Review: Sophie’s Steakhouse, London

When you are visiting London it can be easy to panic about how expensive everything is. Accommodation, attractions, eating out… if you’re not there for long you want to make the most of everything and that always seems to involve spending lots of money (although there are plenty of great guides out there on how to get the most out of London for free). One thing that I wasn’t aware of until recently was that you can actually eat out quite cheaply at some great places simply by opting for the theatre menu.

You will be more limited for choice, but the price tag is cheaper and it will work well timing wise if you are actually going to see a show! Last time I was in London I went to see Guys and Dolls (which was brilliant!) and as I was going with my friend called Sophie, there appeared to be no better place to go than Sophie’s Steakhouse in Covent Garden. Their theatre menu runs from 12-7pm and then again from 10pm onwards, so unless you are really fussy about the time that you eat, there is really no reason not to take advantage of it!

Drinks are expensive (if you are used to northern prices) but there is plenty of choice on the wine and cocktail front. We were also given some salami to nibble on whilst we enjoyed our drinks and waited for our food to arrive. We didn’t opt for starters (pudding wins every time!) but were still pleasantly full by the time we had finished.

I opted for the steak frites for my main course, although despite it being a steakhouse there were other options if steak isn’t your thing. Whilst there didn’t appear to be much difference between the Medium and Medium-Rare, the steak was thoroughly enjoyable as were the chips. The steak also came served with a  Béarnaise sauce which wasn’t described on the theatre menu.

For pudding I opted for the chocolate mousse which I would recommend. However, as we each had different desserts and enjoyed them, whether you choose the mousse, cheesecake or creme brûlée you should enjoy it. Unfortunately you can’t book a table in the evening (unless it’s for parties of ten or more) and although we went on a Saturday evening and didn’t struggle to get a table, I would recommend getting there with enough time to find somewhere else if it is full (particularly if you have a show to get to), or being prepared to wait for a short while.