GOODMAN – Maddox Street, London 0

As I sit here to write this entry I cannot help but to literally drool at the mouth. Apologies. I mean that really is disgusting. But it’s the honest to god truth.

Put simply, Goodman is a prime example of why I love to eat out. Let me start at the beginning…..

A good friend of ours has been trying to get my husband and I to eat here for a while. The only reason we hadn’t yet gone was clashing schedules. I’m always keen to try out a recommendation from a dear friend. In fact, I become even more keen to try a place when someone says how good it is or how much I’ll love it – it almost makes it a challenge!

So last night was the night. I arrived at Goodman, (nestled in Maddox Street, London, just behind Regent Street) excited and filled with anticipatory delight! Despite having been to a trillllllllion restaurants before and having been let down a billlllllion times, it’s just the way I am when I walk in the door – I always like to give a place the benefit of the doubt by coming in with a positive attitude….

The chocolatey, warm, woody interior is the perfect backdrop for this little gem.  I felt a million miles out of the fast-paced city that realistically only lay about 20 metres away. On route to our table I passed 3 staff, each with a huge grin on their face – friendly and uber-professional – what a change for London! (refer to: The Ripe Tomato review!)

I sat down, and because I was running late, my husbies had taken the liberty of ordering for me – SALMON CARPACCIO – did someone say death from happiness on a plate!?! Oh sorry – I just thought they must have because that is EXACTLY what arrived in front of me. A gorgeous rainbow of colours created by elegantly scattering tomato seeds, passion fruit and Cornish sea salt over the most deliciously paper-thin salmon that I have ever eaten. Whiffed it up both nostrils in 4 milliseconds and then made a joke to the waitress about it not having had arrived and could she please hurry up and bring it to me!

The boys all had the Beef Carpaccio, which was served with basil cress, shaved parmesan, aged balsamic and olive oil – and was equally pretty to look at and delicio-so in the mouth!

For mains – we all went traditional. MEAT MEAT MEAT….. There were 4 of us – 3 of us had the Goodman Rib-Eye (400g of 120 day grain fed USDA Prime Beef) and the other one had the New York Strip Steak (350g). We each asked for our meat cooked to a different degree and every one was absolutely spot on. My Rib Eye was ,without a question, the most tender, flavoursome, PERFECTLY cooked piece of meat that I have ever consumed…..and coming from the daughter of a butcher, that seriously says something.

I ordered the mushroom sauce to go with it – and believe me I am a sauces girl (I’d put sweet chilli sauce on my shoes if I was going to eat them) – but this piece of meat didn’t even need it. Being creamy and full of chunky mushrooms, I ate it of course, and cried from happiness, but if it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have missed it……In fact if my left leg wasn’t there I wouldn’t have missed it – I was in some sort of steak-like trance……a meat-munching daze……hypnotised. I think I still am.

Could this meal have gotten any better? No, of course not, BUT IT DID. The chips entered my mouth and I wept. Thick, chunky, hand-cut wedges of pleasure fried to perfection – crunchy and golden on the outside, fluffy like a pillow within. They disappeared before husbies got to taste one! In addition, the creamed spinach and asparagus were the perfect ‘palate cleansers’!!

Dessert was ordered by 2 of the 4 of us – Warm chocolate fondant with vanilla bean ice-cream (10/10 for gooey – volcanic centre) and Baked New York cheesecake with a berry compote (delicious base, made untraditionally from crushed almonds, we were told – something different and certainly very satisfying.)

………But the meat was the highlight. The Meat. The MEAT. THE MEAT. *Sighs*

In summation, the environment was very chilled and comfortable but smart enough to take someone there for a ‘special dinner’.  The service was with a smile. The staff were ultra-informed about what they were serving, nothing was a problem, they were speedy and efficient and extremely non-intrusive. The prices were very reasonable (our entrees were around £7 and the mains were around £27) and the food….well….god….haven’t you read what I’ve just written!?

Get yourself there. Get yourself there now, so that you too can drool all over your laptop when you feel compelled to shout from the rooftops of cyberspace just how bloody fantastic this place is!

Good one Goodman!