The ‘side’ in the blog title refers to my main meal choice – a substantially sized piece of sirloin steak. Going on the theme of the evening and in comparison to my fellow diners, it was more like a side dish.

After contemplating most of last week whether I should attempt the 1kg of steak challenge with the Man V Food crowd, my last minute decision to join the dinner in Waterloo did not disappoint – my bicycle on the other hand did. Cycling from East London to West on my 1980’s vintage Peugeot racer, the pedal snapped off. So, cycling from East London to West on my 1980’s vintage ‘one pedaled’ Peugeot racer, I managed to fight through the pain of my right leg to find Gillrays Steakhouse restaurant, located in the very grand Marriott Hotel on the South Bank.

I was greeted at the bar in the hotel by two of the diners Kim and Susie. It was great to see Kim again after our last, failed quest to tackle the Devastator burger at Red Dog Saloon. It was very nice to meet TableCrowd first timer Susie who was over from New York on a work placement in London for three years. We got talking and found our mutual liking for cycling (with two pedals) and winter sports snowboarding and skiing. A few moments later Dominic joined us at the bar, all the way from Singapore and in London for a short period, also at his first TableCrowd dinner, to make up our table of four.

Taking our seats at the table we realised what a great location the restaurant was in. The restaurant was close to the river, over shadowed by Big Ben and the millennium wheel.

The staff obviously didn’t realise one of the reasons why we were there, as they brought out complimentary Yorkshire puddings stuffed with cheese. Not the most helpful of foods to digest when you’re on a mission to eat 1KG of butter flied prime rib steak.

I was only the one not to order the 1KG of steak, mainly because of its price tag, that’s my excuse anyway, although I was close to changing my mind when Susie, who half my size, also decided to order the ‘Bulls Head.’ Feeling slightly inadequate, ordering my normal sized sirloin, I was however very excited to see what 1KG of beef steak actually looked like on a plate. It was huge. Dominic who spent a few years in South Africa said that steak of this quantity was a common theme in some restaurants in SA and occasionally, you would see even bigger cuts of meat.

photo by tikichris.com

photo by standard.co.uk

The overall verdict on the meat was that it was very tasty with the only criticism being, perhaps slightly fatty. However, the table decided that they would eat it again, not immediately after I would hope, especially since two of the plates were nearly clean (minus the bone and fat of course) and one of the steaks was in a doggie bag, ready for lunch the next day. Oh, my sirloin steak was delicious, thanks for asking, cooked perfectly to my medium specification and scoffed down with some delightful triple fried chips. We had a great choice of sauces to choose from as well, ranging from blue cheese sauce to your classic peppercorn sauce.

I’d like to finish by saying I had a great evening, conversation flowed and I very much enjoyed the company. The restaurant was most accommodating and relaxing. So if you fancy a more civilized food challenge get yourself to Gillrays for 1KG of steak, you won’t regret it, a great experience and I would highly recommend it.

Now, the most dreaded part of the evening, my 5.2 mile cycle to Victoria park with one pedal and full of food! Good luck.

If you want to take part in the next Man V Food dinner, join the Man V Food crowd here