REVIEW: Dining in splendour at Tomahawk Steakhouse at Acklam Hall

Even when it is the former, how informative is it to read the poorly-expressed opinion of “scranman420” that somewhere is the best/worst pub in the world or that “missparmo1234567” thinks the sticky toffee pudding is to die for?

But having heard that the Tomahawk Steakhouse chain had opened up in Acklam Hall but no independent reports of how it was faring, I thought some pre-prandial research was probably in order.

It didn’t make for pleasant reading: “Terrible service – would not return” was one, “Appalling service” was another. Even more damning was: “Badly-operated, average restaurant with untrained waiting staff with very little if any knowledge of the menu and the food”.

But duty called, dear reader. We steeled ourselves for this apparent hospitality horror show and set off for Middlesbrough.

A degree of resolve is required to find Acklam Hall. It sits, rather incongruously in the middle of the town’s southern suburban sprawl, an island of 17th Century Restoration splendour amidst a pot-pourri of post-war/70s and more recent housing developments.

Eating Out at the Tomahawk Steakhouse at Acklam Hall

Even with sat-nav it’s tricky to find but the tortuous journey is worth enduring for the vista that opens up on Hall Drive as you reach the end of the seemingly endless twist and turns through the Boro’s leafier districts. This is the town’s only Grade I-listed building and certainly it looks the part.

Having parked up at the end of the sweeping drive we were personally greeted at the door. Which was nice, even though I think they were expecting us to be someone else – Elaine, to be precise.

But no matter, the warm was welcome – even after Sylvia had said she wasn’t Elaine – and we were escorted to a table in the main dining room with a view over the front terrace.

This room is something else – perfectly proportioned on a grand scale. I was going to say the ceiling plasterwork is to die for but let’s just say it is absolutely beautiful. Everything else bar some slightly tatty tables is suitably tasteful – respectful of its listed status but an undeniably modern dining space.

Given those nightmare online reviews, we were pleasantly surprised by the service. The youngsters who looked after us were a little over eager at times. They universally addressed us as “guys” which I know is the modern idiom but it does grate. Everything came to the table at the appropriate moment and they knew – and more importantly the kitchen knew – what medium rare meant.

Eating Out at the Tomahawk Steakhouse at Acklam Hall

But before we talk about the steaks – which, of course, is the point of any Tomahawk – we had some spectacularly good starters.

Now I acknowledge that there’s not much that can go wrong with duck pancakes (£8.50) but these were bang on. I guess the potential problem is that the shredded duck can be on the dry side but there was no sign of that. The steamed soft pancakes were light yet strong enough to hold the duck, shredded cucumber and onion, and the hoisin/plum sauce, without disintegrating in our hands.

Eating Out at the Tomahawk Steakhouse at Acklam Hall

But they were just a side-show compared with the tempura king prawns (£9.95). I meant to take a picture but we were distracted by their sheer magnificence.

They may have only been four in number but they were absolute whoppers, fat and juicy, encased in the very lightest of tempura batters. The sweet chilli sauce was more chilli than sweet (a good thing in my book) and there was also some Asian slaw but it really was all about the prawns.

We had a debate about whether these were best tempura king prawns we had ever tasted. Given my rudeness about hyperventilating, hyperbolic online reviewers earlier, we will settle for just saying they were right up there with the very best.

The steaks were almost as good. Now, one can spend an almost obscene of money on some of the cuts offered on the Tomahawk menu (£134.95 for the Wagyu Carnivore sharing board – that’s an 8oz rump, 10oz ribeye, 8oz fillet, 10oz sirloin with some garlic butter prawns thrown in) – but we settled for something more modest – a 12oz "standard" sirloin (£28.95) with garlic and herb butter sauce (£3 extra) and an 8oz Wagyu rump (£27.95) with a Bearnaise sauce (£3). Four side dishes – chips with both, a salad and creamed bacon and peas – were included in the price.

Sylvia considered the medium sirloin as tender and well-flavoured as she could have expected and I thought it was actually better than the medium rare Wagyu. It’s not the first time I have been a bit underwhelmed by this premium breed which is supposed to be superior because of the marbling (fat) of the beef. It was a fine steak, no mistake, but the sirloin was definitely more succulent.

Without puds and with four drinks (sparkling water, small glasses of merlot and prosecco plus a very weak pink gin) and an optional ten per cent service charge took the bill to £110. Welcome to the cost of special occasion dining in 2022.

Tomahawk Steakhouse at Acklam Hall

Hall Drive, Acklam, Middlesbrough TS5 7BJ

Tel: 01642 822000 Web: www.tomahawk-steakhouse.co.uk

Open: 9am-11pm seven days.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9 (11 for the prawns), Service 8 Surroundings 10 Value 7