The Grillshack is the new place where we can get together.
Grillshack, baby, grillshack. Review by Alan Greenhalgh.
Grillshack 61 – 63 Beak Street London W1
It’s a deceptively simple food concept as shown in this diagram:
Grillshack Soho – How It Works
Feeding my two loves, food and technology; review by Alan Greenhalgh.
Place your order now
The order stations are on the ground floor as you walk in and in the basement or you can order at the counter at the back under the bright neon sign. The flat screens are easy to use with an attached credit card reader – you’re the waiter now. But if you are feeling really lazy then download the mobile app, sign on to the free wifi and zap your order and paypal payment. Either way the food and drinks swiftly appear. The staff are incredibly quick and attentive. If you have the app you can pre book a table and you’ll get a message when the table’s free, much the same as ordering a take away – a screen tells you when the order is ready. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s about bloody time.
The shack shimmies with a 80s and 90s pop and hip hop vibe, bright yellow paints, 90 covers on park bench seats, glowing filament lamps and disturbingly dimly lit loos (next visit, the lights were up…shame now I come to think of it).
Oops we went a bit mad on the app… did you really mean to order so much? #Grillsnap
As for the food – fast, hot and tasty. Even though it’s a simple menu it’s got a lot on it. For mains the rump is juicy, a thin sliced quick grilled steak (£9.95) served on a tonne of shoestring fries and an okay butter, more barrio beurre than cafe de Paris. The cheeseburger is the best seller on the menu. Go for the double burger, not the single, because after tasting you’ll want more. The half chicken (£7.95) gets the thumbs up – tasty and a large half. For the sides, order the tasty French fries over the plainer shoestring; the grilled mini corns (£2.95) are delicious, sprinked with fresh lime, just watch out for a full mouth of salty cheese if the dressing hasn’t melted in. The radish slaw is a little bit KFC-sweet. Beer comes in a two pint jug (£11) it’s bright – the brewer was asked to decloud the beer – and served ice cold; red and white wines in a half litre carafe (£9.25), water is on tap and free refills on hot and cold drinks. Cutlery and napkins in a tin pot and sauces just out of reach on a station by the kitchen – the jalpeno sauce was more like a French dressing BUT the chipotle was sour and spicy – a real winner this one.
It’s so reasonably priced and so slick on opening night as to make any criticism churlish. There is the guiding hand of billionaire restaurateur Richard Caring, who did great things at Cote and Bill’s and now making a success of it here. Chef Mark Askew and operations director Hannah Bass are running the joint with the lovely front of house ops manager, Katie and cute Dan and Chantelle waiting on.
Like many things in Soho, the interesting things come in a plain paper package. The ice cream sandwich (£2.95) is chocolate heaven, in fact, triple chocolate heaven in the shape of a large cookie filled with vanilla ice cream delivered in bag. A real treat.
ice cream cookie sandwich at grillshack
And so it’s over and we are huggin’ and a kissin’
Dancin’ and a lovin’ at the Grillshack.
It’s definitely the place to get together, and with that technology what’s to stop us buzzing the next table?
Address:
61–63 Beak Street
London, W1F 9SL
view location in Google Maps
Mon-Sat: 8am until 11pm
Sun: 10am until 10:30pm
UPDATED LOOK 2014
New Look – Snapped in March 2014
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