For some reason I decided to check out Twitter on Monday morning and stumbled across a tweet from Simon of Dos Hermanos, who was advertising a spare place at the 'Blokes Eat Beef' event that they had organised at Goodman.
As a hardcore carnivore it was an invite I couldn't refuse and I was treated to one of the best meals I have had in a long time.
Simon has already posted a comprehensive review, but I just wanted to share a few additional thoughts and some slightly different photos from the event.
Frank Hederman's Smoked Salmon
As someone who isn't a big lover of fish, I almost skipped the starter of salmon so I could save space for the bovine delights to come. However, I'm glad I had it as it was easily the best I have ever tasted.
It was served in a beautifully simple way which allowed the quality of the meaty, melt in the mouth, slightly smoked salmon shine through. Great stuff.
For me, one of the highlights of the evening was the various talks given by the suppliers. Passion is a much overused word, but it is appropriate on this occasion. It absolutely shone through from everyone: John the chef, the Catena wine rep, Frank, the vegetable suppliers and the lads promoting the Lake District beef.
The main event: the four contenders on one plate
With a selection of sides
Never has a salad looked lonelier...
The star of the show: one of the two Josper grills the steaks were cooked on
It almost goes without saying that the beef was fantastic. Beautifully cooked and full of flavour. It was hard to pick a winner, but my (slight) favourite was the Scottish Charalais/Limosin ribeye. I'm not sure how much beef I actually consumed, but I'm pretty confident I got my 1kg quota!
I was also impressed with the sides. I'm a chunky chip man and these were crackers: crunchy (twice cooked?) on the outside and fluffy in the middle. The creamed spinach, onion rings and mushrooms were all of a high standard.
Baked Cheesecake with berry compote
Somehow I managed to find room for cheese and dessert. The cheesecake was pretty good. A crunchy biscuit base (it hadn't gone soggy like many cheesecakes), a thick creamy topping and a tangy berry compote made for a highly satisfactory end to the meal.
The other thing that I was impressed with on the night was the service. We had two waitresses serving nearly 30 blokes and they were chatty, up for a joke, but also very efficient and professional. I hope everyone was generous with the tips as they deserved every penny.
Overall, a fantastic evening and a big thanks to Dos Hermanos for organising it. I will definitely be back to Goodman on a normal evening to see if the standard remains as high!
