Strip Joint
38 Hill Street
Belfast
028 9031 1222
I'M A frequent visitor to Hill Street, although it's usually the wonderful Harp Bar that gets my custom. But from that vantage point I've gazed several times across the cobbled street at the menu for the recently opened Strip Joint.
The name sounds like the kind of place Free Presbyterians should be protesting outside but what lies within is not surgically enhanced women but a fairly trendy steakhouse.
The long, narrow restaurant has had several make-overs over the years, from a bistro-style restaurant to a chicken place that wasn't great and was more a sort of overpriced KFC.
The funky wallpaper I'm almost sure has been there through all three recent reincarnations, the stripped wooden tables and casual style chairs a more recent addition.
It's part of the Made in Belfast chain which I'm a fan of so I had high hopes. The fact that I was told booking is advisable because the place is so busy, even midweek, just added to the anticipation.
The place, while a bit fussy with far too many colours competing for attention, looks interesting in a sort of shabby-chic-meets-hipster type of way.
The menu sounded great with lots of my favourite foods. Starters, including a large platter of various meats such as beef cheek and a liver parfait for sharing sounded great. My mouth watered at the thought of hot prawn cocktail with added luxury of lobster and slow cooked ribs with horseradish.
Dazzled with choice, we ordered the crab pot starter with lemon and chilli and Guinness bread and the crispy fried ham and mustard glazed chicken wings. The crab was tasty, the dark warm bread delicious with the little pickle cucumber and caper side refreshing.
However, the wings were a major disappointment. The serving was generous but they were anaemic in colour, worryingly under cooked – I found pink bits, which is never good in chicken – and not glazed with anything that I could taste, not even a pinch of seasoning.
Onwards to mains. The menu promised that all the beef is sourced from Ireland, dry hung and aged. It also stated that all steaks come medium rare, which is fine by me as it's how I would have had it anyway. Served with burnt onion butter and cooking juices, it sounded right up my carnivorous street.
Chateaubriand to share at £35 and an 8oz fillet steak for a hefty £25 were more a special-occasion treat. Instead I went for the more modest flat iron steak at £12 and my dining partner, still huffing about the wing situation, ordered the steak and stout pie with mash and creamed cabbage.
Sides included a range of delicious treats – baked potatoes, beef dripping chips and mac and cheese all cost a bargain basement £1 each. I went for the onion and anchovy gratin to accompany my steak.
They arrived and my steak was not medium rare but very, very rare – in parts almost blue, I don't mind that for good quality beef doesn't require much cooking: you can show it a pan and it'll still tastes delicious.
Unfortunately this steak didn't taste delicious; in fact it didn't really taste like anything. It had no seasoning at all, it was tough and unforgiving and in places quite unpleasant. The £1 potato side dish was tasty and salty, beautifully rich – I'd have been better with a selection of those.
The steak was so disappointing that we left a significant portion, and that's unthinkable in my book. It may well be the first time I've left steak on my plate in my life.
The pie was delicious, a lovely rich gravy and puff pastry top, with creamy buttery mash and carrots, comforting and very filling but the Strip Joint is a steakhouse not a pie shop.
Desserts looked pleasant and traditional – sticky toffee pudding, lemon meringue pie, that sort of thing, but I'd had enough. The service was functional but that was it, really.
Drinks-wise there are delicious-sounding cocktails at a £5 each and a selection of craft beers and ciders, a pint of Kozel was £4.85. You'll not neck too many of those on a budget. If there was a wine list I certainly didn't see one.
Again I'd have been fine with that, for a good beer and tasty steak are among life's great comforts. Unfortunately I didn't find either at the Strip Joint.
Pint Kozel £4.85
Peroni £3.85
Crab pot £7
Chicken wings £6
Flat iron steak £12
Steak and stout pie £12
Total £46.65
