The Kitty Hawk arrived in Moorgate a mere few months back, but appears to have landed on its feet. Just a stone’s throw from Moorgate station (provided you can throw stones at a velocity that perforates adjoining buildings…) The Kitty Hawk boasts one of the nicest interiors we’ve seen and a formidable selection of steak. Having heard good things from friends who’d already visited, Jack went down to take a look…
Rating:
Cuisine:
Modern European Steak House
Appeals To:
Moorgate wine drinkers and deep thinkers looking for a warm wooden place to imbibe and catch up. Businesspeople with people to impress, impressive expense accounts and expensive tastes. People in nice shirts, the kind of folks who take steak very seriously, super high end office parties, fans of British food with a European twist. And of course, anyone who ever wanted to watch their dessert set on fire in front of them…
In a Word
Polished
‘Department Store Dining’
Stepping into the still new and shiny Kitty Hawk, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘polished’ – looking at some of those marble and hardwood surfaces, quite literally. Kitty Hawk’s beautiful interior design comes courtesy of Russell Sage Studio – exposed ceilings but aged glass and expensive furnishings create a contrasting but well executed ‘industrial chic’. I wish I had taken more/some interior shots, it is quite beautiful here.
The Kitty Hawk can be found on South Place – inside a huge setting spanning what appears to be a good 3 numbers of South Place sites – right up in the heart of the City.
The design of everything appears to be meticulously thought through – with menus and typography to match, and colour branding consistent across all things printed and physical. In terms of presentation, The Kitty Hawk certainly comes close to ‘fancy restaurant’, though as the menu will show later – it’s not taken the fine dining approach when it comes to the actual food. Fancy but not too fancy.
Upstairs and downstairs appear to be arranged into bar and restaurant respectively. I spend very little time upstairs, but on my way out I notice an open fire on one of the tables! I’ve never seen THAT in a restaurant before. As you can imagine, people are drinking beer around it… Moorgate cavemen?
Wait staff wear bow ties, evoking a little of the 20th century. We are served by an excellent young Italian chap with the name of Davide – he has a kind face and a strong accent. In terms of service, it’s mainly good though there are some teething troubles – they forget my wilted spinach.
As for the Clientele? Mainly well dressed City types (though you’d expect this on a Monday evening in Moorgate). Background music plays at such a volume that only the bassline can be heard. Throughout the whole evening I am unable to make out anything apart from The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rappers Delight’.
The Food and Drink
Prices? Not eyewatering but more expensive than a lot of the local competition. As I say, the Kitty Hawk is quite fancy – but not fancy enough to make my lower-middle class self hugely uncomfortable. The cocktail menu is streamlined and gin centric, whereas the wine list sprawls immensely, boasting respectable selection of craft beers and cider on cask and rotation. If you were just to look at the drinks menu, ‘wine bar’ may come to mind.
As for food? The steak (…truly a thing in which the Kitty Hawk takes pride), is where things get pricey. If you’re feeling particularly debauched you could splash out £77 on a 32oz Tomahawk Steak (to share?). Failing that, aim a little lower and settle on a £64, 20oz Cote de Boueuf. Alternatively, order a whole suckling pig at £35 a head (with a minimum of 10 people, and 48 hours notice)
On the main part the food doesn’t seem to fit a particular regional style, so I quickly/lazily lump it into the category of ‘Modern European Steakhouse.’
I feel like my days of singlehandedly demolishing huge meat dishes are behind me – so I opt for a sharing platter and some salmon – both of which turn out to be sound (though not great) choices.
Aperitif / bread and oil
This comes complimentary to start with. Bread is OK – standard ‘crusty rustic’, the olive oil however is fantastic, a dark yellow gold colour so rich with flavour. We eat all of it and then run out of bread…
Mezze Board
This is a pretty reasonable proposition when split between two people, though when you consider the portions – a little the pricey side. The smoked duck breast and torn burrata are a very nice touch, though I’m not too sure how I feel about the grilled aubergine – which has a metallic taste to it.
British Duck Egg
I order a duck’s egg and am a little disappointed – I suppose I was expecting something more than a giant hen’s egg. Though this is perhaps more a reflection on my antipathy towards fried eggs of any variety. The yolk keeps its consistency nicely, as the white spills out over the sides of the plate. Not bad, I wonder if they’d do it poached?
Seared Scottish Salmon
Again, I’m somewhat apathetic about this. The salmon is certainly not bad, but lacks that wonderful creaminess and character that you can coax out of a tasty piece of salmon. In terms of presentation, I guess they were going for ‘sparse’. It feels like it needs something of a different colour to keep it company.
The sauce it sits is something like a saffron béarnaise, reminding me of the kind of sauce that the Spanish serve with albondigas . It works quite well with the salmon and on its own, I end up using what remains of my bread (refilled) to absorb the rest of it
Wilted Spinach with Nutmeg
Not quite so buttery as some of the other wilted spinach I have been treated to in my life, the nutmeg taste is nicely balanced with whatever oil or butter they’ve cooked it in. As I say, it’s kinda soggy – I actually have to let it drain off and I’m not too keen on that! The taste is fine, and the nutmeg is a lovely touch – but they really need to work on the texture for this one.
Honey-roasted root vegetables
All things considered, it’s pretty hard to mess up honey roasted root veg and these deliver nicely. As with anything roasted and then rubbed with honey they’re pretty rich, so the portion size is just perfect. Sweet but not too sweet, rooted in earth – none survives…
Battered cod
Yet another take on the humble battered cod. As battered cod goes, this is pretty impressive – the photograph doesn’t do the presentation justice, but it is everything you’d want out of a piece of battered white fish. The accompanying side portion of chips are just OK, and relatively small at that. Still, as a nation we probably eat too many chips, so I suppose I have no beef (…cod?) with this.
Fruit Flambé
This flambé is prepared on some kind of mobile cooker where you get to watch Davide basically incinerate your final course (don’t worry. It’s a great piece of food theatre. One of the better immolated desserts I’ve had. Split between the two of us, the portion is just right. It’s neither too sweet nor too boozy, the meringue pieces posing a little olfactory and textural question for your mouth to answer. Naaaaice…
Blueberry and Lemon Smash
This is one of their virgin cocktails. They make a tiny little cap of ice on the top of the cocktail, in which they place blueberries and raspberries. Beautiful…
The Verdict:
There are certain places that you take people you need to impress (preferably with expense account) – some of them have cultivated an air of exclusivity, some have not. Despite its sheer ‘slickness’, The Kitty Hawk is friendly, modern and inviting.
An excellent (and highly polished) showcase for the state of British cuisine. If I were to return I would like to put the various other ‘departments’ to the test (i.e the coffee bar / patisserie, and what appears to be a very well stocked bar…)
All in all, a first rate dining experience that may or may not be worth the price premium. I’d certainly return to see what the steak is like…
The Details:
11,13,14 South Pl, London EC2M 7EB
http://www.thekittyhawk.co.uk/
020 3319 9199