Review: Eat Wild, Cirencester

Oh wow, that was a good burger. No, it was a great burger! And just for good measure, it came with great fries. Oh, and Maureen’s pulled venison lasagne was super-great too, with star anise to give it whumph. And then for afters I scoffed a stick toffee pudding with so much (oh so very good) sauce that you’d have to be a positive sugar junkie to manage it all. So, yeah, Eat Wild gets a big thumbs-up from me! You should go!

You want more? Okay, well, it’s decorated in the spartan, industrial, found-items style that is getting kinda common, though I must admit I like their approach more than most – impressive stags spray-painted onto one wall, our table made from a huge wooden cable spool, the bottle shelves behind the bar actually an eviscerated grand piano. The guys were friendly and clearly passionate about their food and drink. The name is a clue, by

the way – though my burger was beef, much of the concise menu is given to game. Even though they take bookings (and you probably need one – Eat Wild is getting popular!) this is very, very, very casual dining.

Bit more on the food too. I’m not the kind of burger aficionado who could write an entire blog titled “Burger Me!” about my passionate search across the UK for the perfect filthy burger. So I’m really only qualified to say that this was (a) beautifully flavoursome beef, (b) cooked to a pitch perfect pink-within-but-seared-without, (c) tucked in a deliciously soft bun that was still strong enough to hold together once soaked in meat juice, and (d) splendidly paired with excellent streaky bacon and just the right amount of cheese, caramelised onion, ketchup and mustard. They call it a “Clown Killer” presumably because if Ronald McDonald tried one he would simply have to give up and put a bullet in his brain.

And then… pulled venison lasagne! How stunning does that sound? Well, it tasted as good as it sounds. Like someone had gently tucked bambi into bed under a couple of cosy sheets of pasta, bathed him in bechamel sauce and bunged him in the oven for an hour. There was no mistaking this for beef, it held the distinct game taste of deer (the chalk on the wall said today’s venison was fallow) given depth by judicious spicing.

The sticky toffee pudding was a great one: when the pudding itself is moist and delicious enough without the sauce, you know you’re onto a winner. I don’t think I’ve ever had one with so many dates stuffed into it. Positively fruity. The toffee sauce, super-sweet with just enough bitter edge to stop it cloying, was gleeful. They make a good cup of coffee too, and all the plates are perfectly sensible prices; around a tenner.