REVIEW: Beef & Pudding’s beefed up new menu

Hello, is it meat you’re looking for? If it is, you’ve probably been to Beef And Pudding or considered a visit. We went there shortly after it opened last year and couldn’t think of anything negative to say about this place.

“…they want to take our
beef & pudding from us!”

The gastropubby food was tasty, the kind your granny would have made if she had been to chef school. They even made the tripe taste good.

We paid them another visit recently following the launch of chef Lee Fannon’s new menu which features lots of new starters and mains as well as some old favourites.

Given that the name Beef And Pudding refers not to their speciality dishes but a cartoon by George Cruikshank depicting the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 which has the caption “Down with ’em! Chop em down my brave boys: give them no quarter they want to take our beef & pudding from us!” it shouldn’t be surprising that of the new dishes we sampled, our favourite was probably No Meat No Way Roly Poly (£10.95)-spinach & mushroom baked in a veggie suet roll, grain mustard cream & buttery mash. Vegetarians miss out on lots of the comfort foods we meat eaters enjoy but this must come pretty close. Enough to turn a meat eater vegetarian.

One of the other new dishes we both enjoyed was the Keema Lamb Pie (£12.95), Four hour simmered lamb keema, baked under a tasty, buttery pastry, Delhi street rice, house bhajis & riata. A spicy, tasty combination of two of our favourite foods in one dish. Perfect after a pint or two in the bar. So tasty the Grilled Cod Fillet, Peas and Ham rubbed with a vodka citrus butter crisp Serrano, petits pois a la Francaise & sauté new potatoes (£18.95) seemed rather insipid by comparison.

Of the three starters we sampled, our favourite was the Bury Bomb (£5.95)-a delicious combination of black pudding, Lancashire cheese & parsley wrapped in crispy spud, crispy Serrano, and the house’s special ‘HP’ sauce. The British Beef Carpaccio (£8.95), prime British fillet with horseradish & marinade syrup was tender but a little lacking in flavour whilst my companion enjoyed the Dark And Stormy Pate (£6.50), wild boar liver pâté with Goslings Black Seal rum & ginger – toast & fruit chutney.

Ten months after our last visit, Beef And Pudding is still serving tasty classic northern dishes with a twist and excellent value wines and is definitely worth a visit. And don’t forget, it’s not just for meat eaters.

Contact & book

37 Booth Street (off Fountain Street) Manchester M2 4AA

0161 237 3733

beefandpudding.co.uk

@beefandpudding