3rd September 2019
Guest Review by Rob Nelson
When I order a steak in a restaurant I usually go for the cheapest type, as there can't be much difference between fillet, sirloin, rump etc, can there?
The event had around 40 attendees, seated in one section of the restaurant. There was also the butcher who supplied the restaurant with their meat and one of their chefs.
After a brief introduction, we were shown several different cuts of beef/ steak, which part of the animal they came from and the differences in the quantity and distribution of fat in the cut, which makes all the difference to the tenderness and taste. Apparently all beef supplied to Son Of Steak is derived from animals under 3 years of age, either heifers (female cattle which have never calved) or steers (male cattle who have been neutered). That helps ensure the meat is tender. We were shown how to prepare and cook: sirloin, picanha (which I had never heard of but which is very popular in South America and certainly was very tasty), as well as rump and flatiron, which is Son Of Steak's signature cut.
We were also shown the flatiron steaks being prepared, starting with a huge shoulder blade. The bone and gristle was expertly butchered to leave a slab of meat which was then cut into around 8 steaks. The surprise with the flatiron was that, once prepared, the waste product was around the same volume as that which was to be cooked. Some of the waste though goes to make gravy or other beef by-products. After each type of steak was prepared, it was cooked over charcoal, giving a distinctive smoky flavour; it was then distributed among the audience.
During the evening we were also treated to some of the restaurant's signature sides, including onion loaf, as well as the best brownies I've ever tasted, rich, chocolatey and moist with no hint of stodginess.
After the steak demonstration and tasting we were given a talk and demonstration by a chap called Tom, who has nearly two hundred thousand followers on Instagram (@tomsbigeats) for his food photos from around the world (now including Nottingham). Tom demonstrated that it's not about the size of cost of your camera that matters, it's getting the lighting and composition of the subject right.
While the event would have benefited greatly from the use of microphones, it was an informative evening and the brownies served were the icing on the cake.
I would certainly visit this restaurant again.
Rob Nelson
You can find Son of Steak at Trinity Square, Nottingham NG1 4AF. Tel: 0115 959 9585.
