We love Middle Eastern food and have been regulars at Machneyuda group’s London outposts (including Coal Office in King’s Cross and Palomar in Soho) since well before the pandemic. We were even known to pop down to Kings Cross for a cheeky Coal Office takeaway in the deepest, darkest days of lockdown, so it’s hardly surprising that we fell in love with The Black Cow restaurant, spearheaded by Israeli chefs Kraus and Batito, who both learnt their craft with Machneyuda.
The Black Cow serves up the classic American steakhouse with a twist; a plate of grass-fed, sustainable beef next to a mini bonfire of burning herbs that awakens the senses.
A casual dining restaurant in the food hall at the new Hawley Wharf development at Camden, The Black Cow’s centrepiece is the bar seating overlooking the open kitchen (another theme recognisable from Machneyuda).
We kicked off our meal with the moorish homemade cornbread with lamb butter and herbs that we could have eaten all night long! For starters we shared the ‘not-that-corny’ spicy lamb merguez corndog with labaneh (a soft, spreadable cheese made from strained yogurt) and sweet Harrisa relish and the crispy prawns ‘shrimpim’ with tzatziki and pickled red onions. Two great dishes.
Then came the fanfare of the Katan onglet steaks, served medium rare with burnt herb oil and those aromatic smoking herbs. We shared sides of sweet Harrisa butter fries and ‘kharchouf’ artichoke with a remoulade, chermoula, pecorino dressing. What a taste sensation.
Every dish didn’t disappoint and we even managed to squeeze in a serving of the ‘Danny’ chocolate cigar, vanilla custard with frozen raspberries dessert (we had decided at that stage we would walk home to digest this amazing feast). With over 10 other sharing dishes begging to be tried, we have The Black Cow in our sights for a return visit.
Located in the Camden Market Hawley Wharf canal-side food hall on the 2nd floor, we loved watching the chefs in action on the Josper charcoal grill, and we’ve added The Black Cow to our growing list of favourite London restaurants.
For other restaurant reviews check them out here.