What's on the menu?

What's on the menu?

Saturday 22 April 2017

Moo-ve Over. Son of Steak is Now Open

Whilst one of our motto's is "Life Tastes Better with Piggy", there are other times where it seems more viable to add another animal into that mix. Whether life''s clucking marvelous or moo-ving too fast as Romina Johnson sang. Holy cow it's steak time!

Son of Steak Nottingham 



Son of Steak replaces the Harvester in Trinity Square with a modern take on a steakhouse. A stones throw from the Intu Victoria Centre, Cinema in the Cornerhouse and the Theatre Royal but pitching itself inside one of arguably the most congested areas of the city when it comes to food choice, especially considering it's location in the Trinity Square development relies upon a flow of people away from the main road for the visible exposure a new restaurant should be looking for.



No Beef- So what's in the Son of Steak?

Whether a niche steak restaurant is ahead of the game or behind the times also remains to be seen but it's a great advert for Nottingham for Mitchell and Butlers to choose for a bold new venture and one we were more than happy to receive a visit to check out the environment, menu and most importantly, food. The premise of Son of Steak is affordability and quality so on arrival we were intrigued and last week attended an invite to a media event to sample from their meaty menu.

Mojito's and Strawberry and Basil Lemonade

On arrival we were offered drinks  from the staff with Mojito's on tap Jem was more than happy to start drinking away with myself on tonight's designated driving duties. I requested my usual driving orientated tipple of 'Lime an Soda water' to be advised the restaurant does not stock cordials. This initially had me a little worried. I opted for the offering of Strawberry and Basil Lemonade instead.

Jem's Mojito  went down nicely. Almost too morish as she polished off at least four of them during the evening. The strawberry and basil lemonade was also very refreshing and light on the palate.

Within a short time of our arrival food started to come out onto the main centre table with a selection of Hash's from the Brunch Menu.

Red Pepper Onion and Spinach Potato Hash Topped with Crush Avocado

We tried both the Red Pepper Onion and Spinach Hash which we felt tasted a little bland. It was a nicely put together dish but really lacked flavours and seasoning. The red pepper was nice and sweet but the other constituents really seemed lacking. It sounded like it could be a good dish on paper but the reality was it didn't work for us.

Smoked Streaky Bacon, Onion and Spinach Potato Hash with a Fried Free Range Egg at Son of Steak

We experienced more of the same with the Smokey Bacon Hash. It sounded a great dish but for us really lacked flavour and seasoning even with our favourite all time ingredient- bacon.


Making a 'hash' of things at Son of Steak
After the early 'hash' of things we hoped the main meals and steaks would really be up to standard. With Son of Steak being carnivore orientated we hoped we were in for a treat as steaks started to come out from the kitchen on impressive looking slate boards.

The Lomito Steak at Son of Steak

The steaks started arriving atv our table. Cooked medium rare and with a steak knife for ourselves to divide between us. They had a lovely exterior slight crumb from the sea salt they were rubbed with prior to cooking. Each steak beautifully cooked and full of flavour with very little fat. Definitely a more premium offering but at less than a tenner for a steak (it's more to add chips but there's plenty of sides on offer). All the steaks are cooked to perfection in the Josper Charcoal Oven for that added smokey flavour though there's very little of that smokiness in the dining area.

The Steaks come in four main options. Flat Iron Lomito, for the tenderest part of the rump, Picanha from the top rump and Sirloin with a daily special offering.

The Raw Food Salad

To our table came a beautiful looking bowl of Raw Food Salad with va zesty Ginger and Pineapple dressing and our first evidence of something warming- cut fresh chillies.

After that the sides started rolling out en mass.

Amazing Crushed Sweet Potato with Maple Syrup and Pecan Nuts

We loved the smokey tones of the chushed sweet potato with spiced maple syrup and pecans which would be a great option to choose with your steak. The Beef Dripping Gravy was that good we were simply drinking it like shots on the bar and is excellent for dipping the rather simple chips that for us lacked seasoning.

Raw Food Salad and Creamed Spinach

We were very disapointed by the spinach which was to be polite, awful but really enjoyed the Halloumi, though as with many of Son of Steak's offerings it really was lacking seasoning or a good sauce. There was very little in terms of table sauces on offer and a decent sweet chilli sauce would have worked wonders with the Halloumi.

A bit more Picanha from Son of Steak Nottingham

Son of Steak offer more than just steak. They also offer the standard restaurant fayre of cooked chicken and burgers. The chicken we sampled was relatively juicy and moist at first but the more we ate the drier it became It was however very delicate and simply felt apart as you showed it your knife. The glaze was very nice with a Sticky Maple and Zatar glaze however I'm not sure it's anything better than many other restaurants locally are offering up.

Steer Clear of the Cremated Burgers

The burgers served were a real let down for us. Certainly from our experience they were pretty much cremated on the outside and with a patty lacking in real flavour. Add to that a very sour tasting burger sauce and these really didn't do the restaurant justice. We were actually rather shocked they were served how they'd been cooked.

Steak Bao Buns

We're new to Bao Buns, an Asian streetfood delicacy which is effectively a Taiwanese take on the steak sandwich using a rice flour bun. Un fortunately for a number of us these also didn't work well with a taste like they'd been dizzled in vinegar as a resul;t of what seemed to be they Soy and Yakinaku sauces used. We'd be interested in finding out what others have felt about these but they definitely didn't work for us.

Chocolate Mousse

For dessert we were treated to some chocolate mouse. Piped into bowls for us all to sample with a chocolate cookie. After a few mouthfuls of the mouse I had started to get a powdery taste in my mouth from the pre-mix. Sadly another let down.

Steak House Meets Saloon Meets Informal Dining

We had a lovely evening at Son of Steak, the people involved were great, it's a lovely dining area and we had some fantastic company for the evening with a real buzz between the bloggers and media types and their plus ones which we rarely experience at events we're invited to.

Sadly for us the only letdown of the evening was the food. Whilst Son of Steak seem to be getting things right with their steaks, it's much of the menu around them that's faltering in our eyes with lack of flavour or being poorly put together. From the hashes that really lacked seasoning to overcooked burgers there's a lot we saw on Wednesday that means it's likely going to be some time before we return. It's a real shame as we love a good steak.

Son of Steak
Trinity Square
Nottingham
NG1 4BJ
Tel 0115 9569685
www.sonofsteak.co.uk

Affordable Steak at Soon of Steak

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