Rump

The cow outline in the branding and naming this place 'Rump' is 1 part tacky and 4 parts fun-  I love how explicit it is about the fact that you'll be chowing down on a bovine backside.  It's definitely not for the squeamish, but neither is a steak cooked very much to the blue end of rare.

Lots of places err on the side of overcooking steak, so that rare becomes medium rare and so on.  This was not a problem at Rump, and my steak was mostly underdone for an order of rare.  Happily the quality of the steak was such that I still enjoyed the blue parts of my steak. The Diver's steak was  a more uniform thickness than mine, so ended up perfectly rare throughout; I had a touch of food envy over this.

One drawback of ordering rare steaks is the fact that the steak doesn't stay warm for long if served on cold plates, as it was at Rump.  We went on a sweltering summer evening which meant that this wasn't a problem, but it definitely would be on a colder day when I'd want my steak to be warm.  

The flexibility of the menu is perfect, allowing you to select a steak by cut and weight, but without including so many options that you get a reading-induced headache from trying to decide what to have. 

The steaks were served with salt and ground pepper dishes on the side. I'm a big fan of a light dusting of both on steak and this means that everyone can achieve their perfect seasoning.  The steaks did come with a green chopped harb sprinkled over them which I am 90% sure was basil (the steak itself was dazzling my tastebuds so I was quite distracted) and although not a combination I'd have thought up myself, worked very well.  It also tied in nicely with one of the side dishes we ordered, tomato onion and basil salad.

Other non-food observations about Rump? The wine and cocktail lists looked good though I'd hate to say more having not actually sampled them.  There was an information leaflet on our table about wine tasting nights held there which I liked- it shows enthusiasm on the part of the management and a keeness to share this with others (and yes, a good way to promote yourself and get diners to part with more cash, but from a buisness point of view I applaud this.)  The set-up inside was rustic industrialism: the tables in the bar area were made of irregular planks of wood that were cross sections through a tree trunk, complete with bark, and the chairs were luxury bar stools in cream.  The walls were successfully made to feel like they had been geometrically chiselled out of a rockface somewhere, rather than being part of a building on Putney High Street.

I liked Rump.  The steak itself was nudging 9/10 but it's getting 8/10 for not quite cooking my steak to my specification and the cold plates.