I tried a Tomahawk steak at Aged Steakhouse in Crawley and it was stunning

SussexWorld

SussexWorld senior editor Mark Dunford visited Aged Steakhouse in Crawley and got to try the Tomahawk steak.  This video shows Chef Azam Riyard explaining the aging process and shows Mark and his family enjoying the food.

Transcript

00:00Two main dining areas, and the newest addition would be this one, we've got a live lobster tank.

00:07Wow. His name is Lobby the Lobster, we've decided to make him the restaurant pet instead of putting him on the table.

00:13Okay. He's been a survivor. Yeah. Excellent.

00:17And then this is one of our dry ages, what you see here are bashes that have been aged for 50 plus days.

00:24Right, okay.

00:25These ones are your band cube, this is your tomahawk, and we do seafood varieties as well.

00:30As far as I know in West Sussex we're the only ones who does dry aged seafood.

00:35I'm Chef Azam, self-taught cricket coach, player, cricket enthusiast, who's turned a chef,

00:45and you know I've been doing this chefing for the last six years, seven years now.

00:51Properly seven years, but before that it was just clicking burgers and making kids want to come and play cricket at a cricket club.

00:59This is our main dry age, which after we cut it from the whole hind, so we do it over here.

01:10So we do have Australian A plus grade, plus nine, nine plus grade Wagyu, as well there.

01:20Then we do have British beef, imported beef from Finland, then we've got Irish beef as well, the tomahawk's Irish.

01:29Right, okay.

01:30Then we've got lobster there, seabass, salmon, and then we have on the bone, what we do is we dry it through a certain number of days,

01:40around 40 days, 40 days plus, then we put it over there, and then we basically do more longevity to it.

01:49Aged steakhouse, I was not supposed to be on the high street.

01:55I found this beautiful building, I visited this place about five years ago, 85,000 pounds was on the price,

02:04and I just walked out and said, no way I can afford that.

02:07But we have come back into one of Crawley's most prestigious buildings.

02:13It's got a lot of history, and it's got a lot of character as well.

02:19Pre-Tudor building, owned by very renowned people prior to me.

02:24It's been always a success, whoever did it, whatever they did here.

02:27So we rebranded because of the building as well, the structural aspect of things,

02:34and what we did is got something to do with aging, aged building, aged steak,

02:40and we rebranded the whole concept and started trading from here, from last year.

02:47Okay, and is it quite rare that you dry age fish and seafood, is that right?

02:51I think nobody does it in Sussex.

02:54Wow, and why have you made that choice?

02:58Because it's a delicacy, when you come to the clubhouse it's an experience,

03:02it's not just you come and eat and you go, it's an experience.

03:05You see what is being cut, how it's cut, thickness, you decide how much you want to eat, not me.

03:12Everything is done for the customer.

03:15It's a beautiful experience that we're trying to achieve here, so that's the whole point.

03:21Obviously we have a very old building as well, so to provoke the decor and everything,

03:28that's why we call ourselves aged as well.

03:31There's a lot of history in the building, and what we do is try to preserve the best beef as well.

03:35And what is it about aged food and aged meat, and obviously you do seafood as well,

03:40why have you gone down that route with the food?

03:43Because there's a massive gap in the market, and especially you need to travel to London

03:50and travel overseas, mainland Europe where a lot of this aged concept is very popular.

03:57Aging beef in Spain is very big, Portugal, France, Italy, it's been there for decades.

04:05The British public only had an opportunity when they were abroad to try this,

04:10and absolutely brilliant food.

04:13So what it does is it gives you enhanced flavours of a particular product, for example fish.

04:20Leave a fish in there, it becomes ten times tastier, because it loses the water content

04:27and it becomes more flavoursome.

04:31You use the right ingredients, you use the premium ingredients I would say,

04:35and it becomes something that, it's an experience, it's not an everyday thing,

04:40you just come in and have a munch.

04:42It's a treat, and the people who value good time, it takes time, nothing's overnight.

04:50So even the tomahawk you had is like 20 days, 15 days, there's always a calibre of meat

04:56which goes in there.

04:57The ones we have on the display, both the carcasses are almost 40 days,

05:05we don't touch them until it's 45 days.

05:07So that basically intensifies the flavour, so it's about patience, it's about ageing,

05:13it's about being in the building, it's a whole package.

05:17And it's preserving rather than wasting, so throw anything into it, it preserves it.

05:24Because the machine does fight bacteria, UV protection, it does what it needs to do.

05:30So it's an incredible machine, lucky to have it in Crawley I would say.

05:36But what we are trying to achieve is get more people through the doors

05:40and educate them about slightly premium product.

05:44Is it on?

05:51Yes, it's nothing like Crawley's seen before, is it?

05:54No, I don't think so.

05:56I hope it catches on fire, because Crawley needs to understand that

06:02the product is not a normal, it's not a weather spoon.

06:06It's certainly not.

06:08It's not a harvester, it's something totally different.

06:11So everybody thinks, why is it so expensive?

06:14It's expensive for a reason, because it takes time to mature.

06:17Even the standard steaks are Australian, high-grade, grass-fed or grain-fed beef as well.

06:23So we pay a price, we need to charge a premium for us to keep doing what we love doing.

06:32So it's an experience.

06:35When you came out and cut the Tomahawk steak for us, it was like theatre.

06:40Is that how you would describe it?

06:42Yes, it is.

06:43Normally we have the hinds of beef, we cut the whole hind into three different...

06:47You've got the ribeye end, the sirloin end, the T-bone and the porterhouse end.

06:51So what we try to achieve is give theatre as well.

06:55It's about cutting, weighing, showing the customer how it looks

06:59and serving it while they see what's happening.

07:03So everything is done in front of them, nothing is hidden.

07:06Nothing is basically not for the customer to know.

07:11They know exactly what they're paying for, they know where it came from,

07:15they've got traceability.

07:17So it's very important that it's understood in that manner

07:20rather than, oh, why is it a steakhouse in Crawley, why are you so expensive?

07:24But it's an opportunity for me, myself.

07:28The personal goal is to get at least a Michelin 1 or a Rosette.

07:34Just need to be out there.

07:36I think positive reviews and good food reviewers coming and trying our food,

07:43it's very important that they understand what it's all about.

07:46It's not just coming and having food.

07:48So we are very particular who we invite as well to get our voice heard.

07:54Noah's having the dynamite shrimp at the moment.

07:57I'll let him swallow and then I'll get him.

07:59Oh, he's liking it, I can tell.

08:02So talk us through the shrimp, Noah.

08:04There's a seafood taste and it's got a very nice kick to it as well.

08:08Nice kick to it.

08:10And then we've got the wings coming, the jumbo wings coming here

08:13with Korean barbecue and a mango habanero, is that right?

08:17Yeah, two flavors in one.

08:19Excellent.

08:20Lovely thing.

08:21It's about respecting the animal, making sure that the beast has given its rights

08:30in a proper way as well, the last rights given in a respectable manner

08:35so people do enjoy high-end product.

08:46So do you come out and cut it up every time when you serve one of these?

08:50It's all part of the experience, yeah?

08:52Yes, it is.

08:53And sometimes we ask customers if they want it cut in the kitchen

08:56so we do cut it up as well.

08:58Okay.

09:04Oh, that's lovely.

09:08So I'm just about to try the tomahawk steak.

09:12Mmm.

09:17First time I've ever had a tomahawk and it is beautiful.

09:20The crust of it, as Anne was just explaining, that it's from the dry-aged

09:25that causes the crust and that adds a real crunch

09:28but it is really melting in your mouth when you eat it.

09:30It's fantastic, really good and I can't wait to not let Noah have any more of this

09:35and I'm going to have the rest.

09:41Mmm.

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