The Oak 12

Dry-aged British beef and a smash burger, Bermondsey

Steaks over the open grill, flames through the bars, a cook turning one with tongs.

45 days

Dry-aged British beef, cooked over oak, in a room built for staying a while.

See the menu

Bone-in ribeye for two, £72

Set lunch

£19

Two courses, per person

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun

12:00 to 15:00

Starters

  • Bone marrow, sourdough
  • Grilled leeks, smoked butter

Mains

  • Rump cap, chimichurri, fries
  • The Oak Smash, fries
  • Mushroom smash, fries

Puddings

  • Burnt basque cheesecake
  • Salted caramel tart

To drink

  • A glass of the house red
  • Coffee

Three courses, £24. A glass of the house red with either, £6.

The Oak Smash is made from the same beef as the ribeye.

The trim comes off the same dry-aged carcasses, ground each morning and pressed thin on a hot steel plate until the edges go to lace. It is the reason the bar is full on a Tuesday.

2 × 90g

Two patties of dry-aged trim, smashed on the plate. Never pre-formed.

48 hr

Beef-fat brioche, proved for two days and baked for us on Maltby Street.

£14

The Oak Smash, with fries. Double with bacon jam, £17. Mushroom, £13.

The Oak Smash: two patties under melted cheese, with pickles and white onion in a brioche bun.
A cook in a cap building a burger at the pass.
Patties on the round steel plate, flames rising from the fire at its centre.
The dining room, with a cook at the grill behind the glass wall of the open kitchen.
Tom and Ade Whitlock in the dining room, the open kitchen and its grill behind them.

Two of us, one room, one grill.

We buy whole native-breed carcasses from farms we have visited and hang them ourselves, so the ageing count on the card is a number we can vouch for. The kitchen is open because there is nothing to hide, and the wine list is short because we only pour what we drink. Book a table, come across town, and stay for the second bottle.

Tom and Ade Whitlock, owners