Flat Iron

What a difference a year makes. When we first visited this pop-up-gone-permanent, it hadn't yet found its feet on this site, and failed to impress. But on our most recent Friday night visit, the signature steak (one of two options: there was an off-menu onglet too) had been expertly cooked: beautifully scorched on the outside, and bloodily pink in the middle, service was swift and cheery, the shared-tables atmosphere lively, and even the no-bookings element a non-issue – you’re given a pager, allowing you to retreat to a local pub or nip downstairs for one of the excellent cocktails.

The real disappointment is the cynical pricing. Despite selling itself as a ‘steak for a tenner’ joint, all the extras are, well, extra. So if you have both chips and greens (£2.50 each), plus a sauce (£1), you’re looking at £16 before drinks and service. Genuinely cheap it may not be, but it's certainly cheerful. ​