Triumphantly answering the age-old question of ‘where does the best steak in town?’.
Porterhouse Butcher and Grill (NE1 7AF) has been absent from this site for the longest time, which is insane because every time we visit, it often sets a new bar in terms of ‘I didn’t know that ingredient could be that good’. To paint a picture, it’s part of the ‘safe hands’ 21 Group, and is located within the swish Fenwick Food Hall. There is salt chamber aged beef by the kilo, and sections on the menu for ‘big guns’ and ‘big cuts’.
It’s a sister restaurant to Saltwater Fish Co. and the two restaurants semi-share a kitchen. They have a great interplay, bouncing off a philosophy of ‘we cook what we sell, and we sell what we cook’ as they’re respectively a fishmonger and butchers that happen to also have well-staffed kitchens. Quality produce, relatively simply cooked tends to be the 21 way, and more often than not proves highly successful.
As the name implies, Porterhouse is all about the meat. It is the local tour de force in beef. The website boasts:
We make no apology for saying we aim to work only with the best products, from Himalayan salt-aged beef to organic Wagyu.
Which really says it all.
If you’re gonna sniff at a £50 steak, get back to Wetherspoons and enjoy their leather wafers instead because Porterhouse unfortunately won’t be for you. But that’s a shame, because to really understand quality produce, you have to try something like this. That said, a meal here will dent your wallet somewhat.
Much like Saltwater is the place to go for a £90 Grand Fruits de Mer, you can easily drop £100+ on a sizeable side of cow for two here. Splurge on 2 tbsp of Ossetra caviar at £85. Wanna add half a grilled lobster to your steak? Of course, you treat yourself hun. But when it’s this good… At a time when I’m consciously eating less meat, I sleep better knowing that when I do choose to devour a hunk of cow or pig, at least it’s a well looked after one.
As much as there is a familiar ‘steakhouse’ menu, with sirloins and fillets, and burgers, chips and a mixed grill, a trip to Porterhouse for me is about just seeing what’s on the specials and rolling with it. Like this pork plate above. The pork chops at Porterhouse are absolutely next-level bricks of gnarly flame-licked fat and juicy pig, and are worth a visit alone.
I kicked off my birthday this year with steak tartare £13 — sadly one of a small handful of restaurants in the North East where you can even get the classic, never mind a fine example of it like this. Maybe little mustard heavy for some, but I dig that. Plentiful sourdough bread made by the 21 group section is as 🔥 as you’d expect.
Fine AF meat is one thing, but it’s gotta be cooked right. Enter Head Honcho Chris Eagle – making the leap from one of my other favourite restaurants to come and sear meat here. Pair up with a charcoal Josper grill, and you’ve got a tried and tested recipe for success. See what they did to this rib-eye.
It’s a slab from the salt chambers of legendary butcher Peter Hannan. Now I’d thought this was perhaps a marketing gimmick, but it is a step-change in flavour and a superb way to age and intensify beef. Salty, and powerfully flavoured, fat mostly rendered, some proper crusty bits — the best steak I’ve had in a long, long time. All steaks come with my two mustards and my favourite, béarnaise as well 😍
I’ve been thinking about this steak for weeks now. That good.
The wine list goes right up to ‘serious’. But honestly, the house wines from Georges Duboeuf (house wine at 21 group for over 30 bloody years) are cracking and our go-to. The Fenwick connection means the whole experience is well-oiled and refined too. Think like a brighter, blingy-er Geordie Hawksmoor and you’re almost there.
I’ve deliberately only included the carnal bits-of-animals photos here because that is what Porterhouse is all about. We’ve had goose rillettes, a mega Basque black pudding with duck eggs and anchovies, and that cottage pie below. To use a cliche like ‘hearty’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. When a £100 steak isn’t (understandably) within range, this for ~£15 should tickle your fancy. Similarly, you could get a teaser with a minute steak & eggs for less than £20. Meanwhile, Gino D’Acampo is selling veal Milanese for £28 down the road…
The fact that it’s in a department store does take a bit of shine off, much like the fact that a bill will tend to be triple figures. But there’s a hell of a lot to love about Porterhouse. Whether you choose oysters or a bang-on seafood soup from Saltwater to start, or finish with some understated elegance like a crème caramel or ice cream and a shot of PX, you’ll be hard pushed to leave without feeling like you’ve had something superb.
You’ll just not find meat like this in Newcastle. Go for a treat. Annoy yourself for a couple of weeks remembering how good it was. Yearn to go back.
Contact: porterhousencl.co.uk
Food hygiene rating: 5/5
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