The Chophouse
Tigné Point, Sliema

Food: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

This is no ordinary steakhouse. It was created to please the gourmandising character and the pleasure-seeking hedonist. It is a fabulous place in which to  indulge in some of the finer things in life: meat, whisky and wine.

The utmost effort has been put into every aspect of the food and drink process, from the sourcing and careful selection of premium products through to meticulous preparation and serving.

Most of their meat is butchered and hung in-house and dry aged. Apart from being a meat lover’s paradise, the establishment proposes a great selection of wines and whiskies. The latter drape the walls, displayed in glistening  glass cabinets.

Wine has been given pride of place and a section of the restaurant is dedicated to all things bacchanalian. A large, glass fronted alcove at the back of the establishment houses the wine, leaving space for a huge communal table at which guests can sit, sampling a bottle at leisure. Over 200 wines are there for the taking. The wine room is flanked on the left by an enormous charcoal grill, the island’s largest, and to the right by an equally long, marble-topped bar.

The restaurant is absolutely stunning. It is, perhaps, the ultimate dream man cave, a state-of-the-art man sanctuary. The swanky decor mirrors this, sleekly conveying a contemporary, distinctly masculine aesthetic. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the authentic chop house.  Chop houses were one of the first eating houses in Britain and a product of the Victorian age.

The Industrial Revolution had ushered in significant social upheaval and more and more people moved into London to find work. This teeming workforce that flooded the city needed lunch... a hearty, wholesome one that would see them through what remained of the laborious working day.

Chop houses offered just that. The chop in question would have been a mutton chop, although other dishes would have also been served. All were simple, unembellished work-horse meals.

The utmost effort has been put into every aspect of the food and drink process

We had ordered the Tomahawk steak. This robust piece of meat is not for the faint-hearted or the small-stomached. This is the ultimate meat experience: a long handle of bone, French-trimmed, leads to a thick hunk of rib eye, marbled with fat. Visually it is impressive, filling the plate, vaguely resembling the Native American axe after which it takes its name.

And, while you could certainly use this steak as a weapon, neatly clubbing someone across the head with it, we preferred to eat ours. There is something primordial about tucking into a steak like this – all the more so if you choose to pick it up in one hand, teeth at the ready, cave-man style. We chose not to do this. Finding ourselves in polite society, we cut into the Tomahawk using the appropriate utensils and proceeded to devour it with reckless abandon.

There is an art to cooking an excellent Tomahawk steak. Its dimensions make it tricky to fit in a pan and cooking it properly can prove quite challenging. Many would choose to oven roast this steak, having first seared it by squeezing it into the largest frying pan in their possession.

The supreme cooking method is indubitably by grilling the steak on a barbecue. And this is precisely what was done at Chophouse. Our Tomahawk steak was grilled to perfection, although it was served closer to rare than to medium-rare. Grill cooking had produced beautiful smoky flavours. Fire-seared, the meat had browned beautifully on the grill, giving off intense charred flavours while retaining succulence and juiciness.

As it is an on-the bone rib steak, wonderful gelatinous flavours had been released both from the large amount of inter-muscular fat contained in the rib-eye and from the enormous bone. It was a raging success.

Navigating to another cut of cow, the flank steak had caught our fancy. Marinated and grilled, lean and flavourful, the beef flank had been well seared and heaved with strong, smoky flavours. Alas, it was undercooked. A cut of meat has a satisfying chew when cooked correctly. This was unpleasant and far too rare. I had to send the steak back and ask that it be further cooked, which was unfortunate. Once returned to me, it was a lovely medium-rare with a now pleasantly tender texture. It was outstandingly savoury.

Adding to this savouriness was the kimchi the steak was served with. It brightened the plate with its electric red hue. Made from salted, fermented vegetables, kimchi is Korea’s national dish. It is the only thing on which North and South Korea see eye to eye. Up and down the country, kimchi is worshipped and eaten as a much loved, traditional side dish or condiment. There are a myriad ways to make it, depending on which vegetables you choose to pickle. The one served with the flank steak was an appetising cabbage kimchi.

Highly seasoned with ingredients like chilli, garlic, ginger and shrimp paste, this one was fantastic and fiercely fiery. But the kitchen had been rather ungenerous when it came to dishing out the kimchi –  it wasn’t so much a side dish as a garnish. I find kimchi quite addictive and I wanted more of its spicy umami.

Carnivorous appetites satiated, we moved on to dessert: a white chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate biscuit base that was very much below par. It jarred with the superior quality of the meat course that preceded it. We mused over the view before us, the magnificent Valletta skyline lit up at night. Chophouse’s luminous premises and good cooking had shamefully left us otherwise absorbed.

There is a reason why this upmarket steak house is greatly lauded. Only the very best available ingredients are made use of and standards are incredibly high. It is a pricey place but, when you consider the fine food and service and the restaurant’s gorgeous location, it is worth every penny.

I shall forgive the undercooking of the meat. I cannot forget that Tomahawk steak. It was so damn pleasing.