The Grill on the Market

2-3 West Smithfield
London
EC1A 9JX

Tried a new place before the Chick Corea / Christian McBride / Brian Blade concert at the Barbican. Music was way better than the food, though I guess if only one could be excellent, that is the order I would go in. I prefer disappointing food to disappointing music. Is that a weird thing to say for someone who writes about food instead of music? Hmm. Anyway, The Grill on the Market isn't bad, it just isn't that good either. I will confess I was attracted by the 50% off deal on Toptable, so at least it wasn't an expensive steak meal. But now that I'm learning how to get a good sear on my steaks at home, eating out at steakhouses is becoming less exciting. The ribeyes we had here were fine, and cooked to medium rather than the requested medium rare, but what really let down the meal were the undercooked chips and a cauliflower cheese side that was basically some giant florets of steamed cauliflower with some grated cheddar sauce on top. I expect my cauliflower cheese to 1) have bite sized chunks of cauliflower and 2) to have cheese sauce everywhere, completely coating the cauliflower so every bite is equal amounts cheese and veg. So even though the steak was fine (and cheap), I can't get excited about going back, which means I probably won't be.