Please note, Hanger & Cellar has now closed. Time Out Food editors, January 2019.
There’s a crusade happening just around the corner from Fulham Broadway: to reintroduce the masses to an almost forgotten cut of beef, the flank, or ‘hanger’ steak. No other cut is available at Hanger and it’s the main focus of the menu, treated with almost religious reverence. Decor is equally single-minded: unfussy and minimal. Starters and desserts are distractions, really – salt beef croquettes and charred piquillo peppers were perfectly nice if not breathtaking; later, a pecan pie came in the same category. Pre-epiphany, sides appeared before the mains and excellent triple-cooked chips had almost gone by the time the meat arrived. The spiced mac and cheese had a kick but needed a stronger cheese for the base sauce.
And so to Hanger’s icon. They recommend serving it medium-rare, but we were assured medium is also fine and it was. I went large and received an enormous 12-inch strip, the meat sliced into thick juicy slabs. It was melt-in-the-mouth tender. Absolute heaven. I was an immediate convert. The burger – barely minced chunks of supremely good steak precariously held together by blue cheese and caramelised onions – was also ‘de-flipping-licious’ according to my companion. Then, when our plates were empty, we considered the sheer value for money, shook our heads in amazement and gave thanks. Here endeth the lesson. Amen.