MASH

We popped into MASH for late night cocktails after dinner and a wander round Lumiere festival.
Tucked away two floors below street level, and on a quietish Sunday night, MASH had quite a secretive & illicit vibe. The venue itself is majestic, with two flights of red carpeted stairs leading down to a bar and dining room. With dim atmospheric lighting and retro American style décor, it definitely had a stylish vibe and very much impressed.
We sat in the bar area, and were presented with a cocktail menu consisting of a book of postcards, one for each cocktails. The friendly barman brought us a small bowl of tasty popcorn to nibble on while making our choice, and even bought out another bowl when we’d got through the first one!
After much musing on fancy-​sounding ingredients, I went for the Spanish Harlem Cocktail — featuring a sunny lineup of gin, saffron, orange marmalade, vanilla, elderflower and lemon. It was fantastically fruity without being overly sweet, and the cranberry wrap for the straw was a wonderful touch.
My companion went for the West Side Apertivo, which definitely tasted like tequila but still very drinkable, its intriguing combination of ingredients (tequila, Kamm & Sons, rhubarb, apple, lemon, almond, pink peppercorn syrup) offering up an unusal but satisfying taste.
I’d definitely like to go to MASH for steak at a later date, as the cocktails were very enjoyable and I loved the feel of the place.

Steak restaurants are one of my favourite types of restaurant in general, and I finally got to give MASH a try last week!
It’s certainly the most impressive Steak restaurant I have eaten at… it’s huge! Really nicely laid out, and plenty of staff to cover it’s vast area! You burn your steak off with the long walk to the toilet and back!
In terms of the food, I was expecting big things! And it was awesome, however it wasn’t as good as Goodman’s (number 1 for me) or Gaucho.
The Steak itself was lovely, I had the 400g American Ribeye Meidum Rare which was lovely. However I tried a couple of other cuts that people on the table has and wasn’t as impressed. I actually could not eat the bone in RIbeye as it was very chewy.
However the reason this isn’t a 5* is the starters. We tried all of them (literally). Then only one I was really impressed by was the Steak tartare. The scallops were nice, but just average. Likewise with he Beef carpaccio-​good but nothing special.
This place is 100% a must do, just to admire the building itself more than anything, and the food is really good. But I think for places in the same price range, food wise you can do a bit better!

The interior of MASH is like a modern cathedral — once you get down to it though as it’s two floors down from the initial reception. But once you get down there it’s amazing — the bar is sensational and the actual dining room is vast and really just the finest looking steakhouse I’ve ever seen.
We each had a steak, I enjoyed mine but my wife had a dry aged one and we both found it too game-​y. But that’s personal preference, as we know it was good steak, just not to our tastes. The one thing I adore here is the bearnaise sauce which is like flavoured butter that you can dip your steak into. Heck, you’d be able to dip pretty much anything into it and it’d be great.

Dined here last week.
MASH is an acronym for Modern American Steak House, which it is.
A huge subterranean space that served up some delicious Pan Fried Scallops, Porterhouse for two, Mac & Cheese, Mixed Tomato Salad, Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream, and decaf cappuccino.
Good stuff.

We’re spoilt for choice for great steak restaurants in London but I love MASH (Modern American Steak House).
I’ve been loads of times and the food and service has always been impeccable.
The place is huge. The cloakroom is at street level when you walk in. Then you can either take the lift (yes there’s a lift) or two flights of stairs into the bowels of the place.
Inside the restaurant, what immediately hits you is the scale of the whole place. It’s like you’ve walked into a scene in Titanic — a huge ballroom of 20s glitz.
The impressive bar (and equally impressive bar staff) greet you immediately. It’s definitely worth getting there in enough time to enjoy a cocktail. For any whiskey lovers, the selection of American Rye is among the best in London — as is the Sazerac here.
Go past the bar and the huge chillers of hanging meat and the place opens up into three sections of tables and booths. There are also two private dining rooms. I’ve no idea how many covers this place does at capacity but it’s a lot.
As I’ve said, the food and service are impeccable. I always go for the 600g American bone-​in ribeye, mac and cheese, creamed spinach and fries. It’s a lot but it’s all I have and is consistently cooked well.
As well as U.S. beef, you can choose cuts from Uruguay, Australia, Japanese Wagyu, Danish dry-​aged (the cuts hanging in the chillers) and a British ribeye.
The wine list is also immense — again one of the largest selections of US wines available in London.
As mentioned, we are spoilt for choice in London but MASH is up there with the best.
It’s great for large groups, small groups or intimate dining. I’ve even used the bar as a starting point for a boozy night out.

Food was good but not great. Atmosphere was amazing not your typical London restaurant that every table is close to each other. I would visit again even though I believe its overpriced

We’d been to MASH when it was newly opened for a Comic Relief benefit evening a couple of years ago, so we knew what to expect on our visit for my husband’s birthday.
While we enjoyed it the first time, it’s just a bit expensive really. However, they were offering 50% off steaks in August Sunday-​Thursday so we were excited to come back.
The restaurant is in the basement and has loads of stairs (but there is a lift, of course). I really love the look of it — very retro American steak house. We were seated quickly by a nice waitress.
We don’t drink alcohol so just ordered Coke — which was mostly ice and a huge hunk of lemon.
None of the starters appealed to us so we went right to mains. I had the Danish rib-​eye and my husband had NY strip steak. We also had mashed potato and a caesar salad to share for our sides. Some yummy bread was brought to us while we waited.
When I had ordered my steak, I asked for it medium. The waitress tried to convince me that I should get it medium rare they won’t cook their dry aged beef more than medium. I persevered and said I wanted medium, but when it arrived, it was definitely medium rare — and the centre was only rare. I just ate what was a bit more cooked and left the rest, as we weren’t checked on promptly enough to have the steak cooked more, and I’m also very loathe to send a steak back for more cooking as it usually gets really tough after cooking, resting, and re-​cooking. Husband’s NY strip was cooked as he requested.
We both preferred the NY strip. My Danish ribeye had a very strong flavour and a dense texture. However, the NY strip didn’t have a whole lot of flavour, really, and we should have gotten a sauce to go with it. Something in between the two would have been ideal.
Our mashed potato and caesar salad were both tasty, but the mash especially was a small portion. It wasn’t enough for one person, and definitely not enough for sharing. But at £5 for some mash, we just each had our spoonful and didn’t worry about it.
Since I left most of my steak and we didn’t have much in the side department, we decided to have dessert, but when the menu came, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to spend £10 on a panna cotta or some profiteroles.
Our bill came and was around £65; which seemed high, until I realised that £13 of it was the optional service charge. 12.5% charged on the bill before the discount — insanity. We were there for 45 minutes. I had it removed and left a cash tip commiserate to the service we received. The waitress nearly knocked me over when we were leaving to get to the table to see how much cash we had left.
I’d go back with an offer like we had, but unless you have an expense account, the premium they charge here for the location isn’t quite appropriate for the food.

Expensive? Yes, but if you wasn’t aware of that before entering the restaurant, youll realise it the moment you walk in. Extravagant design in general, and the steaks are amazing. I’m not giving it 5 starts due to the prices, but with that being said I still enjoyed every second of the experience.

Excellent place and service, attention was very good, the dishes served excellently and exact portions, the flavor was wonderful, little pricey

O
M
G
Best
Steak
In
London!
Exceptional service. Bread was amazing delicious. Steak perfectly cooked. Totally worth it. No jokes!

A bit on the pricy side, this venue has the most succulent steaks. If you want to impress your significant other with amazing décor and matching high-​quality steak this is the place!

Expensive but you will have a great time. Steaks are amazing and in a broad price range. Wine menu fantadtic but quite pricey! Sides are good and can be shared. American, «mad men» style of dining. Only problem is the total absence of proper whiskey /​scotches on the bar menu!

A Danish steakhouse…
Deceivingly large — like entering Marry Poppins hand bag. As you walk down the stairs a massive dining room awaits.
Service was ok. Food was reasonable. Nothing particular to complain about, however the food isn’t on par with Hawksmoor or Goodmans.
I went for a Scottish ribeye. Very tasty.
Wouldn’t recommend, but wouldn’t avoid either.

Did someone say steak?
Steak is expensive, and justifiably so. You don’t spend years raising prime cattle and lavishing affection on them just to sell their prime cuts for pocket change.
Danish group MASH opened their first outpost a few years ago, when everyone realized that trust fund kids and hedge fund managers were sick of Italian-​Asian rip offs (I’m looking at you Novikov) and wanted a nicely aged piece of beef, seared and oven-​finished to perfection — preferably drenched in butter at the end, but let’s pretend they don’t do that — and served with fat chips and all the trimmings.
MASH do USDA beef and a few other varieties like Wagyu, and they do it very, very well. We had sweetbreads to start too, and these were a joy to eat. Sweet and meaty and delicious — just don’t tell your date what they really are. My cote de boeuf was as expected — amazing, though its accompanying Caesar salad was less than stellar. The interior’s of note — when it’s busy it’s a thrumming temple to masculinity, what with all those exposed cuts of meat on offer. Service varied on our visits –the servers were uniformly helpful, while hostesses were veritable master technicians of the once-​over and eye roll.
To sum up? Lovely atmosphere. Excellent steaks. High prices. I’d love to say I’d go back, but I’m not sure what it offers over rivals like Goodman and Hawksmoor.

We booked for the pre/​post theatre menu as we were seeing a show last night and arrived a little early so we were shown to the bar to wait for our table. It is an absolutely stunning restaurant and we couldn’t believe all this was under the streets of Soho.
At the bar I had a MASH Pilsner (fresh and clean as you’d expect) and my wife had the Cidre Breton which she very much enjoyed.
We were shown to our table and had a very attentive waiter who provided us with menus and water. We ordered, American steak with mashed potato (sirloin) for my wife and the Uruguayan rib-​eye with mac and cheese for myself. We also ordered 2 lemon meringue pies. This is where the disappointment started to set in. From the point we ordered to the point food arrived on our table it was about 40 minutes. It was not busy in the restaurant and it was the beginning of evening service so I would NEVER expect to have to wait 40 minutes for 2 steaks in these circumstances. To top it off, the couple on the table next to us arrived after us, ordered after us and received their food before us. (Not to mention the fact that they kept asking the waiting staff to take pictures of them and their food with us awkwardly trying to enjoy our evening in the background)
The food, when it arrived, was very nice indeed. My wifes’ steak was cooked to a perfect well done and mine, although a little rarer than I would normally have, was delicious. The sides and sauces were also very good.
After the delightful main, we were excited for the lemon meringue pie which is one of our favourites. What arrived was not lemon meringue pie. Sure, it was a pie and there was some curd in it with the tiniest bit of meringue covering it, but it could barely be called lemon meringue pie. The pastry and the ice cream on the side were the best bits. The curd hardly tasted of lemons at all and the meringue was millimetres thick.
This was a disappointing end to the meal which otherwise would’ve been fine.
I would definitely return and try something off the a la carte menu and also take up the recommendation of a friend and try the bone marrow side.
I’m sure the timing of the service was an aberration and that if I returned it would be better. I look forward to that return visit.

Beim letzten London-​Wochenende sind wir Freitagabend in das MASH unweit des Touri-​Hot Spots Piccadilly Circus gegangen. Ich kannte das MASH bereits aus Kopenhagen (MASH Bredgade), wo ich ein paar Mal gewesen bin und von den Dry Aged-​Steaks sehr begeister war.
Das MASH London ist in einem Keller, zwei Stockwerke unter der Erde und in Grunde ein rieser Speisesaal plus vorgesetzter Bar. Wir hatten vorher reserviert, mussten aber auf unseren Tisch warten, so dass wir zu Beginn die Gin-​Auswahl an der Bar unter die Lupe genommen hatten. Hier bereits der erste Wehmutstropfen: Die Auswahl ist sehr klein und an Tonic-​Water gab es ausschließlich Schweppes — da hätte ich in dieser Preisklasse eindeutig mehr erwartet.
Nach ca. 20 Mintuen Wartezeit an der Bar wurden wir zum Tisch geführt und ich muss sagen: Wir hatten Glück! Unser Tisch lag am Rand des Raums, wo die Lautstärke noch einigermaßen ging, denn der allgemeine Lärmpegel im Raum und insbesondere bei den «Boxen» im Inneren war schon sehr hoch.
Der Service an unseren Tisch war sehr gut. Es handelte sich dabei um Direktimporte aus Dänemark (also dänische Kellner), die vorher in den dänischen Filialen gearbeitet haben und sehr versiert waren — zu den Cuts wurde fachkundig beraten und die Weinempfehlung passte wie Faust auf’s Auge. Allgemein war der Service sehr gut: freundlich mit Humor, schnell und zuvorkommen, ohne dabei aufdringlich zu sein. Hier kann man nichts anderes als fünf Sterne vergeben.
Die Vorspeisen waren gut und bei den Beilagen zum Hauptgang gibt es auch absolut nichts zu meckern. Bei den Steaks wurden meine Erwartungen allerdings nicht erfüllt: Wir hatten zwei Mal Dry Aged-​Steak, welches von der Qualität auch gut war und schöné Röstaromen hatte. Meins sollte allerdings medium-​rare gegart sein, der Garpunkt wurde aber leider deutlich überschritten. Das muss in einem Restaurant dieser Preisklasse auf Anhieb sitzen!
Mein Fazit: Wir haben alles in Allem einen schönen Abend verbracht und grundsätzlich gut gegessen. Mit zwei Personen, zwei Gin & Tonic, zwei Vorspeisen, zwei Steaks, drei Sides, zwei Saucen und einer Flasche Wasser und einer Flasche Wein landeten wir am Ende bei über 200 GBP, was in Ordnung gewesen wäre, wäre nicht der Garpunkt verfehlt worden (ein Stern Abzug), wir nicht trotz Reservierung hätten warten müssen und der Lärmpegel nicht so hoch gewesen wäre (zusammen ein weiterer Stern Abzug).

I came for their lunch deal and as someone who is always on the lookout for lunch deals when I’m not working, this is a pretty sweet one.
The venue is a tardis. It’s an underground ballroom kitted out in red leather (or so it seems in my memory). My cocktail was spot on and the wine was delicious.
The lunch menu food wise is better than Hawksmoor for steak but not as good for starters or desserts. Still, we came for steak so not a problem there. You get a pretty decent steak with your charcuterie and dessert and have a couple of options too. You also get one side and they are fairly generous portions so get different ones and share.
The main menu looks kinda pricey so I’m not sure when I’ll be back apart from lunch/​pre-​theatre but with acres of tables and seating if you’re ready to splash the cash then you should be able to get a table with enough planning.

Finally made it! Grand Danish restaurant with all the makings of an American steakhouse. Still, not quite American.
It’s hard to not be put off with the location. Piccadilly Circus? What self respecting Londoner wants to boast of having feasted on a fine steak in Piccadilly Circus? But maybe she can think of it as a Brewer Street institution rather than a Piccadilly hotspot? Of course, as she squirms her way into the not so labyrinthine sub terrestrial art deco space, she is greeted by this almost eerily formal, yet friendly atmosphere made up of happy, increasingly content diners.
We ordered the foie gras, the smoked salmon and the steak tartare. Needless to say the steak tartare hit the spot.
MASH has steak cuts from different countries, Uruguay, Denmark among others, and US and Australia. The steaks are exhibited in a fridge. there’s a good choice of steak sauces to serve by the side.
I had creamy mashed potatoes and bone marrow by the side of my Wagyu piece.
Overall, while I will still give Hawksmoor half a star over MASH, I’m going to come back happily for more of that Wagyu and Uruguay steak.

Ah MASH, you stole my heart when you named your spot the Modern American Steak House. And then you stole my stomach when you put delicious steak into it.
And if you steal my heart and my stomach, I’m going to love you forever.
MASH is a spot hidden in plain sight in Soho. You may have walked by it. I know I do. It’s the one with the small red sign above the large glass door. But when you walk in, you know you’re in the right place. Greeted by a man at a desk at the top of the stairs, you are then lead down, into the steak house and, judging by the décor, back in time. It’s moody dark, with red on the walls and a giant beautifully lit bar as you walk in (with plush leather booths in the back.)
Fan of «Mad Men»? You live «Mad Men» here.
We had a seat at the bar and chatted with one of the friendliest and chattiest barmen I’ve ever seen in London. It also didn’t hurt that he made a phenomenal cocktail. In fact, I don’t ever think I’ve been served a bad one here. They run a little expensive (about £10 a pop) but it’s worth it.
Then, onto the steak. We sat in our giant plush booths and were handed the menu, which were two-​sided thick cardboard. I have to say, with the beauty of everything else, this almost felt a little tacky. Like it was a menu made to be able to be wiped clean at the end of the meal, a la TGI Fridays. I get that they were going for easy classic diner American, but it felt wrong.
Still, all this was washed away when the meat came. You chose which cuts you’d like and they bring it to your table served on a hot dish, and then cut it into strips for you there, making it easy to share with everyone else. We tried three different rib-​eyes: the one from Uruguay, Denmark and America. The first two I loved, tender, flavourful, amazing with or without sauce. The American one wasn’t as stand out sadly. Sorry America.
Our waiter was great. Friendly, fast but not overly annoying. The training here for the staff if top notch, not a one of them is without merit. Well done.
The steaks will run you about £35 without any sides, so this is not a cheap meal. But what a meal. I’d come back any day to bask in the glory of the food and enjoy the surroundings of the posh American steak house.

From the outside, MASH doesn’t really stand out as anything special. In fact, I walked past it a couple of times, before I realised that that was the place (which probably says more about my focussed dependency on Google Maps when walking around, than the restaurant itself).
But then you wander inside, and venture down the spiral staircases into a large room which wouldn’t look out of place as a hip Art-​Deco ballroom (minus Can Can girls and Flaming Skittles Jugglers). The main room has high ceilings and wide spaces, and though it seems loud, you can have a conversation without needing to raise your voice.
We were seated at the bar, where we ordered a couple of ‘El Prado’ cocktails (which considering my name is Prad, it would have been criminal not to have!) and they were very delish — El Prado comes Prad recommended!
When seated, we picked out our favoured steaks from the menu (Bone in Rib-​Eye for me please, Medium-​Rare) as well as haricot-​vert and the much talked about Mashed Potatoes.
Ah yes — the Mashed Potatoes. Our waiter talked a big game about the Mashed Potatoes, ensuring us that it was «The best in town». Now I don’t want to boast about my connoisseur-​experience of Mashed Potatoes across this fine city of London, but I’ve had my fair share and I was more than up for this epic-​battle of the Beaten Spuds.
So my verdict?
Yeah, their Mashed Potatoes are very good. Like, very very good.
But clearly nobody goes to a Steakhouse to sample the Mashed Potatoes. Unfortunately, the same deference didn’t seem to be given to the Steak. Although it was good, it wasn’t *fantastic* — it was rather on the chewy side, and didn’t have the rich taste I’d have expected in this price range. Basically, I’ve had *better*. If you’re going to charge £60+, I expect to be carried out of the restaurant on a stretcher, in a meat coma.
That said, it is several grades above those Gastropubs which are quietly cooking up Supermarket beef cuts, and doubling the price (Tut, tut).
Overall, MASH is a great restaurant and a fine steakhouse if you’re feeling particularly rich, or want a good place for a celebratory meal. And at the end of the meal, your bill will arrive in an envelope marked ‘The Damage’.
Quality.

MASH is the kind of retro-​styled classy space that I always dreamed of finding but never knew about. And it’s buried underground right in the heart of Soho. I would never have expected that.
I came here on Andrew M’s expertly curated Classy Christmas (cocktail) Crawl, and so my culinary observations are confined solely to the ‘$ 5 dollar shake’ consisting of Bourbon, cognac, ice cream, milk, popcorn and salted caramel. That shake was well-​presented and tasty enough, though the paper straw proved a bit of a design flaw towards the end when its shake-​logged structure made it difficult to finish off the last bit
But that’s not what really impressed me here. Rather it was the space: the high ceilings, booths, low-​lighting, and classic styling. With smartly-​attired, helpful staff, this is a great place to impress a date, escape the hubbub street-​side or briefly transport yourself to days gone past.
I hope to return soon to try their steaks.

Ein Restaurant der neuen britischen Schule für einen Deutschen oft befremdlich, wie man ein großes und gutes Restaurant in den Keller verbannen kann, aber das ist eben auch typisch London entschädigend dafür perfektes Fleisch (dafür kommt man v.a.), sehr modernes Styling und Interior und perfekter Service. Gratiniert dazu mit dem vornehmlich upmarket Londoner Publikum eine kleine Augenweide für den Zugereisten oder Tourist, der man eintauchen will, in einen Teil der londoner boheme.

Un endroit assez impressionnat de par sa taille et sa situation en sous-​sol. On se croirait dans une salle de théâtre ancienne remise au gout du jour.
Viande pas mal et service rapide.

La carne se deshace en la boca. Auténtica mantequilla! Raciones generosas.