I’ve read a lot of reviews about brand, BRAND new restaurants, and I know a lot of the time people have jumped to review them before they have “got into their stride”. As I go to most of these places as a paying customer, I just review when I can and the opportunity arises. So when I was invited to The Broadcaster right opposite my office on like, the second day they were open, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt in case anything went a bit awry.

First impressions of The Broadcaster were that it was big and open and light. I love places like this. Especially at lunchtime. I always find if we take lunch somewhere with a “dark and moody” atmosphere I am ready for bed by the time I get back to my desk.

When I got in and looked at the menu, the first thing I thought was “Oh great, posh people food”. Because I can tell you, no matter how high up I get in advertising, no matter how well my blog does, and no matter how nice the places I can dine become, I will still ALWAYS be the girl happy to sit in tracksuit bottoms eating a Boneless Banquet from KFC. I’m far from a fussy eater, but I like good, well-flavoured food with good, organic ingredients and no “flare”. I don’t need to see some Twitter famous man cooking my steak with a flame thrower and then karate-chopping it or whatever, I just want to fill my belly. Fortunately, they did indeed do steak, and layered potato, I just opted for no bone marrow sauce, not that I have ever tried it, by the way, it just sounded a bit, well, you know, cannibal-y.

The argument I have the most about my steak is that I ruin it by having it well done. I’m not even joking with you I have had dining companions, where, as soon as I tell them I like my steak well-done, they look at me like I have just urinated over their entire family. Look guys, it’s my steak, alright?

So I ordered the steak, and something called a “layered potato”. Oh my gentle Jesus, I had not LIVED before I had got my lips around these. “Layered potato” or “Potato Pave” is potato sliced into very thin layers and then squished together and cooked. It tasted amazing. I LOVE potatoes. You will probably never meet anyone who is raving about roasties or as mad for mash as much as me. One of the things I seriously love about them is they are, as one of my best friends would say, simple, yet effective. The well-done steak was perfect. I know a lot of people class “well-done” as burnt and one would naturally assume the steak was tough, but it wasn’t. The fluffy layered potato complimented it perfectly, although I must say, like most “posh” places, the servings were not huge. The meal was just a Sirloin steak and this one little rectangle of potato. A few asparagus spears or some spinach would not have gone a miss.

The issue about working in the television centre is the fact that there are no decent pubs nearby. Not only has The Broadcaster solved this, but it has done so with an extensive cocktail menu. Even though I don’t drink myself, I can see the appeal to everyone I work with to be able to nip across the road for a “Star of the Show” or a “Fallen Plum”. They do also have a couple of non-alcoholic cocktails, but I’ve never been a fan of these. When I gave up alcohol I lost 3.5 stone without changing my eating habits whatsoever, so now my “treat” with a meal is a fat coke with ice and lemon. Even when I have it at home, I treat myself to ice and lemon just to make it that little bit more exciting (yes, most people who don’t drink are boring, hello, it’s me, I’m boring). I also don’t mind a Fruit Shoot, and most importantly I am not embarrassed, as a fully-grown adult, to ask for one.

We were on the top floor, which is the actual restaurant, however, there is a bar area downstairs for those who just wanted to go for a drink. There is a small bar menu, but looking at it, and knowing how small the portion sizes were for full “meals”, I wouldn’t attempt going to the bar hungry. However, the actual restaurant, I would highly recommend, because the food was great.