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Bag 50 percent off at this restaurant with Time Out’s ‘Table for Two: Gin Supper Club Gift Box’.
Hix Oyster & Chop House, also known as the restaurant that put Mark Hix on the map, may have launched in April 1998, but it’s not in the least bit tired. In fact, it’s a lovely mix: on the one hand crisp and classic, on the other, gloriously relaxed.
The vibe is oyster bar meets clubby dining room: groaning racks of good wine, books on high shelves, linen tablecloths, white wall tiles and a neon sign that says ‘fucking beautiful’. It’s the kind of place where you could come in a dinner jacket or a T-shirt.
As for the cooking, it’s superb. You won’t find Hix himself in the kitchen but it doesn’t matter: this is trad Brit fare at its best. Caramel-edged Isle of Mull scallops were brilliantly offset by crunchy nuggets of black pudding, a crusty-topped beef-and-ale pie with slippery oysters was another highlight. The steaks are perfection and so are the desserts: a slice of not-too-sweet treacle tart was quite frankly one of the best we’ve ever eaten.
Service is also marvellous: not just polished but warm, too. On our visit, they offered tap water in the same breath as still or sparkling. And you asked to take that on-the-bone beef home, they’d even vacuum-seal it and put it in a posh bag for you.