Unlimited Fries and 8-Hour Short Rib at Bone Hoxton

Bone Hoxton is where my husband and I find ourselves on a rare, child-free Sunday afternoon. My sister has our three year old, and we’ve made it to Hoxton without negotiating snacks or emergency bathroom breaks. At this stage in life, the bar for romance is fairly modest: someone else doing the cooking.

So, at half past two (the only lunch sitting they offer) we step inside Bone Hoxton and take our seats, feeling victorious.

The concept at Bone Hoxton is simple. There’s a three course set menu for £40 pp. No substitutions, no a la carte options. That’s your lot.

On paper, I like this already. There’s something compelling about a restaurant that knows exactly what it’s doing.

We’re hungry and hopeful, the lighting is moodily low, and the sax player looks like he’s having a lot of fun.

For a moment, at least, it feels like we’ve chosen well.

Quick Info on Bone Hoxton

• Restaurant: Bone
• Location: Hoxton, London
• Menu: £40 three course set menu only
• Halal: Yes, everything on the menu is halal
• Alcohol: Not sold at Bone, but BYOB available (£7 corkage per person)
• Dietaries: No vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or allergy adaptations
• Reservations: Required (1.5 hour sittings)

Read the full Bone Hoxton restaurant review to find out more.

The Bone Hoxton menu is halal, focused, no nonsense

The Bone Hoxton set menu begins with bread and parmesan butter. Then you choose between two mains: the eight hour beef short rib with entrecôte sauce, or pan-fried salmon with parmesan cream sauce. Both arrive with unlimited fries.

Dessert is one of three: pistachio chocolate cake, brown butter French toast, or blueberry crumble.

That’s it.

Note that Bone doesn’t really do adjustments to the menu. So there are no vegetarian alternatives, no swaps or gluten-free detours. Everything is halal, including the short rib.

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A hurried start with bread and butter

The first course is a bread bowl – not quite a starter in the traditional sense, but satisfying nonetheless.

It comes quickly – too quickly if I’m honest.

Before we’ve even settled properly at the table – coats only just off, husband briefly disappeared to the loo – the bread course arrives. Instantly, without any other interaction about the menu, or drinks orders taken, or even everyone in our party being sat at the table.

It’s not a bad start. It’s just too fast, and it does partially take away the feeling of being well looked after.

Anyway. Back to the bread.

The bread bowl contains three varieties, all soft, warm, and comforting.

The butter, meanwhile, is soft and buried under a generous snowfall of grated parmesan. It’s savoury, spreadable, and easy to demolish.

And yet, because it it placed on the table so quickly, we feel the tone shift. What might have felt like the start of a leisurely lunch instead begins to resemble the opening move in a well rehearsed, tightly timed sequence.

Although I understand the efficiency, I wouldn’t mind a touch more breathing room.

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The 8 hour short rib (obviously)

For the next course on the Bone Hoxton set menu you can choose between the short rib or salmon. Let’s not pretend we’re here for the salmon.

We both order the eight hour beef short rib, because of course we do. That’s the headline act on the Bone Hoxton menu.

When it arrives, it looks reassuringly substantial, featuring a generous slab of beef on the bone, glossed in creamy entrecôte sauce with a faint tarragon lift, and flanked by a ginormous mound of fries.

The meat itself is tender and rich in that slow-cooked, Sunday-supper way. No, it’s not quite spoonable, and perhaps with a few more fatty seams and connective tissue moments than perfection demands, but still deeply enjoyable.

Importantly, when you factor in the £40 price for three courses, it becomes easier to forgive minor imperfections.

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The fries are excellent

They’re thin, golden, and fried to that deeper shade that signals flavour rather than blandness. Drag them through the peppery sauce and they become borderline addictive.

At Bone Hoxton, the fries are technically unlimited. In practice, the initial portion is so generous that neither of us considers a second round. We’d like to leave space for dessert.

Nostalgic desserts at Bone Hoxton

You can order one of three desserts from the Bone Hoxton set menu. We share the pistachio chocolate cake and the brown butter French toast.

The cake is the standout.

It’s a soft square of sponge, topped with a delightfully simple chocolate custard, dotted with vanilla custard and slicked with pistachio cream. It tastes like the best possible version of school dinner tray bake, being comforting, nostalgic, and very moreish.

Even when I’m full, I keep going back for another spoon.

The French toast is solid too, with golden edges, brown butter depth, custard on the side. It’s very capably done. But next to the chocolate cake, it feels slightly overshadowed.

Saxophones and subtle conveyor belt energy

On the Sunday we visit, there’s a sax player in the corner. The playlist veers from George Michael to Disney soundtracks, which sounds unhinged but somehow works.

The room itself is moodily lit, with proper white tablecloths (albeit topped with pinned disposable covers for quick turnover). It’s practical. but it does slightly puncture the illusion of something more indulgent.

We’re in and out in about an hour, despite the website promising 90 minute sittings. That brisk pacing, combined with the swift course arrivals, gives the faintest sense of being ushered along.

It’s not unpleasant per se, but it is taking efficiency to another level. A little more generosity on the pacing wouldn’t go amiss.

Price and value at Bone Hoxton

At £40 per person, Bone Hoxton is undeniably strong value in London right now.

Is the short rib the most technically perfect version you’ll ever eat? No. Are the desserts revolutionary? Also no.

But are you fed generously, served halal meat, given unlimited fries, entertained by live saxophone, and out for less than some Soho mains alone would cost? Yes.

Ultimately, Bone Hoxton works because it knows exactly who it’s for.

Final thoughts on Bone Hoxton

Bone Hoxton succeeds because it understands its lane. It’s not chasing Michelin stars, it’s positioning itself clearly within London’s halal dining scene, and doing so confidently.

And it’s winning at that game, by offering bold, halal food in generous portions at a price that, in today’s London, feels very fair.

With slightly softer pacing and a touch more ease between courses, it could feel truly special.

As it stands, Bone Hoxton is satisfying, confident, and – for £40 – compelling.

And frankly, unlimited fries don’t hurt.

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Bone Hoxton review
Address – 8 Orsman Rd, London N1 5QJ
Nearest Tube – Haggerston