HIX Oyster & Chop House

Love sitting outside in the summer. Great cuts of meat and fresh fish. A little on the expensive side but you do get quality food in return. Great service.

Being located just off of Smithfield market you won't be surprised to hear that the quality of the meat was superb, without a doubt the tastiest roast beef we have ever had, accompanied by the crispiest, fluffiest roast potatoes and an enormous yorkshire pudding. My only gripe was that it was served as an inch thick slab of meat, I like my beef rare, but prefer it to be thinly carved, not a great big hunk of steak. The side of cauliflower cheese was, in my opinion, pretty light on the cheese sauce, so was quite dry. We started with the pork crackling and "heaven and earth", a stack of black pudding, mashed potatoes and apple sauce. We were served by a lovely young gentleman, very polite and well-spoken but he was a little erratic to say the least. We ordered a bottle of wine and he poured us 3 glasses and then came running back to our table to take the glasses away because he had poured us another diner's wine from their bottle, not ours. We had 2 bottles of wine over the course of the meal and pretty much every time he poured a glass, half of it went on the tablecloth, and on one occasion, missed the glass and tablecloth and went in my handbag on the floor. They had a jazz band playing, which was nice and the restaurant was about half full, the last time we came we were the only two people in the restaurant.

My daughter had an hour and a half for lunch. i visited the restaurant 2o minutes early to explain the timing and was assured that there would be no problem having a relaxed meal in that time frame. It was not to be. Despite the fact that the restaurant was less than half full it was difficult to get attention and the food was very slow to arrive. In consequence i had to spend this important lunch checking : 'is the food coming now". It didn't make for a relaxing lunch and eventually my daughter had to leave after a hasty main course and with no time for desert, coffee or a spare moment. She had to leave me at the table to sort out the bill as she had to get back to work. This was avoidable if the Front Manager had properly briefed the staff [why I went there first to brief her]. And as for value for money £35 is a big price for a steak [albeit a very good one]. You just don't want to have to wait and then have to bolt this expensive fare. Could do so much better with the high quality location, restaurant, food and drink. Disappointing.

Another excellent meal at Hix Smithfield. Back in the day, London used to be a tricky place to get a good steak. Nowadays we're spoilt for choice rather especially in the Smithfield area but Hix is a very safe bet. Faultless aparagus, poached eggs and potted shrimps prove that it's not just the carnivores that are looked after. One of my guests emailed me to say they ‘actually dreamt about that lamb chop it was so good!’ Service was friendly & efficient but marred by that annoying habit, sadly ubiquitous in London restaurants, of constantly over-filling our wine glasses. It's irritating to be harried onto that second bottle that we're never going to be ordering at lunchtime.

I took my wife to Hix to celebrate her birthday. We had a lovely evening – the atmosphere was vibrant without being overly noisy. The table we had had plenty of space – a pet hate of mine is top-end restaurants shoe-horning people onto tables the size of postage stamps. The service was excellent – attentive without being overbearing. The food was delicious. Thoroughly recommended

Nice food. Will probably go back, mostly for the scene Food is good but overpriced, as you are paying for the buzz.

Most recent visit July 2011, and our (circa) 20th since the place opened. We love the professional but very friendly and usually charming service. When combined with the décor and furnishing, it gives the place a very relaxing and informal atmosphere, where you can be equally comfortable in jeans or a suit. The focus is on very high quality British ingredients; so no olives – but some great “local” alternatives ! Their meat is always extremely good quality & very tasty. On past occasions, we've eaten superb quality porterhouse steak, tasty grouse and crispy succulent pig. They are also adventurous enough to have a go at something different – we had some very gamey squirrel on one visit. Most recently, we had very simple but incredibly fresh and tasty watercress soup, followed by beautifully lean and tasty rack of venison. Accompanying vegetable side orders are always incredibly fresh and tasty. High quality simple and unfussy dishes – but very tasty. The ingredients are the very best, with cooking and preparation designed to bring out the flavour of the food, not to smother it. A pleasant change to go to a restaurant that is not working to the maxim that using more ingredients must be better. Sunday lunch is also very worthwhile, and especially suited to a bigger group of friends / family. Normally have a very good roast of the day. A great way to spend a sunday afternoon. Seems to work out at £90 for 2 for 2 courses, inc service ex all drinks – but we do tend to choose the more expensive dishes (eg fab Porterhouse steak @ £65 for 2). Total bills including £40-£60 on wine average £180 for 2. Its not cheap, but quality costs (as anyone buying food at Borough Market knows), so I consider it very good value. One of our current favourite London restaurants. Strongly recommended. Difficult to criticise if you're looking for simple but great tasting food and friendly service in a characterful and relaxing environment. The cooking, decor and service are perfectly suited to the Smithfield location.

My wife and had a very poor meal at the Smithfield restaurant in October. The service was incredibly sloppy: we had to wait a while to be seated; my wife ordered lobster and was told some time after that it was off the menu; the waiter forgot our wine and we had to re-order onion rings after our meal had arrived as he had forgot them too. The food was really average – a lamb chop that was just a lump of meat and skate that was slightly over-cooked. The best thing by a mile was the pork crackling. Unfortunately, the atmosphere also resembled a City pub at chucking-out time. The maitre-d' acknowledged the problem by taking the onion rings and service charge off the bill. We certainly wouldn't have been giving a tip after that experience anyway. We were looking forward to coming to Mark Hix's restaurant, but were sadly disappointed.

An excellent restaurant that doesn't take itself too seriously but still serves seriously good food. I been looking forward to going here for some time having seen the owner on a couple of cookery TV shows. I was not disappointed. The room looks excellent and had a fantastic atmosphere the evening that we went. The menu is very ‘meaty’ but why shouldn't it be – it is after all described as a chop house. The wine list is very reasonable and has a good range. The warm loaf of bread and butter were lovely and we were offered filtered water immediately! I had a rib eye steak that cooked too perfection with the right amount of chew and flavour. It was huge and therefore despite appearing expensive on the menu not too bad value. The side orders were all excellent and exactly what you would have wanted. The bearnaise sauce was delicious! It is expensive but I think is just about worth it. The pudding selection was slightly limited but really again isn't the focus of this restaurant. The service was attentive and friendly. We had a charming young waitress who was working there to save money to go travelling and was an absolute credit to the restaurant. This place is ideal for a group of friends or a ‘boys’ night out.

We have just repatriated to the UK from Hungary, so are delighted to be staying in Smithfield, as we have never been here before. We came across Hix Oyster & Chop House by chance walking along the street. My husband being an oyster lover, we thought we would look at the menu. It offered a wide range of choices for oyster and non-oyster lovers. So we decided to try it out. When we took our seats, to my joy the waitress asked if we would like water; still, sparkling or tap! Tap, how good is that? Stop the snobbery with water I say! We ordered tap. We know it is not the done thing, at a time when the government is telling us to watch our fat in-take, but while we were choosing our food we had a serving of pork crackling. Wow! It can’t be good for you it tastes so great! The atmosphere was buzzing, which surprised us for a Sunday evening. It became so busy we were pleased we got in before the rush. The waiter put an individual tiny loaf straight from the oven on the table with butter, which was both cute and delicious! My husband had a selection of oysters for a starter, this enabled him to see which was his favourite, so next time he could order just those ones. After the bread and crackling, I felt I could forgo a starter. For main, he had the lamb cutlet with spring greens and I had the Pollock fish fingers and mushy peas with asparagus and green tomato. The lamb was tender and soft, with the spring greens with a bit of crunch, wonderful. The fish was firm with a light coating, and the ‘mushy’ baby gardens peas were wonderful. We accompanied our meal with an Argentinean red. Smooth, full-bodied, heavenly, perfect! We will be back to Hix Oyster & Chop House; we have found a little treasure. I am debating whether I should tell you all now; we might not get a seat so easily in the future!!!