Review of Blacklock Soho
Moderation and variation are the key to living a healthy life, so instead of having my usual delicious slab of steak I decided to check out Blacklock’s “all in” which promised a roast of beef, pork and lamb.
Blacklock is a temple for simple pork, beef and lamb chops. However every Sunday they convert to the Mecca of traditional British roast. The roast is so popular, you need to book a table at least six weeks in advance to have any chance of securing a table.
On the day of the booking I woke, slightly hungover, to a blaring alarm clock. I stumbled into my clothes, cursing at the unholy hour and poor planning. I had booked Blacklock 8 weeks in advance and the only time available was 12:15pm. At the time that seemed like a good idea, but that involved getting out of bed and sauntering through Soho before midday.
After sauntering through Soho, the two of us arrived at Blacklock. We were amongst the first there and promptly demanded the drinks menu. Now the drinks menu is something to behold – it’s full of £5 cocktails including old fashioneds and corpse revivers. Since I needed reviving, I went for the corpse reviver, downed it all to fast and fuck me, I was so revived I promptly ordered an old fashioned to revive me a little less.
The sunday roast at blacklock consists of four options: Lamb leg, Pork Loin, Beef Rump or all three (called the “all in”). The all in is served for two people so you either need to be really hungry or have a buddy to split the meal with. I’m an all or nothing kind of person, so I went for the “all in”. We didn’t order starters, so sipped on our strong but cheap drinks until the roast arrived.
The roast arrived as a mountain of meat, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings. The Americans seated next to us were stunned at the size. The serving was simply huge. The lamb and beef were very good, both having a salty crust and cooked medium in the centre. The pork however was exceptional. Pork is usually my least favourite meat, but the roast pork loin served at Blacklock was easily the best of three types of meat and perhaps the best pork I have had in my life.
The roast came with excellent bone-marrow gravy, to help wash down the non meat parts of the roast, which included crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside roast potatoes, enormous yorkshire puddings and carrots. Blacklock doesn’t have much in the way of desserts so we went for another of their cheap cocktails. I left blacklock inebriated on meat and £5 cocktails.
The All-In option costs £20 per person while (most) cocktails are £5 each. It’s excellent food at an excellent price. I highly recommend Blacklock for the best roast in London.
