Goodman City

Goodman’s three branches are perfectly located to pull in its target audience: people who will pay top dollar for top beef. At the City branch, the room seems to be aiming for a New York-style steakhouse look: dark wooden walls with large-scale black and white photographs. The food shows frustrating inconsistency. Three starters were spot-on, especially sweet herring in ‘traditional Russian presentation’ (the owners are Russian). Another starter, lobster and corn chowder, was barely lukewarm, gluey in texture and seriously deficient in flavour.

There are only three sensible options for mains: steak, steak or steak. The cuts of the day are written on blackboards, and the beef – cooked exactly as ordered – was just heavenly. A lamentable fault is the absence of any garnish. You have to order side dishes, and this isn’t always an occasion for joy. Three were dreadful: a limp, clumsily dressed salad; chewy creamed spinach with (unnecessary) cheese; and oily fried white onions. Avoid the hamburger. The wine list contains little under £30, though a £26 Catalan red was excellent. Service was largely friendly and competent.

Our biggest complaint is the bass-heavy music, so loud we had to shout to make ourselves heard. Combine that with the patches of poor cooking and you have a restaurant where even extraordinary steak can’t quite justify the very high prices.