When, last weekend, I forgot to set
the heating to come on in the early hours and we woke up in an icebox, my wife asked
me to, “Find a nice pub for lunch with a log fire that has good steaks.”
We had been intending to visit Chris
Yates' highly acclaimed Shoulder of
Mutton gastropub since it was voted ‘Food Pub of the Year 2012’ at the
Manchester Food and Drink Awards.
The menu on their website (see
here) informed me
that they serve locally sourced 32 day dry aged steaks but I was not 100% sure
whether they had a fire or not. A quick Google drew a blank so I went to my
back-up plan for when I want to find something out and asked Twitter.
As usual, Twitter came up trumps. A
tweet, complete with picture of the fireplace, from Chef / Proprietor
@chefcyates himself informed us that he'd reserve us a table by the fire and
that they had Chateaubriands on the menu… we were sold - five minutes later we
were in the car whizzing around the M60.
We don't often travel from our
Cheshire base to that part of Greater Manchester but we were pleased to
discover that Rammy* (as the locals know it) is quicker easier to get to via
the M66 than I expected - this newfound knowledge has opened up a whole range
of exciting new places to try! (*Don’t read the ‘Rammy’ entry on
Urban Dictionary (here) as it’s not in anyway funny or remotely true.)
Before taking over and winning Newcomer
of the Year in the Great British Pub Awards, Chris Yates trained under local
super-chef Andrew Nutter and was a 2009 Gordon Ramsay Scholarship finalist.
Built in 1751, the traditional
country pub, popular with walkers, cyclists, twitchers and huntsmen sits on the
steep inclines of Holcome Moor below the ‘Peel Power’ on Harcles Hill.
The tower is dedicated to Ramsbottom
born Sir Robert Peel who, as well as serving as Prime Minister twice, famously
started the Metropolitan Police force (giving rise to their nicknames of
Bobbies or Peelers) and, perhaps, less famously first bred the Tamworth Pig.
As my car’s little 1-litre engine chugged
up the steep hill, it started to snow (lightly). Great timing as it made the
roaring fire all the more welcoming – we were also greeted by the Chef's
brother, who as well as his role as official fire master, added to the pub's
friendly family atmosphere.
To start, I selected the Lancashire Black Pudding Two Ways. If
there’s one on the menu, I will more often than not order the black pudding
dish – this was the best black pudding dish I’ve ever eaten.
A thick slice of pudding was topped
with a further two lightly battered pieces; these were served with a
deliciously spiced apple, calvados & paprika chutney and a sweet Old-English
Cider reduction with fresh watercress. The balance of richness, seasonings, spice,
sweetness and textures were spot-on.
My wife selected the Roasted Fillet of Mackerel starter. With
orange and beetroot, it looked to me as though it this dish would be too sweet
for my taste but Chris had balanced these favours well with the natural
oiliness of the fish, walnuts and seasoning from the blue cheese.
Part of my brief for the day had
been to find a pub with a log fire; the other requirement was for a ‘good’
steak… the perfectly cooked Chateaubriand
was certainly better than just good!
The triple cooked chips were
excellent! Shallots, mushrooms, slow cooked tomato and the best peppercorn
sauce I’ve ever tasted completed a hugely satisfying main course.
My wife went for the Vanilla Pannacotta. She thought the
vanilla flavour could’ve been a little more prominent but loved the
accompanying poached rhubarb along with the chilled rhubarb soup.
The Rich Chocolate Mousse with textures of orange, chocolate crumble
& salted caramel was my choice for dessert. It may have looked quite simple
on the plate but the flavours were immense – I’ll definitely order it again if
it’s still on the menu when I return.
Please note, that thanks to the
aforementioned involvement of Twitter Chef Yates was expecting us and friend,
fellow Boltonite and restaurateur @sausagemaking had urged him to ‘look after
us’. Kindly, the desserts were deducted from the bill which whilst greatly
appreciated wasn’t expected and hasn’t affected the positivity of this piece.
Follow @HungryHoss
Looks fantastic. Been meaning to try this place, since I saw they do a a surprise five course tasting Menu on Friday & Saturday evenings. £38 sounds pretty good value to me.
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