Steaks and Cocktails
My general rule for finding a good restaurant is the smaller the menu the better the food- surely it's better to pick one thing and do it well than to try and please everybody?
Cowshed certainly fits that brief- it's small (but perfectly formed) menu is all about the steaks, the sides and the sauces so we had high hopes for indulging our carnivorous side on a rainy Saturday night.
Tucked away on Seel St opposite Salt Dogs , Cowshed is certainly a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' type of place. After eventually finding it, we were greeted by a swarm of friendly faces and led up a few flights of stairs to our table. The restaurant is spread across a few floors and the dining areas are like lovely little sitting rooms. Very cosy but made finding our table after a few drinks pretty difficult- think I walked in to the kitchen at one point!
To start with I went for a peach and elderflower martini which was really refreshing, ice cold and strong without being undrinkable. I'd like to say I moved on to try the rest of the cocktail list but I was hooked on these so our waitress kept 'em coming.
We picked some bread to munch on whilst we decided what to order- it was warm and pillowy and it came with the mysteriously named 'butter of the day'. On this occasion it was an unusual combo of apricot and lemon. Sounds weird (I'll be honest, I pulled a face) but it was actually really nice- a good balance of sweet and savoury to start off the meal.
For the main event we were a bit indecisive so ordered a little taste of everything. Having already scoured the menu months in advance I had already decided I was having a Rib Eye, ordered medium rare with a just a teeny selection of sides for good measure. Crispy fries, buttery carrots, rocket salad, potato waffles, runny fried eggs and a thick pepper sauce good enough to rival KFC gravy.
My boyfriend ordered the special. A fillet steak, with wild garlic mash, a scotch egg, sweetcorn, samphire and a coconut curry sauce. Again this sounds a little bizarre but it wit tasted a lot better than it read. I made sure to have a proper tasting myself just to make sure.
After having such a marvellous time with the butter of the day and the special of the day it would have been a tragedy to miss out on the cheesecake of the day. The Gods were clearly smiling upon us as this one was red velvet flavoured. Smooth and rich with a crunchy oreo base and a sticky jam on the side.
We ended the night as all good nights end- with a drink at Tabac people watching by the windows.
If you're in the mooood for a steak this weekend then I'd definitely recommend the Cowshed. The food was incredible, the staff were a dream and there's a cocktail list waiting for you to work your way through.