Is the Coco Butter Steak worth £30? Yes, for most people it is, because you get a proper steak swimming in a rich garlic and herb butter sauce, with fries, toasted baguette and salad on the side, in a fully halal restaurant with a Tower Bridge view, for less than a plain steak costs in most of central London. I went to Coco Grill and Lounge to test the dish London will not stop filming, and the plate mostly lives up to the videos. The sauce is the star, the steak is good rather than great, and the setting does a lot of the work. This Coco Butter Steak review gives you my full honest verdict.
Key Takeaways
- The Coco Butter Steak costs £30 and the price covers the full plate: steak in a sizzling skillet, herb butter sauce, fries, toasted baguette and salad.
- Coco Grill and Lounge is fully halal and alcohol free, at 34a Shad Thames, London SE1 2YG, with views across to Tower Bridge.
- The butter sauce carries the dish. Order the steak medium rare and use the baguette to mop up every drop.
- Book ahead. The viral posts from 2 November 2026 drove a rush, and walk ins can face a wait.
What Is the Coco Butter Steak?
The Coco Butter Steak is Coco Grill and Lounge’s take on the butter steak format that has taken over London food feeds this year. A grilled steak arrives in a small skillet, bathed in a rich, velvety herb butter sauce, with crispy golden fries, toasted baguette and a fresh green garden salad alongside. It is the restaurant’s version of the classic Cafe de Paris entrecote, the steak in butter sauce that Swiss Butter made famous at £19, but Coco plates it as a fuller, more polished restaurant dish and charges £30 for it.
The interactive part is the point. The steak arrives with the butter still bubbling, and you pour, dip and mop as you eat. The baguette is not a garnish here, it is a tool, and the best bites are the ones where the bread soaks up the sauce at the bottom of the skillet. That theatre is half of why it films so well.
What You Get for £30
Thirty pounds buys the whole plate, and that matters when you judge the value. The Coco Butter Steak comes as a complete meal: the steak in its skillet, the herb butter sauce, a pile of crispy fries, toasted baguette for mopping, and a fresh green salad to cut through the richness. You do not need to order sides, because the plate is already generous.
The same restaurant charges £38 for a 200g fillet mignon, so the Coco Butter Steak sits at the affordable end of its own menu. Against the wider London market, where a plain ribeye in a central steakhouse often starts at £35 with no sauce and no sides, £30 for a sauced steak with everything included is fair value.
The Steak Itself
The steak is a good cut, cooked the way you ask, with a proper sear on the outside and a pink centre when you order medium rare. It is tender, it slices cleanly, and it holds up to the sauce without falling apart. Ask for medium rare, and say so clearly, because a butter steak taken past medium loses the point of the dish and the sauce cannot rescue dry beef.
Here is my honest caveat. The beef itself is not the most deeply flavoured steak I have eaten in London. It leans on the butter, and a steak lover who judges a plate on the meat alone will notice that. The flavour story here belongs to the sauce, not the cut. That is a fair trade at £30. If you cook steak at home and you want to know how the kitchen gets the sear right, my guide to how to cook flat iron steak covers the same high heat, rest and slice discipline that makes a cheaper cut eat like a luxury one.
The Butter Sauce Does the Heavy Lifting
The sauce is where the Coco Butter Steak earns its name and its hype. It is a rich, velvety herb butter with a clear garlic backbone and a savoury depth that keeps it from tasting one note. It coats the steak, it soaks into the fries, and it turns the toasted baguette into the best thing on the table. It is closer to a Cafe de Paris style butter than a plain garlic butter, and the herbs keep the richness from getting tiring. Dip the steak, drag the fries through it, and save baguette for the last of the sauce.
The Room, the View and the Vibe
Coco Grill and Lounge sits on Shad Thames, a cobbled riverside street a short walk from London Bridge station, with floor to ceiling windows and a terrace facing Tower Bridge. The room is polished and glamorous without feeling stiff, and the view does a lot of the work on a clear evening. It is a proper night out setting, and the Coco Butter Steak fits it: this is a dish built for a table with a view, not a quick lunch.
The restaurant is fully halal and serves no alcohol, with a dedicated alcohol free drinks menu of mocktails in place of a wine list. It is popular for dates and special occasions, and it gets loud when it fills up, so go expecting a buzz rather than a quiet corner. Some past reviewers have flagged slow service and noise on busy nights, and that is worth knowing before you go.
Coco Butter Steak vs Swiss Butter
The honest comparison everyone asks for is with Swiss Butter, the £19 butter steak that started this whole trend. At Swiss Butter you get a 200g fillet or ribeye, fries, salad and bread, all bathed in their secret butter sauce, for £19. So what does the extra £11 at Coco buy you?
It buys the riverside room and the Tower Bridge view, table service in a full restaurant rather than a casual counter, a fully halal menu with an alcohol free drinks list, and a more polished plate. If you only want the cheapest butter steak, go to Swiss Butter. If you want a night out built around the same idea, Coco is the better spend. For the other side of the coin, my review of Majajan the Queen of Spice covers another halal London favourite where the cooking, rather than the view, carries the night.
Who Should Go, and Who Should Skip It
Go if you want a fun, photogenic steak night and you like butter sauce. Go if you eat halal and you want a polished riverside room where that is simply how the restaurant works. Go if you are near Tower Bridge and you want a £30 steak that arrives as a full meal, not a starting point for a bill full of sides.
Skip it if you want a plain, sauce free steak judged on the beef alone, because the sauce is the point here and a purist will feel it hides the meat. Skip it if you hate crowds and noise, because this room is busy and loud on the nights the viral posts are driving. What to order with it is simple: nothing. The plate is complete. If your table wants extras, my guide to good sides for steak will help you pick.
How to Book and What to Know Before You Go
- Address: Coco Grill and Lounge, 34a Shad Thames, London SE1 2YG.
- Nearest stations: London Bridge and Tower Hill, about ten minutes on foot.
- Hours: Sunday from 12pm, Monday to Saturday from 12.30pm, closing at 11.30pm.
- Booking: book through the restaurant website at coco-restaurants.com, and book ahead while the viral demand lasts.
- Phone: 020 7407 7999. The Coco Butter Steak is £30; drinks and dessert cost extra.
- There is a second branch at Canary Wharf, West India Quay, 14 Hertsmere Road, London E14 4AF.
My Verdict
The Coco Butter Steak is a very good night out built around a good steak and a great sauce. The £30 price is fair for what arrives on the table, and the halal menu and the Tower Bridge view make it a rare find in central London. My one honest reservation is the beef, which is good rather than memorable, and which leans on the sauce more than a steak purist will like. I would go back, and I would tell a friend to book before the queue gets longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Coco Butter Steak?
The Coco Butter Steak costs £30 at Coco Grill and Lounge. The price covers the full plate: the steak in a skillet with herb butter sauce, crispy fries, toasted baguette and a fresh green salad.
Is the Coco Butter Steak worth it?
Yes, for most people. The steak is good, the butter sauce is excellent, and £30 for a full meal with a Tower Bridge view is fair value. Swiss Butter at £19 is cheaper, but the room and the experience are not the same.
Is Coco Grill and Lounge halal?
Yes. Coco Grill and Lounge is fully halal and serves no alcohol. It has a dedicated alcohol free drinks menu, and the restaurant is popular for halal dining with a view.
Where is Coco Grill and Lounge?
Coco Grill and Lounge is at 34a Shad Thames, London SE1 2YG, on the riverside near Tower Bridge. The nearest stations are London Bridge and Tower Hill, about ten minutes on foot.
What is the Coco Butter Steak served with?
The steak is served in a small skillet bathed in a rich herb butter sauce, with crispy golden fries, toasted baguette and a fresh green garden salad. The baguette is there for mopping up the sauce, so save a piece for the end.