If you’re a regular to Leeds then you’ll know The Blackhouse maybe by its full name(The Grill on the Square- as Blackhouse is the group of restaurants) it’s been around for ten years so no wonder it has a shortened name its known by, and I’ve been there a couple oftimes before on various work do’s. Its just had a refurb of its interior, exterior and menu- ready for the start of its second decade!
I was so excited to go and see the new menu last week, and I really wasn’t disappointed. We were treated to a Steak School, so if you don’t like looking at hunks of raw meat then please look away now (and I’m actually talking meat, not using derogatory language to make that clear!) It was allllll about the beef. They have a ‘Book of Beef’ on the menu which showcases their various cuts and breeds of steak that they offer, we were talked through each one by one of the butchers who was there for the evening, whilst the other cut it and prepared it. We also had a wine pairing with each one which set off the Steak perfectly.
See lots of meat. It gives me meat sweats just looking at it!!! Now I haven’t had steak for an age, as Luke got gout. So now we don’t tend to go to red meat specialty restaurants because of it (see I sacrifice for that man!) But I will be dragging him here as I’m told they do mean seafood dishes so he’d be well catered for! We built up to the best steak on the menu, and by far my fave the Australian Fillet. I’m not leaving you in suspense , so I’m starting with my fave, it’s was just so buttery gorgeous and if I could only eat one cut and breed of steak this would be it. It really was the piece de resistance of the night, and if I went back I wouldn’t hesitate spending £45 on it as my main course- coming from Mrs barganista here that is saying something! Although not cheap by any means it is very good value for money if the delight this small piece gave me is anything to go by.
My second fave was the Galician Sirloin, these are cows that have been dairy cows, who then go and chill out after all those years of being milked, and then create this. It’s aged for 35 days to soften it up somewhat and I must say I’m converted! You can see the difference between a normal sirloin on the left and the Galician in the right. The fat marbling makes for a superb, soft steak that is just so nice!
And my third fave was the longbone or ‘tomahawk’ as you may have heard it called if you frequent one of those hip joints that the youngsters go to. This came served with mini Yorkshire puddings and a lovely ‘jus’ (gravy basically).
We also tried the ribeye and the sirloin which were fab too, but when surrounded by the above I would go for one of those every time hands down! The wine pairings were amazing too, I had two standout favourites which were the Journeys End- Cabernet Sauvignon (£36 a bottle) the vineyard for this is nestled on a slope of a hill surrounded by eucalyptus trees and if you really concentrate on the flavour you can just get those notes from it. My ultimate fave was the Navaherreros Garnacha de Bernabeleva (£38) it’s made with multiple grape crops and has lots of fruity flavours within it too as well as it being a little herby. It’s amazing.
We finished the food off with a selection of desserts, which were all yum. My fave was the Eton Mess for sure, then the top was taken down (on the conservatory) and we sat with coffee or hot choc in my case, and a cocktail, under the crisp night sky. It sounds lovely but we only managed it for a few mins before it got a bit too cold on the nose although the heaters did a fairly good job of keeping us warm, they couldn’t quite reach the extremities. Maybe if we’d had a few more cocktails like this one before hand that may have also helped- how lovely does it look though!?
It truly was a fabulous night, and I can’t wait to go back as I definitely dreamt about some of those steaks that night! Thanks to the Blackhouse and PG Events for hosting me and some of my blog fellow bloggers as we all had a fabulous night!