Afternoon:
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Fay Maschler's rating
The world is Hix's oyster
By
Fay Maschler
7 May 2008
Actors want their name in lights. Most chefs are happy just to see it above a restaurant door. Seeing HIX in large letters on the façade of what was formerly Rudland & Stubbs, near Smithfield Market, made me think what a long time it has been in coming.
Mark Hix may not be a name that London restaurant-goers necessarily conjure with but they have almost certainly eaten his food. For the past 17 years Hix worked for Caprice Holdings, joining when Chris Corbin and Jeremy King re-invented Le Caprice and going on to be involved in the opening of The Ivy and J Sheekey and then — when Caprice Holdings was bought by the first of its new owners — becoming chef-director of the group with responsibility also for Daphne’s BamBou and Pasha. Most recently, Hix was the person behind the impeccable British fish menu for the highly successful relaunch of Scott’s.
Understanding what it is people want when they go out to eat could be said to be flagrantly exemplified by the food at Le Caprice and The Ivy but Hix has more recently refined his game. His passion, apparent in one of his cookery books, British Regional Food (Quadrille £14.99), is the search for fine traditional produce and appropriate, time-honoured ways of treating it. This needn’t result in theme-park eating; it can be funky, as was proved when five years ago Hix opened Rivington Grill in Shoreditch — later sold to Caprice Holdings.
Hix Oyster and Chop House aims to invoke London dining in the 18th century when oysters were food of the people and meat was unaffectedly cooked on the bone. Oysters are no longer cheap but their succulence and saltiness can be utilised in economic quantity, as happens at Hix in the triumphant dish of beef shin, porter and oyster pie in suet pastry with a crisply crumbed oyster riding on top (£12.75).
We ate on the last day of a month with an R in it, so two of the party were able to share a plate of Colchester Rocks, Lindisfarne oysters, Duchy of Cornwall Specials and Duchy of Cornwall Natives. Before they arrived, Mark Hix brought over some slices of smoked salmon which he had smoked in his own back garden in De Beauvoir Town. He was dressed in unsullied chef ’s whites. The head chef is Stuart Tattersall, whom I last saw at Stanza in Shaftesbury Avenue scattering his culinary pearls before, if not swine, then cocktail-drinking customers seemingly uninterested in the provenance of a lettuce. Pennywort salad with Little Wallop goat’s cheese, beets and pickled walnuts, another Hix first course, would, I imagine, have interested them not at all.
We loved gull’s eggs, cooked judiciously to the point where the yolk had not completely set, served with celery salt and unctuous, obviously homemade mayonnaise; St Enodoc asparagus veiled in butter and set on an antique asparagus tray, once the property of The Savoy, on a folded tea-towel; fried skate knobs (panko crumbs) with caper mayonnaise. On the list which, never deviating from seasonality, changes each day were also River Severn elvers cooked Gloucestershire style (with fatty bacon and beaten eggs), their £35 price reflecting a scarcity these days, and St George’s mushrooms accompanied by Welsh onion cake.
In the main course, two of us shared a roasted Woolley Park Farm free-range chicken served with wild garlic sauce. The busy outdoor life of the birds at this Bradford-on-Avon farm really does impact on their flavour. I can’t remember a chicken tasting better since my childhood. Which was a long time ago. Asking for a side order of chips resulted in a metal pail filled with the crispest possible pommes allumettes. A lettuce heart salad would have been more rewarding made from that floppy variety often called English and not Little Gem.
Mutton chop curry had an 18th-century ring to it but a 21st-century under-standing of how to use freshly ground spices in a sauce which reverberated with flavour. Wiltshire bacon chop with laverbread (seaweed) and cockles had too many salty elements to result in a balanced plateful. “Laverbread is extremely nutritious,” I said to my friend Dee, but it did not make her stop feeling that she had drawn the short straw in the meal and wishing she had ordered steak. You might not think the school dinner dish of rhubarb and custard (Jersey creamed rice with prunes is also offered) could provide consolation but it was so beautifully cooked that it did. Buttermilk drop scones with East London honey and honeycomb ice cream was also much appreciated.
It was early days at Hix’s new place. Chefs Claude Bosi, from Hibiscus, and Anthony Demetre, from Arbutus and Wild Honey, were at one table, a fellow restaurant critic at another. A kind of stew of noise was a problem in the tiled, bare-boarded premises originally a sausage factory but that can be fixed. At last Mark Hix has put his name to a restaurant — and it is eminently deserving of it.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (9)
Great food, great setting, great service!
BUT beware of excess charging on your bill. We were charged double service charge - instead of the service charge calculating at 12.5% as stated it was calculated at 25%.
Unfortunately the manager's explanations and HQ's explanations never squared up. The formed explained that this had been happening randomly. The latter explained that we were the first victims of their malfunctioning EPOS system. Who to believe?
Beware! Check your bill extra carefully!
- David, London, 02/03/2010 15:07
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We loved it this is was the best Roast Beef & potatoes I have ever eaten that I personally have not cooked. I have spread the word to anyone who loves Beef, My daughter who only eats Fish (don't ask me why ) wont be coming on our next visit, I wasn't able to finish my portion & wished I had brought a lock & lock container with me to take the rest away, I asked quietly if they could wrap it up so I could take it home, & our friendly waitress said "yes" & removed the plates and returned with it all nicely wrapped in foil. We had it with a Salad & once again it still tasted fantastic. I wish My stomach was able to expand as I didn't have from for dessert & watched with puppy dogs eyes as the Chocolate mousse was eaten by the lady at the next table. My husband was lucky he never leaves with out a dessert & had the Winter fruit in Mulled wine, I was only Allowed one spoon full and it was fully flavoured( but for me I would of wanted it warm), The first courses where lovely you got three items & this could have been my down fall as we ate all three hence no room for the chocolovely mousse. For us It was worth the drive into London and the parking is free on a Sunday,
The service was good & the staff where friendly polite, We will be back & will be passing on the word to anyone who loves Roast Beef .
- Des & Shirley Bradfield, Wexham South Buckinghamshire, 19/10/2008 10:14
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The name Chophouse had me interested enough to be taken by business partners whilst up in town last week and, indeed, steak and oysters are a favourite..
The interior of this restaurant was atmospheric and true of a Victorian eating establishment, but also somehow claustrophobic and rumblingly noisy - like an endlessly dull political debate taking place in a disused tubestation. This in fact ultimately hastened my exit, to the cosier confines of the East India.
The dinner was in fact very good. The Porterhouse (with chips) was very good and the wine, Chateau Pontet Canet, was excellent.
A comment on the staff - a little over attentive bordering on annoying. Slow to get the bill.
I'm not normally in this part of town, but if my esteemed partners see fit to take me again, I would not object. But it would have to be earlier than 7pm, to avoid the noise and tomb like claustrophobia. 7/10
- Richard St.Aubyns, Henley, UK, 13/10/2008 01:10
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The owner should seriously consider informing his staff that their rudeness and bad manners shouldn't be part of any restaurant experience and the food ... the bacon chop would have been thrown away as unfit to be served in the BHS Restaurant in Blackpool - over priced and bigged up by Fay M - his great great grandmother by any chance?
- David Walton, London, 13/10/2008 00:10
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Nice starters but £12 for cured salmon a little expensive. Wine list poor and expensive, £24 for a £4 bottle of Mendoza Cab Sav.
Mains beef ribs were sickly and 2 people only ate half, the sauce was just all wrong. The sides were OK except for the scallions, what a horrendous dish, a deep fried spring onion thing... so greasy had to send them back, all diners agreed they were foul, sort of thing that would be served from a stand on Tottenham Ct Rd at 4am.
If you had steak for a main it was £36 ex sides so at £4 a side that's £44 + 12.5% so £50 for a steak, well we're talking wagu beef for that.
Room 5c too hot as well, I needed an iced bowl for my feet. Felt bloated all night even though only eating a starter and half a main.
Also the hard sell gets very irritiating, constantly pushing things on you.
Overall for the money it was rubbish and an unpleasant experience. When you can go to St John over the road you would never choose Hix again.
- Philip H, Oxford, 13/10/2008 00:10
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I cannot understand the above customer reviews, except that if Hix has taken them on board and made some changes: I was there on 30th Sept 08, and it was fantastic.
The dining room was the perfect temperature, we were eating early (7pm) so it wasn't too busy, but even as it filled up, it was never uncomfortable.
The staff were excellent, very informed, helpful and friendly. Yes, when asked for suggestions they tended towards the more expensive items on the menu, but that's to be expected - but I'm willing to believe that it wasn't entirely for mercenary purposes - the more expensive dishes are perhaps the more interesting and special.
I was part of a party of 8, celebrating my stag night (I'm marrying a vegetarian, so Hix's was the obvious choice!) and as such we all got to try most of the signature dishes on the menu. Oysters to start (my first try - amazing) the Porterhouse steak, something with a rib, a selection of pork... all was absolutely amazing. We even had a side of grilled puffball mushroom, which was excellent.
As for the price, this is very carefully sourced food, cooked to perfection by one of the best chefs in the country. With 4 bottles of wine, cocktails, a couple of oysters each, and some of the most expensive items on the menu, it came to about £67 a head. I think this is perfectly reasonable, and will be back at the earliest opportunity, through probably not with my new (vegetarian) wife!
- Derek, London, UK, 13/10/2008 00:10
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The service here is so poor and chaotic that it seriously spoils your evening. Several tables are badly placed, so that you have waiters rushing past at speed. This, together with noise levels and the feeling that some customers are rather more welcome than others, makes a meal here a rather expensive endurance test. And we didn't think the food was worth it either.
- Lynne Friedli, London, England, 13/10/2008 00:10
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At Hix's last night and the food was excellent. The steak in particular had fantastic flavour. The restaurant has a style, the menu was great and the atmosphere good.
It took a little longer than I was comfortable with to get served but that was a minor point.
I ordered a rare, my companion a medium rare fillet steak. The excellent warm bread and superb pork scratchings had made any stater decision redundant.
The steaks and vegetables arrived and we served ourselves. It all looked wonderful. Steak knives are not provided - perhaps the steaks are tender enough not to need such an implement but they would have made life easier. But cutting my steak it was clearly not rare and I had to cut away towards the bone to get any pink flesh. I compared with my companion's steak and they looked identical. I called the duty head waiter over and she agreed it was not rare.
The procession that followed was bizarre and undermined my enjoyment of the meal. The owner, the head waiter and our individual waiter all came to the table one at a time, one after another on at least 3 occasions each being over attentive, the owner exclaiming the steak was rare but he would let me have another one but insisted on returning the 1st one to prove his point, which it didn't. We were fussed over to an extent that made us feel we had caused a major incident. We felt we had paid for it big time. Finally I asked to be left alone and our waiter immediately returned to ask yet again if all was OK! Great shame
- Steve Hitchins, London UK, 13/10/2008 00:10
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The opposing contrast in reviews from an established critic and mere paying customers makes one wonder if they were eating at the same restaurant. The review base is too small to be really relevant, but the contrast is none the less significant. The ordinary reviews will make me think twice about going now
- Michael, London, 13/10/2008 00:10
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