Many of you will be familiar with ‘Johnson Of Old Hurst’ for its fun-filled zoo experience. I have lost count at the number of times I have visited with the kids to show them the lions, crocodiles, and dozens of other animals who live on site. There is even a farm shop with its own butchery that I have heard has one of the biggest selections in the country. Heck, you can even buy crocodile meat!

But did you know that they also have a steakhouse?

The steakhouse is the only place at Johnson’s I have never visited. I know how good their butchery can be because I have visited numerous times before, so I was itching to visit and see what they could offer as a dining experience All their produce is locally sourced and 80% of their meat is freshly butchered from their own fields. There aren’t many places that can make such a claim.

Upon entering, we were greeted by a stunning bronze lion, which sat in the middle of a large open-plan two storey restaurant. The venue was decorated with animal skulls and taxidermied heads to give it that rustic countryside feel. The venue has seating upstairs with the ability to host over a hundred people in a spacious and comfortable setting.

The menu is vast and varied, with some interesting options, including tomahawk steak, a haunch of venison, and home made scotch eggs. Salad options are also available, as well as “pie of the day”, the “ultimate burger”, and mac & cheese.

The beer selection isn’t overly inspiring but I was happy enough with Camden Town Brewery’s pale ale. While casually sipping (chugging) this, we wrestled with what to eat. It was incredibly hard to make a decision, as there is so much quality on the menu. Every fibre of my being wanted to go for the tomahawk steak but for the same price I could order several other interesting dishes. For the sake of making a more interesting review, I decided to resist temptation and explore a variety of dishes.

Scotch egg

The scotch egg is made on-site from pork, black pudding, and apple, then served with a salad and piccalilli. For £8 you get a very large scotch egg with most of this size coming from the thick layer of pork and black pudding but this also comes with a nice crispy skin on top that adds a lovely crunch. The egg inside was hard boiled, which was disappointing, as I like it runny, but it was delicious nonetheless. I’m not sure if these are supposed to be runny or not and the waitress couldn’t give me an answer, so it would be interesting to find out.  The piccalilli was exquisite and brought the scotch egg to life with its sweet flavour.

Rump steak

We decided to order a 10 oz rump steak to get an idea of their quality. I thought it would be an easy way to compare it to other steak houses, as we all know what you expect from a rump steak.

The steak came with a choice between thick cut or thin cut chips, a mushroom, a tomato and some side salad. By eye, it was well presented but looked like your fairly run-of-the-mill steak. Looks can be deceptive, however, with theirs being from their very own on-site butchery.

Having a butchery means they know meat, where to source it, how to handle it, and what constitutes a good steak. I was expecting great things here, especially as it is all locally sourced, often from their own fields.

My guest knows his steak and often says that he has to order his rare to get it served medium rare but we felt confident that Johnson’s of Old Hurst would know how to handle this – and we were exactly right.

The steak came out absolutely perfect. This was medium rare, executed with precision and care. The quality of the steak is exceptional and even though it was ordered mostly as a benchmark compared to other restaurants, it turned out to be the highlight of the evening. Brilliant in its simplicity and living proof that you don’t need to over complicate things with steak. It is good quality, well prepared, by people that know what they are doing.

It’s just that simple 👌

Haunch of venison

I don’t see venison served enough In Cambridgeshire. This is surprising, considering that deer runs amok throughout our county. This is why I always trying to order it when I get the opportunity. So tonight I decide to order the haunch of venison.

This stunning dish is served with red wine sauce, a venison bonbon, dauphinoise potatoes, and buttered greens. The red wine sauce gave the venison a beautiful ruby red colour when it hit the light and the buttered greens was a refreshing change from the rather generous textbook salad you get everywhere else. We have already come to expect venison to be less tender and more lean than beef but this was tougher in a rewarding way, almost like it wanted you to know you were biting into it. This can also be a sign that it hasn’t been aged properly, which would explain the surprising lack of flavour that unfortunately didn’t come through. It was a paradox, as it was visually striking with a thick sauce that promised flavour but didn’t quite deliver.

Baby back ribs

The baby back ribs came out with thick cut chips, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. You get a choice between half a rack for £18 or a full rack for £25. Naturally, I ordered the full rack and I was so glad I did.

The ribs themselves were covered in a thin layer of barbeque sauce that added a delicious sweetness. My guest tried to cut the ribs with his knife and the knife just fell through it with the weight of gravity alone. He quickly realised that these were so tender that you could just pull them off the bone with your fingers – amazing!

The ribs were another highlight of the evening and another absolute must for anyone thinking of visiting. It clearly stood out as an example of quality ribs prepared to one of the best standards I have ever had.

I was also very quite keen on the coleslaw. It was served in a big bowl that was absolutely filled to the top. It was one of the creamiest takes on coleslaw I have ever had.

Conclusion

I was expecting big things from Johnson Of Old Hurst and, boy, it didn’t disappoint!

The menu had so much quality and variety that we must have spent ten minutes deciding what to order. We came to the conclusion that this is going to require a second visit to truly sample everything we wanted (I’m looking at you, tomahawk steak!). The steak quality is exceptional in every sense, from sourcing to the preparing. They don’t try to be gimmicky or fancy, just do good steak – and they do it so well!

The restaurant is huge, spacious, and rustic with a warm and friendly service who made us feel at home from the moment we stepped in. It’s a versatile venue, suitable for any occasion and is big enough to host big parties while allowing other diners to be undisturbed.

For anyone who enjoys a good steak, Johnson’s of Old Hurst is worth the trip, no matter where you are in Cambridgeshire.