Meaty treats at Black and Blue

This review was first published in November 2000

Two dramatic flaming torches and the aroma of singed flesh greet you at Black And Blue, on the Notting Hill end of Kensington Church Street. This alerts you to the fact this is not a restaurant for the lily-livered.

It is the first new restaurant from Alan Bacon and Nick Hill since they launched the original Tootsies. Its first love is meat: organically reared Scottish beef from Donald Russell of Inverurie. (Since Smiths of Smithfield, it's become de rigueur to give your beef a CV.)

The décor is all hearty butchness, dominated by dark wood panelling; flourishes are limited to giant vintage Bovril posters and there's an aggressively lit bar. Don't come here expecting haute cuisine, that's not the idea - among the comfort starters you'll find a whole onion, chopped into a rough flower shape, dusted with flour and deep fried. Unsubtle and gorgeous. Butterfly prawns with sweet chilli dip were fine - a bit chip-shop - but all of this was an irrelevance compared with the main event.

The steaks are exceptional, packed with flavour and aged enough to give them that velvety texture on the tongue, which is just as well since there is not a great deal of choice (token gestures are made in the direction of chicken, but you just know it's there as an afterthought). Hamburgers aren't as good as Tootsies', but, hey, who cares? Expect to pay about £25 a head and stick to the steak.

Black & Blue
Kensington Church Street, London, W8 7LX