{"id":699,"date":"2012-03-27T13:04:53","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T13:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leilappetit.com\/blog\/?p=699"},"modified":"2012-03-27T20:14:23","modified_gmt":"2012-03-27T20:14:23","slug":"steak-edinburgh-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/?p=699","title":{"rendered":"Steak Edinburgh Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0any new restaurant opens, the first couple of months\u00a0 can prove\u00a0either devisive or decisive in terms of how the reaction will be. Thanks to a pretty intense , and\u00a0I guess successful PR campaign, the first thing I knew about Steak (part of the No. 12\/14 Picardy Place development) was that I really disliked their\u00a0marketing images. An anaemic looking model plays seductively in an abbatoir, indescriminately licking bits of raw meat . It’s evident from her frame that she’s very hungry.<\/p>\n

My second impression was gleaned from the launch\u00a0event back in February. Late for their own opening party (admittedly, anyone who works in hospitality has been there), this was combined with a very confused drinks service. Pre-mixed G&Ts for all, prosecco for the few, Perrier-Jou\u00ebt for the even fewer, and a cash bar for the rest.\u00a0Tragically and worst of\u00a0all, was that there was\u00a0only the merest suggestion of actual food. The interior was stunning, an amazing transformation of the high-ceilinged space formerly known as a million things including a casino, Club Ego, The Green Room. Now a large room wearing fairly stern colours of grey and slate, the space was cleverly sub-divided with overhead structuring and floor-level\u00a0\u00a0bookshelves which created different sections including an inviting central dining table. The design-worship\u00a0would have to wait though, as hunger pangs kicked in.\u00a0We bolted out the door for\u00a0a magnificent burger over the road at The Basement. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I spotted the very keenly priced pre-theatre menu offering 3courses for \u00a320, this was a good time to try out what Steak was really all about.\u00a0 My dining companion, Sandy of West<\/strong> <\/a>and I had a lot of catching up to do (each with exciting tales of new opportunities and jobs ) and given that we likes a good steak, this seemed like\u00a0a good place\u00a0for the rendezvous.<\/p>\n

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Right away, I was\u00a0impressed by the service.\u00a0 The server (Sophia) was extremely knowledgeable about the available cuts of meat and the wine list too. Ordering\u00a0 la carte would perhaps take a little getting used to here, for the steaks anyway. Three different breeds are offered, various different cuts and all priced per 100g.\u00a0It would seem relatively easy to spend \u00a330 on a steak before any side dishes, which is way out of my budget.<\/p>\n

Thankfully the pre-theatre kept things pretty simple. I decided to start with the pork cheek and shallot terrine. On the plate a few\u00a0artistic\u00a0dots of parsley mayo, and thin slivers of crispy sourdough toast.\u00a0Despite the myriad candles,\u00a0lighting was woefully dim in our little corner but what I could see was elegantly presented. The pressed terrine had a nice sweetness to it, and a generous tranche allowed for a good number of mouthfuls.<\/p>\n

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Sandy’s oxtail soup with puff pastry lid was proper meals on wheels stuff, thick, and\u00a0unctuously rich. High praise, and I know a certain Silver Fox who would have enthusiastically rolled his spoon around this dish ’til empty, and possibly have\u00a0asked for seconds. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Main courses were where we\u00a0met the steaks at\u00a0Steak. We perhaps over-complicated the order for our 200g sirloin steaks.\u00a0\u00a0I asked for medium rare, sandy asked for medium to well.\u00a0I ended up with medium, and Sandy was served well done. Nevertheless, this was juicy steak, the ‘authentic’ grill criss-crosses letting us know how they’d been cooked. On the side, a dinky little pan with a suitably thick Bearnaise sauce. Accompanying French Fries were average, but in all, a good meal. Side dishes, priced\u00a0\u00a0\u00a33 each,\u00a0 added some colour we think! Buttered spinach with hazelnuts was superb, the pickled baby carrots with star anise were verging on the uncooked, but I’d much\u00a0rather than than soggy ones. Nice little touches such as kiln jars with side sauces including home-made ketchup, and a selection of mustards let us know\u00a0the kitchen are\u00a0aiming high. \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dessert for\u00a0me was distinctly average, fruit crumble with ripple ice\u00a0cream.\u00a0 The crumble was in a mini Le Crueset style cast iron pot and I enjoyed the\u00a0nuts through the\u00a0crumble topping but the fruit (apples? it really was that dark!) were \u00a0a bit too firm, not quite sweet enough,\u00a0and the crumble\u00a0topping a little dusty. The\u00a0ice cream was ok. Sandy, on the other hand, really\u00a0enjoyed her millionaire’s shortbread cheesecake\u00a0 and demolished it with gusto.<\/p>\n

To give Steak a fair review, I will definitely go back for the full menu, and the place has an undeniable ‘cool’ about it.\u00a0 Mention should go too to the excellent wine list. Think Meatpacking district\u00a0warehouse restaurant.\u00a0Also, I hear the new cocktail\u00a0lounge downstairs Dry Martini which just opened is going to be quite the\u00a0spot for a\u00a0splash or two of the good stuff.\u00a0\u00a0Getting thirsty already…<\/p>\n

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\"Steak<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0any new restaurant opens, the first couple of months\u00a0 can prove\u00a0either devisive or decisive in terms of how the reaction will be. Thanks to a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":710,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions\/710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}