http://thehawksmoor.com/locations/airstreet

A ‘Doddington Caesar’, eh? What does that mean for our favourite salad? The well-informed and friendly waiter at the Hawksmoor tells us it’s the name of the cheese they use – a British product rather than the more usual parmesan.

Sadly, it seems they include anchovies as standard and in the dressing. I decline the former, but go with the latter. What the heck – it’s Christmas.

When the dish arrives, the portion size (we’ve plumped for the starter so we can follow up with a steak) is pretty much ideal, it’s well presented and the Doddington is very finely grated atop a pile of large, uncut romaine lettuce leaves. However, it soon becomes clear that the salad has been simply layered on the plate rather than tossed – very little of the dressing, the cheese or the croutons have made it to the lower levels of the lettuce tower.

As for those items themselves: the dressing is a bit fishy, as suspected, but despite the waiter’s assurance that the anchovies were added for body, saltiness and flavour, it’s actually a rather thin and bland concoction. The croutons, unusually, are very fine – almost crumbs – and it’s difficult to pick out any flavour other than ‘crunchy’.

The Doddington cheese tastes not dissimilar to parmesan, and when it combines with the lettuce, croutons and dressing in the mouth, it’s a very pleasant mix. However, it doesn’t happen often enough due to a paucity of dressing and croutons and the lack of tossing to circulate the flavours. As my fellow reviewer points out, “One in five mouthfuls is great” – but that’s not an award-winning percentage.

Overall, we’d have to give this a 6 out of 10. The Hawksmoor Caesar Salad has some interesting ideas and innovations, but is let down – as so many seem to be – by poor fundamentals.