The Blackhouse Grill on the market restaurant is located right next to Smithfields market. As we enter the restaurant we are taken to the back and around a corner to a beautifully designed room hidden from the street. It feels exclusive and relaxed. A long way from the hustle and bustle of the London streets we have just left. Grill on the Market’s menu focuses on seafood and steaks.
The atmosphere was great, very calm and relaxed. The staff immediately put us at ease. They were very friendly and knowledgeable. The seats were really comfortable. This would be a perfect place to go with some friends and the Blackhouse actively encourages this with its unlimited Prosecco deal every Saturday if you go with friends. Full details below. Your Prosecco is unlimited for two hours as long as you bring two friends. This great deal seems to be working, despite it being lunch time in the middle of the week there are plenty of people in the restaurant. Everyone seem to be aged between 20 and 30. This seems to be a very trendy place hidden slightly away from the masses which makes it feel exclusive.
We start off with the Blackhouse sharing platter which gives us a chance to taste a lot of dishes in one. The platter includes honey, rosemary and lemon chicken skewer, fish cakes, duck spring roll and calamari.
It looked amazing and all the elements were absolutely delicious. Often when you order a big platter like this the food is rushed and average. This was certainly not the case here. The rosemary and lemon chicken was succulent and beautifully flavoured. The deep fried calamari was crunchy and tasty. I particularly liked the beautuiful duck spring rolls. The sauces which accompanied the dish were also particularly good. They were sweet chilli, honey mustard and sour cream. All were filled with flavour and went beautifully with the different assortments. A great starter it tasted as good as it looks and lived up to the Blackhouse ‘honest proper food’ mantra.
For our mains we had the sesame crusted tuna from the seafood menu and from their special premium beef menu we had a fillet of English Longhorn.
My sesame crusted tuna was a beautiful piece of fish perfectly cooked and superbly presented. Tuna is often overcooked but not here the fish was perfect and shone.
The soy sauce and sweet pickled vegetables were the perfect accompaniment. A really beautiful lunch. The sirloin steak was equally good if not better. The English Longhorn steak was really special. Perfectly cooked as you can see, it came with a superb peppercorn sauce and was probably the best steak I’ve ever had. The chunky chips were also excellent. To drink we were treated to unlimited Prosecco for two hours. The Prosecco was crisp and wonderful and it was great to have your glass constantly refilled. The whole meal was relaxed easy and fun.
Our puddings didn’t disappoint either. My trifle was again beautifully presented (as all our food was) and was delicious. 
Trifles are not easy to get right, sometimes I find restaurants make them too heavy. But this was an excellent trifle.
The portion size was perfect and the cream and jelly were light and delicious. I really enjoyed it and the creme brulee was also delicious
The Blackhouse grill claims to offer solid, honest and simple proper food. It delivers 100% on this promise. The food was first class as were the service and atmosphere. We will definitely be going back to take advantage of that free Prosecco!
http://blackhouse.uk.com/restaurant/london-smithfield/
The Grill on the Market
2-3 West Smithfield, City of London, EC1A 9JX
T: 020 7246 0900
Twitter: @GotmSmithfield