📍 The Coal Shed, London Bridge, London
The Coal Shed is perfectly located right by Potters Fields Park near London Bridge – a beautiful part of London with lots of bustling bars and restaurants. It was a cold wet January evening when we came here in celebration of Mikes birthday. We picked The Coal Shed because we’d heard so many good reviews, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint.
There was only one thing on the agenda for this evening – Steak and cocktails! We definitely came to the right place.
We knew to come here hungry and we absolutely were once we’d sat down. The smells of all the gorgeous food in the restaurant is enough to make your mouth water, and we quickly dived in to the menu.
Fairly extensive, and lots of choices of different cuts of steak which is always nice to see! We started with the Beef Short Rib Croquettes – really cripsy breadcrumbs on the outside and packed full of unctuous pull apart beef, a real delight! I had to try the Sticky Pork Belly too – served with Gochujang (a red Korean chilli paste with a nice kick) apple and radish. This was so tender, literally falling apart under my fork and the Gochujang finished the pork off with a nice little hum.
And then the steak came out… We’d both chosen our favourites once again after promising ourselves we’d do something a little different. I’m so glad we didn’t!
My Ribeye steak was perfection. Really beautifully cooked medium, and just a little under which is how I like it with nice griddle marks. A really big cut too I may add for the price (£26.00). There was a good piece of fat marbling right through the middle really adding to the flavour, and properly rendered. It wasn’t slimy or inedible but beautifully soft and butter like. Mike’s Sirloin steak was just as perfect. Obviously a smaller cut by look but just as thick as the Ribeye, cooked medium rare, it was so juicy and super tender in the center. Both really impressed at £25.00 for the Sirloin compared to the Ribeye. Obviously we had to choose the big fat Beef Dripping chips too! So crispy on the outside and super fluffy on the inside!
We had one of each sauce to pair with it all – Bearnaise, Peppercorn, Chimichurri and our favourite, the Korean BBQ sauce. Perfect for a little bit of extra oomph with your bites of steak and great for dippy chips!
Overall a really nice birthday meal here. Fantastic steak, we were surprised to find quite complex cocktail menu too, lots to choose from with some unusual pairing and flavours. We had absolutely no room for dessert here, although I’ve got my eye on the Fig Baked Rice when we come back. It was busy in there that Friday night, despite the cold and the awful weather that evening, and provided a warming and comfortable space for us to enjoy some fantastic food! We’ll be back for more steak for sure!!
