STEAK la troisième partie

 Steak... Steak, Steak, Steak.

I apologise to anyone that is noting the repetition in my Steak posts, or vegetarians for that matter. But you'll have noticed how much I enjoy every experience I have at this restaurant. It saddens me so to know when I venture back to Oz I will not be able to 'pop into' Steak Edinburgh.

Tonight's trip to Steak was a last minute decision. Fortunately we were able to get a booking, and as we were ever-so-keen to try to Chateau Briand I asked my guest to call the restaurant to ensure there would be one available for us.

I arrive a few minutes before my guest and made my way into the cocktail bar downstairs.

I was greeted by one of the most knowledgeable bartenders I have ever met, who assisted me in choosing a drink.

The Fruity Fish House Punch, I was assured, was a 'serious' drink. Right up my alley. It showed up a minute later and it most certainly was 'serious'. Tart and fruity and wonderfully delicious (and very boozy).

 My guest, upon arrival, decided on the White Russian Ramos. I had a taste and it was the most unusual yet spectacular thing I have ever tried through a straw. The bartender enthusiastically ran us through the process of how it was created and also introduced us to the most wonderfully smooth vodka.

 

A Swedish vodka that smells like a river of butterscotch and drinks like water. Delicious.

We made our way to our table and made our decisions. I was recognized by my waitress Tessa, every time I have visited she has served me and has always been perfect.

Bread arrived firstly: Bacon and Comte bread which was beautiful and incredibly moreish, but I know not to fill up on bread- I know what is still to come.

 I decided on a salad for my starter, the smoked eel and bacon salad. It was positively delightful. The leaves were perfectly dressed. Plenty of delicious moist eel chunks and crispy bacon pieces. Salty, fresh, light yet still a perfect starter size. I cannot recommend this dish enough.

And ... it arrives. Chateau Briand, done medium rare, carved at the table... it's just so beautiful.

The sides we ordered were peas with bacon (obviously my favourite thing in the world), sweetcorn fritters (donuts you can eat with dinner), rosemary roasted new potatoes,  carrots star anise, cauliflower gratin, garlic mushrooms.

Unfortunately to the utter embarrassment of our waitress the final THREE of these choices were not available. She was mortified, poor lass. This didn't bother me in the slightest, and changed our order to instead mac n cheese with truffle and asparagus.

What a spread!

 Here is my pick for side of the millenium: peas and bacon done in a wonderfully creamy white sauce. I love them so much.

Here is the Pièce de résistance the Chateau Briand. The one thing that always gets me is now incredibly juicy the meat is, and yet so very little of the juice escapes. This was heavenly, definitely on par with the Beef Wellington that I had on my first visit here.

I have learnt that sauce is totally not required when here... the flavours are so delicate and the meat so moist that it seems like a terrible waste to mask the perfection of the meat.

I did not have a dessert this time round, but instead ordered one of the Cariel Vanilla Vodkas I had tested earlier on ice. My guest had the apple pie which was made fresh.

The staff were mortified that the sides we had ordered were not available, both the manager and the owner expressed their concern. This sentiment itself more than made up for the any inconvenience caused by the earlier ordering mishap.

As I was leaving the owner again approached me for a chat. It was an absolute pleasure to meet him and listen to his enthusiasm for both meat and this, his baby.

I can promise more posts from Steak before I leave.

And yes, Steak is still my favourite restaurant in Edinburgh.