STK

Address: 336-337 The Strand (inside ME London hotel), London, WC2R 1HA, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7395 3450
Style: Restaurant bar

Review

"Not your Daddy's steakhouse", goes STK's slogan, and indeed its nightclub-style dining room, indoor cherry blossom trees, pink/purple colour scheme and DJ booth are unlikely to impress your father. This overtly 'female-friendly' restaurant, part of a US chain (its first outpost overseas is in the ME London hotel Aldwych), also advertises itself with stilettos and catwalk models who look like the last thing they'd eat is a nice, juicy steak. Presumably ladies don't like vowels, hence the STK, but they apparently do like Shrimp Rice Krispies, one of the signature dishes.

On the drinks menu, 15 cocktails cover the full range of dark and white spirits and short and tall serves though the flavour emphasis is largely on the sweet side, with the Not Your Daddy's Manhattan, at the top of the list, sweetened not just with sweet vermouth but Liqor 43 too (all drinks from £10-12). Despite the drinks' names also pandering to the lay-dees (Cucumber Stiletto, English Rose, Pink Orchid), there's just - just! - about enough balance to cater to both sexes (hey, if they're allowed to generalise, so are we). An upbeat atmosphere does, however, take it far from the stuffy steakhouses of old.