Temper Covent Garden

Temper Covent Garden, located on buzzy Mercer Walk, had a brief dalliance with Italian cuisine but has now converted to a menu not dissimilar to its popular counterparts, Temper City and Temper Soho. This is back to what the Temper team does best –  meat.

As with the other sites, this is not a tranquil dining experience – expect flames and furore as you watch the chefs at work in the centrally positioned open kitchen. For a closer piece of the action, request a counter-dining spot where you’ll be in full view of the culinary theatrics. The vibe is fast and fun and the drinks list is reason alone to give this lively hotspot a visit. We recommend starting with a smoky Mezcal Negroni before perusing the extensive but affordable wine list.

Corn tacos are a light and fresh prelude to the barbecue feast and ideal for sharing between two. We opted for the soft-shell crab and Dorito fried fish; both are moreish, topped generously with chipotle sour cream and finished with freshly chopped chilli, red onion and herbs.

Next we went for goat carnitas from the wood oven and a rib-eye steak on the bone from the robata grill. The goat is rich and gamey with a subtle heat from chilli and the zing of fresh lime. The chewy flatbread it comes atop is fairly non-descript but efficient for mopping up all the leftover sauces.

Steak is well-seasoned, tender and tasty – a rare feat to tick all the boxes but credit to quality ingredients treated with deserved respect. The extra cost of sauces and sides make mains a pricey affair, but the beef-fat béarnaise and bourbon pepper sauce are worthy additions in equal measure.

At this point desserts may seem like an overindulgence – but miss them at your peril! The deep dish Nutella cookie, served in a hot skillet with peanut butter ice cream, is the stuff of dreams and worth every calorie.

The quick service and convenient location make this a perfect pre-theatre stop, the outdoor terrace seating provides a lovely spot for lunch, while a zero-waste policy means you can eat with a clear conscience. But our main advice? Come hungry!

Following the success of his branches in Soho and the City, Temper on Covent Garden as its next site in 2018. It’s one of a growing number of decent restaurants opening in an area that’s keen to shake off its tourist-trap reputation. The decor here follows brand guidelines (note the central counter kitchen), as does the meaty menu.

Like its older siblings (who always know best), Temper Covent Garden is dedicated to the art and craft of barbecuing in-house butchered steak and meats, which are served alongside traditional corn tacos. All the beef is rare breed, grass-fed and sourced from handpicked UK farms with high welfare practices and Rankin refuses to use any produce he feels is mass produced or has a large environmental impact. This careful sourcing extends to the rest of the menu as well, from fish to vegetables to drinks, and Temper also operates a zero-waste policy, so those concerned about its eco credentials can dive in with abandon.

Start by taking your pick from a weighty cuisine-hopping menu that runs from tacos filled with the likes of soft shell crab, Dorito fried fish, pork and pineapple and goat’s cheese, to aged beef skewers with kimchi, slow-cooked porchetta, and goat carnitas, before getting stuck into a slab of beef from the robata grill. We recommend ordering the full quota of sauces and finishing off with the indulgent, gooey deep-dish Nutella cookie.

Keenly priced and plenty of fun – and with a well-stocked bar to boot (tuck into Vermouth, Negronis or an Irn-Bru Spritz, followed by a glass of wine) – Covent Garden’s Temper is a solid option for a night of ‘screw the diet’ feasting and drinking.