Scotch Steak Houses - Evil With A Green Sign
Posted on 14 May 2005 in Food and Drink (11 comments)
I got off the tube at Holborn the other day, on the way to The Porterhouse in Covent Garden to meet Catherine and Jacko for a pint, and noticed something I wish I hadn't.
Jamie's bar on Kingsway closed around the time I left Bush House, and had been under refurbishment. Well now I got to see what it had been replaced by.
A Scotch Steak House.
Depressingly.
If you've never come across one, they're exactly like Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses. And if you've never seen one of those, they have big clunky signs, everything is red inside and they look plain awful. Outside every one is a sign that says 'Today's Specials'. The specials board never actually changes. It is always exactly the same. You can tell it was never designed to change as the sign is printed neatly and on a piece of wood. Every single one is always empty. They look that bad, it's not surprising.
Scotch Steak Houses are exactly the same but the sign is green. Why the difference? Well after some digging, Scotch Steak Houses were set up by someone who used to own Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses but sold them when times were bad. So no surprise as to why they look identical - it's the same madman who set them up.
I along with many rejoiced when Aberdeen Angus went under in 2002 - the things were the scourge of London, preying on gullible tourists and giving them a plain awful experience to boot.
So to see the dreadful experience rise out of the ashes and start all over again, well it just doesn't bare thinking about. Scotch Steak Houses Apparently bought at least eight of the Aberdeen Angus houses and have now gone on taking over busy bars!
How?!? How can someone build a business out of a chain of restaurants that are always, and I mean always, empty? Even at Christmas they're deserted - and that's a time of year when even the worst eatery can be filled to the rafters. So how do these awful things continue to survive?
In many ways I am rather glad that I no longer have to walk past one of these establishments. They're gaudy, tacky and downright depressing. They are a plague on our city and it looks like the plague has started again.
But what really gets me is the way they look. They are just downright awful. How can anyone make a restaurant look so bad? So appalling? Who on earth things that a neon light sign saying 'Cocktails' is a good thing?
And just in case you ever think that it might be worth trying one out for yourself, perhaps you should read Flogging A Dead Cow by Stuart Jeffries in the Guardian. Okay it's about the Aberdeen Angus chain, but by all accounts, the Scotch Steak Houses chain ain't any better... Quite how he even got the guts to go in one is beyond me. His partner seems to be the sensible one - she gave him a box of Rennie's as he walked to the door.
David said:
I had a meal at the one in the Strand last Friday. It was terrible and then I was told it was not at the price advertised on the board outside but as shown in the menu. apparently the steak was smaller fot the one outside. This was ot made clear when ordering.
The meal cost me £40.20 instead of £29.40.
So I was conned and had a terrible meal. So I wont be using them again. I tourists avoid them. we should send out a warning to avoid them like the plague.
David
Posted on 28 October 2008 at 2:47 PM
Steakhouses said:
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Posted on 26 December 2008 at 12:05 AM
amish singh said:
this was the worst restaurant I have ever eaten at so was the service...dont attempt this one
Posted on 31 December 2008 at 4:57 PM
Becky said:
Me and my husband went to London for our anniversary in Dec. After a brilliant night out at the Lion King we decided that we need to get something to eat and came across a Scotch steak house, Well words cannot describe it. I would not even let my dog eat what we were served, Two beers and Two steaks Later we had a bill for about £45 and they had the cheek to charge a 10% service charge(My 11 month old daughter could be more polite than this bunch) I asked for a RARE steak and it was grey and raw and cold, least to say i did not eat it. Anybody thinking of eating in one of these places, save your self a fortune and go eles where( Mac D's probably serves better food with better service). These guys should come with a health warning.
Posted on 3 January 2009 at 11:43 AM
Rob said:
Went into the one in Victoria Street Sat 7th Feb following a great show, found the staff & service truly awfull..the manager appeared drunk, was waving his arms at people coming in telling them they were closing & almost pushing them back out the door....we were told at 10.30 as we sat down they closing at 11.30....I can order & eat in an hour but how long will THEY take to cook it..! the food price on the menu did not include fries (except my rib eye) & both steaks when they arrived did not look very appetising, were cold, under weight, poorly cooked & tastless....I have had better steak for quarter of the price & would advise anyone to steer well clear & try one of the other restuarants next door. This was one of the worst dining experiences for many years & certainly not one of the cheapest....some customers were complaining & like me would never go back, but due to their location guess there will always be some first timers passing by who like me won't know untill its too late.......hopefully they will go out of business sooner rather than later.
Posted on 9 February 2009 at 10:05 AM
Andrew Bowden said:
I continually wonder how these - and indeed Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses - remain in business. I have decided it's all to do with tourists. If I was writing a guidebook, I'd put in warnings. Sadly they're absent...
Posted on 9 February 2009 at 12:35 PM
bill west said:
I cant tell you how spectacularly bad these places are, i am sure they employ people to deliberately mispronounce the menu the food was tom tit the service was a load of pony as well. i managed to get my meal written off but the other three paid, they are over priced, with an obvious bias towards doing there bit to prevent global warming, by that i mean they rarely use the oven or any other form of heat to cook(well i say cook more like warmed up under the illegal immigrants armpit ) with, the fries were cold the ribs were cold, the steak and the beef Burgoyne had the same sauce, but a nice touch was the beer was warm, the best thing to do is order the food make an excuse to answer your phone outside and leave, don't worry about the food it will be served to the next poor mug that walks in.
Posted on 19 May 2009 at 8:39 PM
Richard said:
I'd say the opposite of what you've seen, they are always quite busy when I go past. However, it's always tourists eating, as that's who they prey on.
If you've seen the 'UK Border Force' TV show, there is an episode where Immigration Officers actually raid the Scotch Steak House on Shaftsbury Avenue. They end up taking away a Czech girl who was a waitress as she had no work visa; they also talk away a Mongolian man who was the only chef, also an illegal immigrant.
I think that says enough about the chain really!
Posted on 15 November 2009 at 5:00 PM
bill turner said:
hi i'm from the u.s and visited london over the new year, out one evening i decided to eat at the scotch steak house on the strand, i thought the service was very warm and the food was actually very satisfactory and reading some of the comments from above the restaurant was very busy, full in fact.
maybe jealousy rings out here!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on 1 February 2010 at 6:16 AM
Bob (Dublin, Ireland ) said:
Wish we had read the above comments before 30/01/2010, as we were a party of seven hungry tourists who unfortunately entered a Scotch Steak House at 117-119 Queensway,London W2 and utterly destroyed a night out. At first they refused to move an adjacent table ( 2 seats ) approx 18inches to join 3 side by side tables ( 6 seats ) so the seven of us could sit at the same table, some crazy excuse that the table would not balance ! (we should have left then). Alas we stayed and ordered refreshments, starters, and main courses. The drinks arrived and after a delay the starters arrived. The main courses did not arrive until approx 1 houir later after several complaints to both staff and "manager" , and the real pity is that they arrived at all, they were disasterous and no condiments or sauces on the table. At bill time we queried what "cover charge" shown on bill was and we were first told it was for seating, then for sauces, ketchup,salt,pepper, (This is not a joke,I have no punchline) We advised the "manager" that no service charge or cover charge would be paid and that his eatery was a disgrace. He replied that he was not the owner, but the "manager" and was not responsible for anything. We will be advising any aquaintances travelling from Dublin to London, to avoid this dump at all costs.
The previous evening we had enjoyed a "feast" with marvellous service and food at a premises called Khans in the same area, so obviously not all "managers" in this area are charlatans.
Posted on 1 February 2010 at 3:49 PM
Neil Stewart said:
My wife and I went to a Scotch Steak House. We had been looking for a Thai Resturant in the Wardour street area,but after walking around the West End shops all day we were not in the mood to look very far, so I said I fancy a steak lets try the Scotch Steak House adding it is NOT an Angus Steak House,were we have been presented with some dreadfull meals in the past.My wife reluctantly agreed but said she would not have steak so she had a chicken dish with some exotic name and I lashed out on a fillet steak.It was terrible I ordered it medium rare it came well done, it was not like anything I had eaten before,The chips(which were extra) had been cooked some days before and the salad was minimal my wifes chicken was two lumps of bone with batter on and saute potatoes which had gone through the same process as my chips.I complained (something I rarely do) to no avail
is there anyway we can stop them trading
Neil Stewart
Posted on 17 May 2010 at 8:53 PM