Steak restaurants have never appealed to me, and I'm rarely enthused by chains. So how have I ended up writing about the steak restaurant chain founded by Charlie Carroll back in 2012?
At the end of a day with an itinerary that solely comprised things I'd really rather not have been doing, we found ourselves at the pub. A few lagers in, we were hungry. Save money and go home? Or head somewhere else for food?
It dawned on me that the closest restaurant to both pub and home was a branch of Flat Iron. In a decision-making process that resembled pulling off the motorway into a Welcome Break, just to escape a terrible traffic jam, we decided to throw all caution to the wind and opt for the nearest opportunity to rescue the day from another crap moment. Sometimes you just need to sit at a table, with a plate of food, and you're not too bothered what might be on it.
I've been making a conscious effort to try all the restaurants within a small radius of where we live. And I'd already realised a few weeks before that I'd never actually been into any of the many Flat Irons that are now scattered across London - let alone the one by our house - despite being founded by the bloke who created the most-hyped restaurant opening in decades; The Devonshire. This felt like the moment to try it.
This was a Sunday night in 2026. Once upon a time, and not even very long ago, you'd never have been able to tell which day it was from how busy a London restaurant was. But these days, Sundays can be brutally dead. Not so here.
Following an extremely friendly welcome at the door, we passed by packed tables, around a corner into another full section of diners, and to a table for two in a window clad with potentially-pretentious-although-not-unwelcome bistro curtains. Tap water, and an enamel cup of beef-dripping and thyme popcorn placed on a placemat-cum-menu. Ignoring my instinct to groan at the mid-2010s choice of metal crockery and meat-cleaver cutlery, this was good. I was hungry, and I could eat right now.
This is very much a 'do one thing well' menu. And within a minute, a keen-yet-professional waiter appeared to ask if we wanted a drink. Yes, we did. Two margaritas at £9 each verges on half-price these days. Drinks arrived quickly, and our server was back. He asked if we had any questions about the menu. We did. Surprised, he posed the key question, "Have you been to Flat Iron before?" No, we hadn't. His eyebrows could scarcely hide his surprise. More recent enquiries to my own friends have given me the realisation that this was like answering, in the mid 2000s, that you hadn't been to Nando's before.
Nonetheless, he explained everything perfectly. More crucially, he had actually eaten all of the dishes before. Recently, in a significantly more expensive restaurant, I'd asked for a wine recommendation only to be told "I don't know, I've never tried them". Perhaps London is setting a low bar these days, but this was refreshing. Especially in a restaurant that's only charging about £15 for a main course. I thought it best to opt for the 'Flat Iron Steak'; my dining partner chose the Green Chilli Cheeseburger. For sides, we picked the crispy bone marrow mash, chips, and all the sauces on the menu.
Now, I'd normally blanch at the absence of a plate, but at least this is a steak restaurant. I suspend my propensity to scoff at the fact that the mains arrive on boards. Because frankly, there was nothing to scoff at. The meat was cooked perfectly (I'd asked for rare), the balance of gouda and chilli sat perfectly on top of the beef burger, the bone marrow was honestly the nicest mash I'd ever eaten, and the chips were exactly what you'd want.
To Drink
Tony's Margaritas
To begin
Beef-dripping & Thyme-salt Popcorn
The main event
Flat Iron Steak
Green Chilli Cheeseburger
Pudding
Tahitian Vanilla & Butter Ice Cream
Food: £43.20
Drinks: £18
Service:£7.63
Total for two: £68.83
Could it be - in this format of restaurant I don't really like, with a number of outlets that usually puts me off - that I was actually enjoying myself?
Everything about this experience had seriously surpassed expectations. Particularly, the staff's knowledge of cuts of meat and the ingredients in the dishes. Highly satisfied, we asked for the bill. Including service, this meal for two, with drinks, cost just £68. This is staggeringly good value-for-money. And, I suspect, cheaper than Nando's. Except, on account of being a Flat Iron luddite, I hadn't factored in the final surprise.
Once again (apparently embarrassing myself for having let this cultural staple pass me by), I had to ask why we were being presented with two Monopoly-piece-style meat cleavers. "These are for the ice cream! It's Tahitian vanilla and butter ice cream. You get it on the way out". I can scarcely believe I'm about to say this, but it's some of the nicest ice cream I've ever eaten. Now look, of course, this is an excellent strategy for turning around as many tables as possible. But, this is an execution of conveyor-belt-restauranting that somehow doesn't feel like you're being rushed out the door.
Casual dining has an important place in society. I passionately believe that everyone, on every income, has the right to enjoy quality time with friends and family, and affordable restaurants in every part of the country are the key to ensuring that privilege is afforded to as many as possible. But concepts like the thankfully-defunct Jamie's Italian let the side down, and so instilled in me an aversion to any restaurant brand that I spy too frequently. Private Equity largely spoiled and sanitised small family restaurants like Côte, which once upon a time only had three branches, all in Central London. But it serves me right for turning my nose up at Flat Iron. I would have eaten here sooner, and I'd eat here again.
It's worth noting that a lot of our fellow diners were in their early 20s, a generation that has been robbed of affordable nights out. Thank goodness there's still somewhere to go on a student budget, where the food is good, and the servers are well-trained. However, only a year ago, a controlling stake (sorry) was taken by McWin Capital Partners and TriSpan. Let's hope they aren't about to ruin it.
★★★★☆ 4/5
Flat Iron Waterloo
41-45 The Cut, London SE1 8LF flatironsteak.co.uk
