Six of One - A Cut Above
Six of One - A Cut Above
Fine Cut Butchers and Steakhouse, plus five other restaurants to try in London this week
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Six of One is a column dedicated to London restaurant recommendations. In each newsletter, we send out a tip from six writers for six different restaurants, bakeries, cafes or takeaways that deserve to be better known.
You can find the full Six of One back catalogue below:
Polentina and five other recommendations; Inihaw plus five; Kulcha Express plus five; Triple One Café plus five; Samak Seafood plus five; Lakehouse Hungarian; Restaurant plus five; Salteñas Martin plus five; Best Foods Supermarket plus five; Thenga Cafe plus five; Charcoal Champ plus five; and Chai Kadai plus five.
Today’s recommendations are from Gavin Cleaver, Hester van Hensbergen, Luke Pyenson, Isaac Rangaswami, Kate Roselli and Zahra Al Asaadi.
1. Fine Cut Butchers and Steakhouse
When I tell people I live in Bermondsey, they immediately think of White Cube, of summer nights at José, sandwiches at 40 Maltby Street, you get the idea. I must clarify that I live in south Bermondsey, a decidedly different locale blessed with, it’s fair to say, fewer restaurants of that type. Pockets have been carved out in recent times though. Zionly Manna moved up from Peckham and Café Cuisine supports Jonathan Nunn’s rule that every Ethiopian restaurant in London is good, even if it’s still centred around the stretch of choked traffic on Southwark Park Road.
This is a long way of saying that great places are sprouting here in an unlikely setting. And there is no setting less likely in south Bermondsey than the Brazilian steakhouse behind a small door at the back of Fine Cut Butchers, itself up a dead end behind a Millwall pub. If this was Hackney, the restaurant would be a speakeasy. Thankfully, it isn’t, so it’s not.
It’s also very, very good. Run by a Brazilian and Italian couple, Keila and Flavia, a unique menu swings wildly from grilled chicken hearts to caprese salad and back again, but you’re mainly here for the skewers and steaks. The classic picanha, charred on the grill at the back of the tiny restaurant, arrives sizzling and with a Brazilian flag planted in it. I can only implore you to get the tropeiro beans and the feijao as sides, and when Keila asks if you want the hot sauce, you should say yes. Apparently, the hot sauce is a family secret and after many enquiries they’re going to start selling it out the front in their very large butcher shop. Only have a very, very small bit of hot sauce at a time. It is pure Scoville.
It’s worth booking in advance because quite a few other people have found this wooden room out the back of a butcher’s as well. Who needs 40 Maltby Street? (I still need 40 Maltby Street.) Gavin Cleaver
51 Blue Anchor Lane, SE16 3UL