Smiths of Smithfield were holding an evening showcasing the delicious beef that the top floor restaurant has to offer and my gentleman companion and I were lucky enough to be invited along – which is rather handy as I ruddy love a bit of beef!
SoS houses four floors in total; a ground floor cafe, a lounge and cocktail bar on the first floor, a casual dining room on the second and a more formal restaurant on the top floor. We arrived up top (using the worlds smallest lift) and were in awe of the view, it really was stunning. The balcony showed off the rooftops of Smithfield in all their old-fashioned glory.
Sadly as we arrived late, we missed the canapés but we were just in time to watch executive chef Tony Moyse give a butchery demonstration. He skilfully sawed, sliced and chopped his way through a whole carcass, producing perfectly filleted joints of meat.
A South Devon beef carpaccio and tartare kicked our meat feast off wondrously. This was served with slow cooked egg yolk, capers, shallot, gherkin and ponzu dressing. The carpaccio had been cut quite thick yet was totally tender and full of flavour. The little dollops of soft egg yolk were spreadable and gooey – I love gooey egg yolk. It was delicious.
To accompany all this wonderful food, each course was served alongside not one, but two glasses of wine expertly matched by David Gleave of Liberty Wines (I was well and truly sozzled by the end!). He even matched the carpaccio with two white wines; a 2010 La Rocca Soave Classico and a Plexus from the Barossa Valley, which was most unusual yet surprisingly well suited.
Our main course was literally any meat lover’s (that’s me) idea of heaven. Three platters of beef were brought to the table; South Devon Rump, Organic Aberdeen Angus Sirloin and Simmental Fillet and I would have gladly eaten every slice myself. Each cut was cooked rare yet was so tender and soft; the sirloin with its buttery fat being my favourite.
If all that wasn’t enough it was served alongside thin AND fat chips! These little beauties were perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned and tasted great dunked in the three (yes three!) sauces provided; bone marrow butter, bearnaise and peppercorn. It really was my idea of a perfect dinner.
For pud, an Eton Tidy, which featured strawberries, meringue, vanilla cream rice pudding and a strawberry tuile. It certainly did look very tidy and was a sweet yet refreshingly light and not too filling end to a meat-tacular dinner.
Smiths of Smithfield brilliantly showcased a stunning selection of beef that was masterfully prepared and cooked. I can honestly say that it was some of the best beef I have tasted. The whole point of an event like this is to show off what the restaurant can do – in this case they couldn’t have done so any better. The beef come-down that I experienced the next day was worth every single bite!