The Larder
I seldom order steak. Not because I don’t like steak. I do like steak. But I also like an interesting plate of food, an unusual vegetable, an exciting accompaniment, an inventive sauce. And yet no matter how wonderful and inventive the rest of a restaurant’s menu looks, the steak is always served with a f*cking side salad and chips. Every. Bloody. Time. Steak is clearly universally accepted as “the safe option” or “what unimaginative diners order” and so I seldom order steak. Sigh.
So how about the steak at The Larder? Well… yeah, f*cking side salad and chips! But never mind, because Maureen ordered it instead of me. And it was a stunning piece of meat, beautifully seared. I got to scoff some because my beloved can never quite get through a whole main course. And yet I also got to enjoy some gnarly haggis with champ, charred spring onions, and a peppy puddle of grain mustard gravy. So, double win.
Mackerel and kimchi
Our starter was a fillet of mackerel, the skin scorched until it had bubbled up to crispy goodness. Served on top of a stack of unabashed kimchi, gutsy and funky. I think I’ve done the mains, yeah? The steak really was the star of the show – an obscure cut, labelled as “spider steak” but that doesn’t seem to match what I find when I google it. The cut Maureen got was as soft and yielding as fillet, but with a very close-grained texture almost more like venison, almost livery. Mmmm.
Pudding was a green tea posset with a cardamom biscuit. Okay, so a posset is always going to be odd without the acidity of citrus to balance is, but this actually worked well; the usual sweetness toned down. The little shortbread biscuit had a good hint of cardamom in it.
Good wine list. We found a splendid Burgundy in the bin-ends, lucky us. And the bill of £26 for 3 courses before drinks is really good value, in particular the steak which is only a few quid more than the other mains.
Haggis
