I can’t believe that it has been a year already since my last visit to Peace and Loaf. I have been planning to return for a while now, so I made sure that the big brother booked us in for dinner, after we had eventually finished off the last remains of the Christmas turkey (it really wasn’t all that bad…).
As much as I looked forward to the delicious food, I was also quite excited (like a twelve-year old stuck in a twenty-something year old’s body) to have a look at my enlarged doodle that currently adorns one of their walls. It looked pretty awesome, if I must say so myself, but enough about me, and let’s move on to the food.
Headed up by 2010 MasterChef: The Professionals finalist David Coulson, Peace and Loaf offers an exciting and seasonal menu inspired by traditional British cuisine and Chef David’s innovative ideas.
Like before, we started off with some warm, crispy bread, this time served with creamy and indulgent beef dripping. The amuse bouche consisted of an appetising array of sweet meatballs, fish cake, balls of Christmas stuffing and meringue.
I love steak tartare, so the Raw Steak & Oyster Pie definitely caught my eye. It wasn’t exactly a pie, but more of a deconstructed version of one, but tasty nonetheless. The steak was nicely chopped up and still had some texture to it, as opposed to mushy minced up steak that I’m not very fond of. I also particularly liked the mini pickled mushrooms, and the fragrance from the truffle was lovely.
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| Ham, Pease pudding, Beetroot, Stottie |
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| Root Vegetable Salad, Mushroom, Truffle |
Thanks to the kind Chef David, we were also had the pleasure of tasting the delightful Scallop starter, served with parsnip, creamy ducks liver, crunchy bits of hazelnut and rosehip.
After a moreish snack of crackers topped with smoked eel, our mains arrived.
I went for the Fillet of Halibut with chestnut, wild mushrooms, smooth creamed potato, and interesting beer-flavoured gel-like drops. The fish was cooked beautifully, and although I’m not usually a fan of of beer, the taste did grow on me with each mouthful.
As always, I also had a little taste of my brother’s and sister-in-law’s food (sharing is caring) – the hake was cooked nicely and the roast goose was pink and tender.
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| Fillet of Hake, Seaweed Roast Carrot, Squid |
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| Roast Goose, Red Cabbage, Fondant Potato, Redcurrant |
I still have good memories of the amazing dessert platter that I had last time, so of course we had to once again order the Assiette of Desserts for Two to Share – or in our case, ‘Three’ – because why settle for one dessert when you can have four?
The platter this time came served with:
Flavours of Black Forest
Blue Cheese, Pear, Almond, Port
Blackberry, Tea, Granola
Fig, Plum, Warm Spices
All four of them beautifully presented with so many different flavours and textures.
I can’t wait until next time to find out what new desserts await me…
Another very pleasant and satisfying dinner, and definitely a gem worth visiting if you’re up North. Cosy, welcoming, and great value for good quality food.
Thanks again Chef David for the great food (I have a new doodle for your screensaver!).
I look forward to next time – hopefully it won’t take as long as another whole year…
The Cheekster, signing out x
