Best Steak Restaurants In Covent Garden

While this spot is famed for its rich history in arts, it also happens to be the home of prime cuts of meat. Dotted around the piazza are eateries that used to provide electricity for London's Victorian Theatreland but now serve delicious surf and turf spreads. There's also a former brewery that pays homage to its predecessor's supper club traditions, which involved serving rib-eye to the Prince of Wales and Duke of York. Whether you're a chateaubriand fiend who loves sharing with friends or can't go wrong with a sirloin and a dash of chimichurri, we've compiled a guide to the best steak restaurants Covent Garden has to offer, so you don't have to.

Last edited by Kiera Chapman

Last updated on 23rd July 2024




Gaucho Covent Garden

Gaucho Covent Garden is a steak restaurant whose brand began in 1994 in London with the vision of bringing the best cuts from Argentina to the UK. Its meat comes from Argentinian, premium Black Angus cattle bred on hand-picked farms, and its food has a global influence that's evident throughout its menus. The Theatreland location is an extension of the Royal Opera House and channels the late-night spirit of Buenos Aires, featuring tango performances on Friday and Saturday nights. Whether you're looking for a pre-theatre set menu or a Sunday roast, quality is always on the cards. Speciality cuts include churrasco de chorizo, marinated in garlic, parsley and olive oil (£38 for 300g), and tira de ancho, slow-grilled with a layer of chimichurri (£52.50 for 400g), plus there are chateaubriands (£78.50 for 450g) to share. 

Balthazar

You'll be sure to find an excellent steak to stick your knife and fork into at French brasserie Balthazar. The elegant restaurant has a traditional Parisian feel, fronting gorgeous towering pillars, a back-lit bar crowned by dangling orbs of light and rich, red furnishings. You can find it standing tall on Russell Street and welcoming diners with its affordable fixed menus, as well as Wednesday jazz evenings and weekend brunches. As part of the prix fixe affair, you can get two courses for £24.50 which includes steak tartare: beef sirloin and egg yolk, served with crispy, golden frites, which is typically available for £19.50 on its own on the a la carte. Fillet de boeuf is also up for devouring for £33.95, paired with peppercorn sauce. 

Tuttons Vaults

On the east side of Covent Garden is Tuttons, one of the most famous, long-standing restaurants in the area, serving the very best of British produce. Upstairs, you'll find a cool dining area fronting ruby red leather booths, soft golden lighting and dark wooden floors, giving a classy diner feel. Below The Vaults are two private dining rooms that can accommodate up to 50 guests for a memorable experience. Alongside an extensive selection of wines is a menu that features tender cuts of steak, all served with fries. Choose from an 8oz fillet (£35.95), 8oz sirloin (£29.95) and a 14oz rib eye on the bone (£39.95) with either green peppercorn, bearnaise or garlic and tarragon butter to accompany. 

Boulevard Brasserie

Boulevard Brasserie has been serving delicious French food in its pretty restaurant since 1991 - with outside seating facing the Royal Opera House, it's slap bang in the middle of all the Theatreland action. It covers three floors, all inspired by Paris in the 1960s, with vintage posters fixed to the walls, long mirrors and crisp white tablecloths. On its journey through French gastronomy using seasonal ingredients, it explores the juicy, humble steak, serving class steak frites (£27.95), cote de boeuf alongside chunky chips (£37.95), fillet steak with dauphinoise potatoes (£33.95) and chateaubriand (£37.50). You can choose your sauce from a selection of garlic butter, peppercorn, Roquefort cream and bearnaise, too.

Temper Covent Garden

Located on Mercer Walk, temper is a restaurant that specialises in grilling meats over large fire pits in a giant wooden oven. It sources its rare breed, high welfare meat from one single farmer, Charles Ashbridge in North Yorkshire, and butchers and ages it in-house, making a conscious effort to be sustainable. The Covent Garden smokehouse features a large terrace, glossy blue tiles and leather seating, split across two floors. Alongside a lunch and dinner menu featuring burnt ends tacos and aged beef skewers, there's a prime cuts list that includes 28-day-aged cuts off and on the bone starting from £8.50 per 100g, and 60-day-aged ones from £11.50 per 100g. 

Palm Court Brasserie

Intimate and visually striking, Palm Court Brasserie recreates a classical 1920s art nouveau setting with blood-red panelling, arched mirrors and bundles of foliage as part of its chic dining space. With streetside seating overlooking the piazza as well, it's the ideal place to dine if you're looking to indulge in French classics while staying firmly in the heart of the city. The food served here is a selection of classical dishes made using fine ingredients and traditional cooking methods, such as moules marinières and duck confit. The steak frites is really where it's at though, and you can join the restaurant on Tuesdays in July and August to enjoy it for just £15 per person. All of its beef is individually sourced in partnership with the joint's personal butcher, and includes sauces such as bearnaise, peppercorn or garlic and herb butter to accompany. 

Christopher's

A popular American restaurant that was originally opened in 1991, Christopher's is made up of three spaces that are inspired by modern glamour. From the martini bar to the main dining room, there's a touch of elegance everywhere. It's housed in a Grade II-listed building which used to be a papier mâché factory before opening in 1870 as London's first licensed casino. Take a seat in the main space among tall ceilings and white tablecloths to explore a menu that covers the classics very well, including delicious cuts of steak served with your choice of bearnaise, chimichurri, peppercorn or blue cheese sauce. A rib-eye comes in at £38 for 170g, and you can indulge in a Japanese wagyu for £22 per 30g, with a 60g minimum.

Hawksmoor Seven Dials

We couldn't compile a guide and not feature Hawksmoor, London. Nestled in the old Watney-Combe brewery in Seven Dials, it's only a short walk from the station and can be accessed via a low-lit descent into a moody dining room, complete with exposed brick, towering pillars and glossy white tiles. The brewery's first owner, Alderman Combe, used to host an annual steak supper for London's finest, including the Prince of Wales and Duke of York, so there's a hefty tradition to live up to here. It's one that the restaurant can surely meat, thanks to its ethically sourced, prime cuts of beef. Devour chateubriand (£15 per 100g), porterhouse (£12.50g per 100g) and T-bone (£11.50 per 100g) here, as well as rump (£27) and rib-eye (£44) with sauces such as bone marrow gravy or anchovy hollandaise for an extra £4 each. And for sides? The beef dripping fries or chips are not to missed, alongside the creamed spinach and macaroni cheese.

Big Easy Covent Garden

The best steakhouse in Covent Garden? It has to be Big Easy. While more technically a lively grill centred around BBQ food, it also happens to serve some of the most to-die-for cuts of meat around. The building once used to provide power to the area in 1887 and the first eclectic lights in Victorian Theatreland, and today is still fitted out with the giant steel beams that used to support generators. Its nine-metre-long kitchen whips up East Coast lobster alongside quality beef steaks that are hand-cut every day. Opt for a Texas-spiced steak dinner for £29.50, which includes a thinly sliced piece marinated in spicy rub 'Southern Style', served alongside chunky chips and sour cream. Surf and turf is also an option here, with a 9oz sirloin steak and grilled jumbo shrimp on offer for £39.50.