Being on my fitness journey, I have learnt that being healthy is not about restricting yourself or cutting out foods, it’s about making better food choices but also allowing yourself to eat freely from time to time. That is what makes healthy eating more sustainable.
I don’t believe in all the ‘clean eating’ stuff, I’m more of the flexible IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) eating kinda gal. 🙂 Even sometimes macro counting goes out of the window for me. I still make conscious decisions to watch my carb intake – not because I don’t want to eat a lot of carbs – but because of my gestational diabetes diagnoses in both pregnancies I just want to err on the cautious side of things.
Last week I visited this lovely new steak restaurant, Beefeater Woolwich. Woolwich Arsenal has undergone a series of redevelopments to sass up the area. Not a bad thing as it’s nice to bring fresh people to the area but I can’t help feeling like eventually my lovely rough-around-the-edges town will become fully gentrified. Last year’s Marks and Spencer relaunch was nice to witness because there’d always been an M&S in Woolwich so it was welcomed back with open arms. However I am not so sure if the same can be said for some of the other new food places that have cropped up there.
First Impressions
Beefeater in Woolwich is located on the main road underneath its Premier Inn hotel counterpart. I suppose quite a few of the hotel residents would dine here are its the closest restaurant to the hotel (Nandos is second) that opens late enough for food in Woolwich. From the outside, the restaurant looks quite modest and blends in well with the surroundings, only the giant signage gives away their location. My table was booked for 6:30pm and by then it was already dark outside so luckily the brightly lit sign helped me find my way to the restaurant entrance.
I went along as a lone diner as my dining partner (my sister) had to drop out at the last minute. I didn’t mind but felt a little apprehensive because I have never really dined alone and just had visions of being seen as a loner whilst everyone else was sitting with their friends and family eating, laughing and having fun. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t that bad. I was greeted by a lovely member of staff who escorted me to my table. I told her I was dining alone and she sat me opposite the open kitchen and said that the booth is popular with people who dine alone and work/business diners who need to use their laptops whilst lunching/dining. That made me feel a little bit more at ease.
The interior decor has a modern rustic look with wooden panels and a mix of leather sofas and fabric chairs. I really liked the industrial-inspired lighting and beef cuts hanging decoration. I also loved my view of the open kitchen, I would definitely ask to be seated in the same place I sat.
The Menu
From hindsight, the options I chose may not appeal to everyone but I really enjoyed my dishes. After speaking with my sister, she made a big deal about not combining seafood with steak – I didn’t know that was even a thing but there you go. Lesson learnt. The food was good, the portions were very generous and the price was affordable. I would definitely recommend Beefeater Woolwich to anyone who is local, travelling to the area or staying nearby. It’s our first steak restaurant in the area and I am sure they will become a popular choice for families wanting to eat out.
The Food
As soon as I was sat down, the host took my drinks order; I don’t drink so just went for a diet cola and a glass of water. For starters, I ordered the garlic prawn pan – I really fancied something not too heavy and you can’t really go wrong with grilled prawns. The starter took about 7-10 mins to arrive and it was lovely, hot and well presented.
The prawns were cooked well, not overdone nor under-cooked and I used the bread to dip the sauce that was in the pan. It tasted fresh and slightly buttery, I couldn’t really taste the garlic so my suggestion would be not to be scared of using a bit more to bring out the garlic flavour – after all, it is called garlic prawn pan. It took me 5 minutes or less to demolish the dish. I was hungry. It tasted good and I wanted more. There was decent amount of prawns in there and not a measly amount like 3-4 prawns which you can sometimes get in other restaurants. My plates were cleared relatively quickly by my waitress as I waited for my main course. I opted for the Beefeater Surf ‘n’ Turf with the prawn and lobster sauce and swapped my triple-cooked chips for sweet potato chips.
“All our steaks are served with half a slow-roasted tomato, grilled mushroom, Lamb’s lettuce and unlimited triple cooked chips.” Beefeater menu
I had my steak cooked medium-well and it came out beautifully. The steak was tender, juicy and not bloody at all but still nice and pinkish inside. The king prawns were also very tasty but less can be said for the prawn and lobster sauce. I knew I should’ve chosen the peppercorn sauce but wanted to be different. All I could think was the saying “stick to what you know” because that really would’ve been the best option. The sauce didn’t taste much like prawn or lobster but more of just a mild creamy sauce. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t fantastic either. The flavour of the sauce was just not strong enough.
I ordered creamed spinach as a side which I’ve had at restaurants before and loved but this time it was a little more overdone than I would’ve liked. The spinach did not have the texture as I was used to – it was more like an okra texture – good thing I love okra! I’ve never tried making creamed spinach but I guess it’s not easy as it would be so easy to overcook spinach. It was still tasty nevertheless so it didn’t bother me too much.
The grilled mushroom was amazing – the taste was lovely and cooked perfectly. I didn’t think the mushroom would taste that nice but it did! The sweet potato chips were nice but I wished they were presented in a small bowl instead of on the main plate. I love chips that have a crunch on the outside but about 80% of my chips were either soggy or soft due to the moisture of them. Perhaps sweet potato chips soak up more juice than triple-cooked chips so I don’t think other diners would have the same problem. If I had this dish again I would ask for my chips to be served in a separate bowl. I left the salad leaves and grilled tomato as I’m not a fan of them but they looked tasty and fresh.
I was really full after finishing the main course. I did really struggle to eat all of my chips but ate the majority of them because I don’t like to waste food and didn’t want to be hungry when I got home. I had to think twice about ordering dessert and was stuck between choosing the lighter chocolate torte and the chocolate brownie. With the recommendation of the host, I went for the brownie. Calorie and macro counting had already gone out of the window by now so I wasn’t bothered – I just wanted something nice and sweet to end my evening.
The host gave me some breathing time before taking my dessert order which was great. It gave my belly enough time to settle and make some room for something sweet. 🙂 When the brownie arrived it looked amazing, it was very well presented. The chocolate brownie slice was of a generous portion and so was the ice cream. The chocolate sauce drizzle looked so pretty and executed with precision. I tucked into my brownie and was not disappointed.
The brownie was rich, soft and moist on the inside and slightly firmer on the outside – like how brownies should be. The ice cream was very milky and mildly vanilla flavoured which complimented the richness of the brownie. A well-balanced dessert I thought. A coffee would’ve been great for after dessert but as I was getting tired, I decided to skip the coffee and head off home.
My verdict?
I like this place. It’s good food, well priced for its portion size and has a lovely family-friendly atmosphere. I would definitely go back again.
Manny.Wandering | The Wandering Mother Blog 
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