Hawksmoor Knightsbridge

If you take your steaks seriously, you'll likely know about Hawksmoor, the group that started in London, expanded to various UK cities and is now a success story across the pond in New York and Chicago. This Knightsbridge address, just off the Brompton Road artery, is a big old space with a moody Art Deco finish that looks the part for a high-end steakhouse where prices are steep (especially for those with big appetites) and chips of various kinds are extra. The menu includes an illustration revealing where each cut of beef comes from on the animal – from ribeye to D-rump – and blackboards display what's on offer by weight on the day (1kg T-bone anyone?). The beef itself is from British farms, grass-fed, dry-aged and cooked over coals, but there are other options if you're so inclined such as South Coast monkfish flamed over those hot coals, and one veggie main course (ricotta dumplings with peas, broad beans and asparagus, maybe). Fresh British seafood is well represented among starters: half a Dartmouth lobster with garlic butter, Shetland mussels cooked in white wine, charcoal-roasted scallops and so on. Hawksmoor's highly rated Sunday lunch is as classically appealing as you might hope for (complete with perfectly timed, succulent meat carved from a whole rump of aged beef), while desserts might range from sticky toffee pud to yoghurt and lemon cheesecake. The wine list will appeal to high rollers with its selection of fine vintages, although there are slim pickings below £40 for the rest of us.