Anniversary Dinner At The Blacksmiths Loft, Derby
Published On Tuesday 20 Sep 2016 by Sticky Beak
The Blacksmiths Loft, Derby, closed in April 2019 I simply cannot believe how quickly this year is passing dear reader, it caught me a little unaware and I realised last week that my wedding anniversary was fast approaching, with nothing planned for it! Talk about a disaster in the making. Luckily a swift phone call to the fabulous team at Blacksmiths Loft soon sorted that sticky situation out with a table reservation hastily made. We arrived a little early and decided to have a cheeky Gin and Tonic in the downstairs lounge before heading to the loft to eat. There is always a great relaxed atmosphere in The Blacksmiths Lounge, whatever time of day we’ve popped in, and as we sank into the uber comfy squishy sofa we drank in the friendly vibe of the place. At precisely 6.15 pm our lovely hostess from the lounge placed our drinks on a tray and escorted us upstairs to the equally fabulous Blacksmiths Loft restaurant. I had expected us to be one of only a few diners at such an early hour, but there were several tables already occupied, no doubt to take advantage of the amazing Chateaubriand Sharer offer. Rudy, the very charming Maitre d’, came over to say hello and presented us with a much appreciated surprise of an anniversary card from the team, a bowl of Wasabi Peas (which I love!) and a glass of bubbly for us both. Later in the evening I noticed a birthday card making its way over to another table, and I must say that I think that it is very thoughtful of Victoria and her team to do these little touches. For starters The Man Bird had the Corned Beef hash again, he really does rate this very highly, and I had the Wood Pigeon Carpaccio (this carries a £2.50 surcharge) as I love any game meat and fowl. Yet again, the Blacksmiths Loft team were proving why they are so popular with discerning diners, and I noticed how clean the plates going back to the kitchen were; let’s just say that no scraps would be going into the waste containers. Matt, the front of house Manager brought the desert menus over with an accompanying “I know you don’t need asking twice when it comes to puds”; too right sunshine, let the bird see the temptations! I had the White Chocolate Panna Cotta again, as I absolutely loved it last time and The Boy Wonder chose his previous dessert too, the Lemon Meringue cheesecake. Our choice of Latte coffees brought the evening to a wonderful end, although it was one of those occasions where I could have cheered at the sight of a DeLorean to travel back in time. Thank you again team Blacksmiths Loft, you made our anniversary a very memorable evening. Hot Wings definitely awarded again here :)
This gem of an offer costs only £21 per person for two courses or £24 per person for three courses for tables of 6 or less seated by 6.30pm Friday and Saturday, and by 8pm Tuesday –Thursday. Having taken advantage of this offer for our anniversary meal, and now writing about it, I can say most emphatically that this is magnificent value for money, it truly is.
In addition to my pink gin, and glass of bubbly, I also ordered a glass of Argentinean Malbec to have with the steak; anybody passing the table must’ve thought “crikey, she can put it away!” At least it was colour co-ordinatedJ
The Corned Beef Hash is a lovely mix of braised brisket and potato served with a poached egg, Horseradish Mayo and Smokey baked beans. It has a great texture thanks to the chunky bits of brisket in it and the poached egg, which was perfectly timed, surrendered its sweet rich yolk taste when burst into.
At Blacksmiths Loft, Chef Simon manages somehow to elevate ordinary baked beans into something fantastic, and the sauce not only had a delightful smoky quality to it, but also a great little tangy edge to it. This, and the subtle heat of the Horseradish Mayo, gave the dish a lovely array of flavours and textures to savour.
My Wood Pigeon Carpaccio was absolutely gorgeous, from presentation right through to taste; the breast meat itself had a beautiful flavour to it, not the strongest fowl by any means when compared to such as Pheasant, but a lovely slightly earthy note to savour. Blueberry gel gave a lovely uplifting note for the palate to enjoy, whilst the Kohlrabi ‘slaw and pickled Shallot slices provided zingier aspects, along with Parmesan shavings with their distinctive taste.
I have mentioned on previous occasions that His Nibs and I have wildly differing preferences on how we like our meat to be done, blue-rare for me, medium for Him, so I was intrigued to see how successfully our request for Medium rare, but with a rarer bit for me would be dealt with. Simon, I bow down to your skill, the Chateaubriand was marvellous.
The Chateaubriand is served on a huge wooden platter with triple cooked duck fat Chips, spicy onion rings, Rosemary roast Tomatoes, Garlic flat Mushrooms and individual pots of Green Peppercorn sauce. Now, common sense tells you that when you order a piece of meat to share, that it’s going to be a pretty sizeable affair, but blimey this was a whopper-and-a-half, full-on slab of meaty deliciousness let me tell you.
Better still, Simon had managed to do it so that The Boy Wonder and I enjoyed every mouthful; it was well done enough for His Nibs not to squeal like a girl at any blood oozing from his pieces, and I had my “just let the steak kiss the pan on the cheeks continental style, that’ll cook it enough” parts. As a result the meat was tender and juicy, and it was accompanied by the most a-ma-zing Green Peppercorn sauce; seriously, I need to kidnap Simon and just have him make me this all day, every day.
I should confess at this point to letting my gluttonous tendencies take over and before I could get a hold of myself I was dunking my chips into the sauce pot to eak out every last little drop. The chips were lovely and soft inside and the double cooking of them gets the outers nice and crispy, likewise the garlic Mushrooms and rosemary Tomatoes were very tasty.
We were both bowled over by the spicy Onion rings; they had a flat batter that meant it hadn’t bubbled randomly which gave them a very pleasing uniform appearance on the platter. They did indeed have a faintly spicy tang to them which went rather nicely with the heat of the Peppercorn sauce.
After the first mouthful all those glorious memories came flooding back and my mouth was filled with silky smooth, rich, velvety deliciousness. Alongside me, The Man Bird was experiencing his own private gastro nirvana; every single element of the cheesecake was beautifully executed to deliver its bright clean flavour to the palate.
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