Last week Beastro in Spinningfields celebrating it’s second birthday. We’ve all watched as the team went from street food traders (and butchers) to restaurant and chefs in a year long competition, that they eventually won.
Even since then, things evolved. The decor has been tweaked over the two years. The menu has refined, changed. Even the sticky door is less sticky.
That refinement is most evident in the evening menu. You can still get the big homely plates that you’d expect. Sausages and mash, steak, Coq au vin all have their place. But those big flavours have a little elegance about them. And in the middle of the menu, is another option. The tasting menu. At £35 for 7 courses, it’s a bit of a bargain. So of course, when Mr GFB and I went in for a little date night, that’s exactly what we had.
Tasting menus are always fun. They allow the chefs to play a little, and often allow for a little flexibility too. Seven courses may be joined by extras. Palate cleansers, treats – and the descriptions are often kept a little loose, because it allows for changes in produce.
It means that our experience might not mirror yours exactly. In fact I know it won’t – our pudding was the very last from the previous menu, whereas from now on you can expect sticky toffee pudding. For all that, the quality of produce and the flavour will still be the same. (It’s why we’ve booked in for their Good Friday event too, I mean… Why wouldn’t you?).
Back to last week.
Though our menu suggested we’d start with kidneys, we in fact started with tomatoes. Those who know me, know that I have long battled with a dislike of fresh tomatoes. Tinned, sauce, soup, all good. Fresh… Hmm no. There are, however, exceptions to the rule, and pane con tomate is one (I don’t know why, especially when bruschetta seems a distinct no). The other, is when they’re like this.
Soft, caramelised heritage tomatoes, served on a slice of toasted sourdough, with lemon laden soft cheese. Texture and flavour woke the palate, and though I could have quite happily eaten several slices of this, we had seven course to enjoy.
So, onto my favourite. I really do adore offal, and kidneys especially. My mum was never a fan, but my dad was, and whenever she cooked a pork chop for him, she’d do a kidney too. Over time, I too started to request one. I’ve even had kidneys cooked for me as a birthday lunch!
These kidneys, served on toast were just delicious. I loved the use of capers to cut through the richness, and hint of heat. So much so that I suspect this weekend we’ll be looking to recreate it for tea.
Our second ‘snack’ arrived to tempt us. Chicken liver parfait, served on crispy chicken skin, with a sliver of pickled onion. Buttery, rich, the crisp onion balancing it a little. I’m not sure how I’m going to manage to write all the descriptions for this because to be quite honest, I’m starving now.
But carry on I must, for our next course featured another favourite of mine, Jerusalem artichokes.
Soft, creamy, buttery, earthy soup with an artichoke crisp. Just heaven. Another dish I’ll look to recreate – a freezer stash of creamy soup so that when those chill days hit, I can sit down to a bowl with slices of warm sourdough for dunking.
The Tenderstem broccoli course was next.
When I first met Mr GFB, the only vegetables he would eat were peas and potatoes. It’s through dishes like this that he’s learned that his school dinner experiences of ‘vegetables’ (overcooked, soggy white cabbage and carrots) are not how vegetables should be. They should be in courses all of their own, and this salt and pepper fried Tenderstem was just heavenly. Now if only I could get all the ‘vegetable haters’ I know to try dishes like this, I’m sure we’d soon change their minds about veg.
Another snack and a nod to Richard’s past as Shake Maroc & Roll. It’s how I first met him, and I still have memories of a floppy haired lad, cycling around the city, serving the most ridiculously addictive brightly coloured fried noodles on his stall.
This was cauliflower on flatbread, with all those Eastern flavours I remember. Sharp, earthy, warm and sweet. Pomegranate popping on your tongue amongst the cumin, tahini and charred cauliflower.
Our next course was another that way back when, Mr GFB would have looked at in horror.
Beneath that covering of perfectly crisp kale, lies bacon and mushrooms served on a charred cabbage leaf. He’d have picked off the greens and enjoyed the bacon and mushrooms happily. Now his first words were how fantastically crisp the kale was, and could I do it like that at home?
We’ve come a long way baby.
Course number… OK I’ve lost count now. Five of Seven, was ox cheek. And this was everything you’d want. Slow cooked ox cheek, gelatinous, velvety, served very classically with watercress, mashed potato and roasted carrots.
Lick the plate good.
Our penultimate course arrived all too soon. A forest fruits sorbet – fruity, with a chewy texture, and a hint of Vimto. None of this is a bad thing.
And so we edged closer to pudding. I suspect, next time (for there will be one) we may even go so far as to indulge in the cheeseboard, but for this visit our final snack was enough. A forkful of Welsh rarebit. Fingers for scale.
Yes, that is the dinkiest fork you’ve ever seen. A mouthful of sharp, creamy cheese, on top of a soft toasted base. Anyone else suddenly craving cheese on toast? No? Just me.
And so to pudding. Next time it will be the sticky toffee pudding, but for this visit, the chocolate fondant tart, with vanilla ice cream, was where we ended our night.
The pastry was delightfully crisp, a foil to the soft sponge and runny, oozy, slightly bitter chocolate filling.
We’ve always had a soft spot for Beastro, and the team (or should I say family?) behind it, but I love that you can see the growth of it as a venue, as a restaurant.
I can’t wait to see where they are in another 12 months.
All food and drink was paid for by ourselves.