty impressive for a dish that can become one note all too quickly. As I observed to my friend, I've had worse risottos in better places. Well done SOS.
Chocolate mousse and honeycomb for dessert, though here it was a big thick slab of heavy set chocolate rather than a light easy going mousse. It felt a little too much and the strawberry was a relief in bringing a little contrast to the plate. Even as a chocolate fan, the overall heaviness of this dessert for me, let it down a little.
Having been a few years since I last visited SOS, I was curious to see how they were standing the test of time. While it didn't seem quite as crazy busy as I previously remember it, it nevertheless remains popular and the place retains a buzz to it. Service was friendly and the menus offer sufficient and interesting diversity at about the right price for this market segment. And while several dishes had minor flaws, it wasn't enough to ruin things overall. SOS might well be a mega-venue, but on this tiny sampling of their offering, pleasant service and good enough food made for a nice time with friends which is exactly what I wanted.
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Related links
Smiths of Smithfield website
Return to homepage
Related links
Smiths of Smithfield website