steak

went to steak on stones with pals tonight to take on the 22 quid for 3 course menu they've ran in january. starter was soup of the day (cauliflower) then sirloin with chips and choice of sauce (peppercorn) and then donut and dipping sauce to finish. there was not even a glimmer of hope to switch the soup for a 'real' starter. i always find soup a waste of a first course...the only other option was a piece of bread for 1.50. eh?! steak was good, chups good, sauce...cold. donuts were quite tough and the jam was the saviour. chocolate dipper was like burnt chocolate. cocktails weren't up to much either. service wasn'tgreatand overall not overly impressed. would rather stay home and cook my own steak in the safe knowledge my condiments will not be cold.

6 of us had agreatmeal here on saturday night. we booked steak on stones because we really liked the idea of cooking the steak ourselves.
the restaurant has a good feel inside and we were seated at a comfortable and spacious table. our drinks order was taken relatively quickly and after we had received our wine, we order our main meals. there are a selection of different cuts on offer, at a variety of different prices, but most of us opted for the rump steak. i would definitely recommend the rump as it was only £12 and the flavour was great. all of the cuts come sliced and ready to be placed onto the hot stone where you can cook to your preference, with a sprinkling of salt. we also ordered chips and creamed leeks, peas and bacon. the chips were amazing - we had to order more! and the creamed leeks, peas and bacon were also delicious.
i thoroughly enjoyed our main meals as it was a lot of fun cooking our steak and it made our dinner a good social event.
the only issue we had was the service after our meal; it took a while for someone to clear our plates and ask if we wanted the dessert menu. no one ever asked if we were ok for drinks at any point throughout our meal.
we ordered the doughnuts to share and they were very tasty. they were presented very attractively with a choice of jam, custard and fudge sauce for dipping the mini doughnuts into.
ourgreatnight didn't end here. it was snowing outside so we went downstairs to the basement bar - beer and skittles, where we sat for hours sampling their fantastic cocktail menu.
i will definitely go back to both steak on stones and beer and skittles as it was a fantastic night of food and drink!

if you follow me on facebook (you can find me here) you will know that my husband and i went to steak edinburgh to celebrate his (30th) birthday last weekend. as i'm married to a carnivore i decided to book a table at steak as we had never been before and seemed right up his street. . we arrived early so we could grab a pre-dinner drink in the bar. the restaurant had a couple of options for our pre-dinner drinks, the bar within the restaurant or down stairs at their beer & skittles bar. we opted for the restaurant bar. i went for a vodka lemonade and the hubby had a beer (not very exciting drinks really). although we were pretty early we didn't have to wait long for our table and were led through shortly after getting our drinks. steak is in the old ego nightclub, which i remember going to when i was younger. although it felt familiar they have done agreatjob doing the place up (it wasn't the classiest nightclub back in the day). unfortunately i forgot to take my camera and was using my phone for pictures so couldn't get a good picture of the interior. once we were settled at our table it was onto the important stuff - what to eat?

steak on stones... love it. this is the second time there, this time with a itison voucher. good service, amazing cocktails and fab steak. i know some people say it's a gimmick but it'sgreatcooking your steak to your liking.
only moan is that i wouldn't have paid full price for the donut dessert. think it's a bit expensive.

karen campbell ...amazing food. we did the steak on stone so you cook your way.greatwhen i like burnt and karen likes raw ish. cocktails weregreatto and donuts to die for. been here twice now and love it. a must when in town.

there's steak and steak on stones. i've been in steak on stones last night. decor is really nice. it's gives this warm feeling with bricks on the wall and cool pictures. service it's nice and attentive however they stay away when you don't need them. food it's easy. it's steak that you cook on this hot stones. you can choose sides and sauce from the menu. also if you don't fancy steak there's fish and chips or macaroni cheese. overall it'sgreatbut i would not choose for a proper dine out or celebration. for that there's steak in the same building.

steak is agreatplace to go if you’re an out-and-out carnivore. quite frankly, there are are very few places where you will get better steak in the city. add that to their gorgeous sides, starters and puddings, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a meal out, my friend!

we had booked for the pre-theatre menu, which was striking value at £14.50 for two courses or £16.50 for three. i went for the steak tartar followed by the steak frites. my dining partner went for the salted cod starter with the steak frites again for her main.

as soon as the starters arrived, we tucked right in. the steak tartar was delicious. there was a large amount and had agreatsharpness to it. however, i am not sure about the crinkle cut crisps. on the other side, the cod was being enjoyed. she commented that the egg worked really well and helped balance the dish.

the steak came with chips and a béarnaise sauce which sat in its own little saucepan. the steak was cooked to perfection and simply melted in the mouth. i really don’t think that i’ve had a better steak. the fries were delicately seasoned and that seemed to make them incredibly moreish.

i really cannot wait to go back.

i've been to steak a couple of times and every time has been good. i was lucky enough to win a steak and shake via twitter so headed along for the steak and shake deal. although we didn't pay for the steak and shake it'sgreatvalue at £15 and good portion sizes. 

the chips were slightly salty for my taste but the steak was perfectly cooked and the peppercorn sauce nice and spicy! we decided to have pudding (well why not). i opted for the custard tart and my boyfriend had the chocolate parfait.  the custard tart had a slight gingery taste and was the perfect end to agreatmeal. 

the staff were very attentive and made good recommendations. definitely worth a visit!

so for the first time in 2015 i find myself sat at the laptop, listening to the ramones, yes they are a band, not a clothing line (the kids really don't get it sometimes) and trying to think of a pithy introduction, but i am struggling.

i should just take a leaf out of steak's book and keep it simple. i'd like to think that there wasn't an expensive pr company involved when the owners sat down and had a conversation something like

“lets open a restaurant that serves mainly cow derived dishes”

“what like lots of different cuts of beef?”

“yes just like that and different breeds too, for more variety”

“i like it, but if we are being that simple we will have to do it brilliantly”

“exactly. we will be the best in edinburgh”

“sounds great, but what will we call this restaurant”

“ooh that's a tough one, what will we call a steak restaurant, that serves mainly steak and assorted steak accoutrements”

“hmmm..... i dunno!?!”

“hmmm me neither.....”

once they settled on steak i would imagine the conversation continued:

“what do we need to make our restaurant successful?“

“a good location?”

“directly opposite the playhouse that'll be a good start.”

“decor?”

“chic, modern, trendy but relaxed.”

“staff?”

“chic, modern, trendy but relaxed, oh and friendly and efficient. a telephone call confirming the internet booking, taking coats at the door and carrying customers drinks from the bar to the tables, all good indicators of quality service.”

on the day we went this is exactly what we experienced and good indication that we would be well looked after. however the three musketeers didn't go to steak for the good service, oh no no no we went for the food, so we skipped the starters and went straight to the carnivore course. i do regret not trying the haggis soup or the beef haslet or the smoked haddock pate, but i was saving myself for something special.

once athos and porthos had decided they would not be sharing food and wouldn't split a chateaubriand or beef wellington i knew that the only thing i wanted was the t-bone. 500 grams ( or 17 ½ ounces in old money) of medium-rare cow was duly ordered. i could have chosen further extras such as prawns, mussels or even a fried duck egg, (porthos thought about saying something about quails eggs, but after the brea argument thought better of it!) but kept it simple ordering just a peppercorn sauce that is included in the price.

although not prepared to share their meat*, the guys were happy to split some side orders, so we ordered mash, creamed leeks, peas and bacon and the intriguing combination of cauliflower, apple & hazelnuts.

*tut tut if you had a wee childish giggle at this, you know who you are!!!

we didn't have long to wait for our food, ordering medium rare helps reduce the cooking time, but our attentive waiter had time for a chat and to check our glasses were full.

the t-bone when it arrived was as you would expect perfectly cooked, lets face it if they can't cook a steak right they may as well shut up shop now. a beautifully tender piece of beef pulled away from the bone and melted in the mouth. the accompanying peppercorn sauce was lively, but smooth and agreatcomplement to the steak, although sometimes it seemed a sin to be dipping this sublime steak, especially when the flavour of the seared meat alone was so sensational.

the side dishes made the meal though, the mash with a touch of shallots was creamy and light, the peas were fresh and sweet, the bacon and leeks balancing the flavours nicely. the cauliflower though is awesome, the sweetness of the apple and the crunch of the hazelnuts just hit every taste-bud in the mouth, the flavour, the texture, the smell, wow.

service remained good throughout, the first check that the steaks were cooked to our satisfaction was met with nodded heads and thumbs up as it was perfectly timed for when the three of us had tucked in to our first bites. our drinks were kept full and the table was cleared with no fuss soon after we finished our last mouthful.

despite the best efforts of the waiter to tempt us into desserts, not that the mixed berry jam doughnuts really needed much selling, we remained strong and resisted. although we did take a ten minute break before revisiting the menu one last time, just to check we really did want to skip dessert.

i'm not going to say dinner was cheap, £33 for the steak alone, my cut of the sides and drinks and a healthy tip left little change from fifty pounds, just for a main course! however that was my choice and i could have had a sirloin for twenty pounds, or one of the other main courses for £15, but that would be like going to alton towers, just to look at the gardens. ultimately you get what you pay for and i was quite happy with my choice and the price i paid, especially as the service and ambiance of the restaurant commands a premium price. if you want a good steak in edinburgh, you know the name of the place to go to...

i was very lucky to win a twitter competition to visit steak for their tuesday night special of steaknshake. im not a massive lover of red meat but the steak here really is delicious. cooked exactly how i wanted it to be. the tuesday deal is pretty good deal. for £15 you get a 200g rump steak, fries and shake to wash it all down. the shakes are pretty special!

it's lovely inside, wooden beams and dimmed lighting sets a really nice tone. they also have really big tables, so would be agreatplace to go to with a group.

a really enjoyable meal!

i write reviews on my own experiences and i had a good meal at steak. that said, i've spoken to a number of people who i would trust who've had bad experiences, so perhaps mine was the exception to the rule.

i am very fussy about my steak and rightly so. it's not hard to cook so i can't understand why so many restaurants get it so badly wrong - happily not steak in picardy place.

the starters were delicious, but they were not really the point of the evening, so straight on to the main event.

my dining partner for the evening was, like me, a true carnivore so we were torn between the different cuts – sirloin, rump, fillet, and ribeye, served with a choice of bearnaise, peppercorn or stilton sauces. there’s also beef wellington, chateaubriand, cote de boef and t-bone.

i opted for the sirloin and my dining partner had the fillet. we were delighted to see that the chef actually understood that we wanted our steaks cooked blue, a request that all too often seems to be translated to medium-rare.

the steaks were tender, full of flavour and the accompanying sauces were rich without being overpowering. the wonderfully crisp salad almost made us feel we were being healthy, but unfortunately chips were not to be resisted so any good was rapidly undone.

to be honest, although the desserts sounded wonderful the chips had already proofed nearly fatal for our appetites and we opted for a coffee and a carriage.

overall, a wonderful meal, friendly staff and agreatatmosphere – we’ll be back!

we recently ventured down to steak for their lunchtime option, which seemed reasonably priced at £9.95 for two courses, with the 'option' of a glass of wine for an additional £3.50.

this was our first time here, we'd been meaning to come down for some time to try out their big juicy steaks but instead settled for a light lunch - if this went well we'd plan a return visit to work up some meat sweats at a later date.

it's a lovely restaurant, much bigger than imagined and what one in the trade would describe as swanky.

the waitress took us to the table closest to the radiator to help warm us up a little, we sat back and admired the butter tray which was soon accompanied by some fresh and tasty bread.

we are a blog with simple tastes, butter and salt on a chunk of wood set the tone and cloth napkins sealed the deal. we love cloth napkins.

first up (after bread) was wine, one red and one white to enable as wide a coverage of the menu as possible.

for our starters we ordered the lentil soup and apple and walnut salad. the soup was agreatstarter, very earthy and moreish, it certainly got me in the mood for my main. my dining partner's salad was also incredibly tasty, it was filled with lots of wonderful surprises. the walnuts were caramelised and addictive, as chief reviewer i had to get involved in tasting this as much as possible. fresh and light, what a delight.

on to the mains, my dining partner ordered the coley fish and chips, whilst i (surprise, surprise) opted for the rump steak and chips.

at first glance, edinbloggette was feeling short-changed on the chips, but this was lunchtime and as it turned out the portion size was perfect. the fish was lightly battered, delicate and flavoursome, edinbloggette didn't fall in love with the chips but i suspect this was a generous plan to share them with me. how thoughtful.

i asked for my steak to be cooked to medium specifications, but when it arrived i wondered how this would have even been possible. the steak can't have spent more than a few seconds cooking and there was little opportunity to cut through to reveal a juicy pink interior, it was simply too thin for this. that's not to say it didn't taste good, it most certainly did, but i had my heart set on something which would need my steak knife skills.

what we kept on forgetting was that this was a lunchtime deal, for £9.95 these two courses representedgreatvalue for money. there's no chance you would be able to order a big fat juicy steak for such a low price - if you could then suspicion would probably come as a side order.

if our meal at steak taught us one thing, it's that we can't wait to come back in the evening and try the main event. we've even started entering the #steaknshake weekly competition in the hope of saving some blogging bucks. i'm not sure why we're sharing that information with you as you're only going to make our chances of winning slimmer than my rump steak, but as a blogger we must share everything, otherwise what else will we go on about?

for full review, please visit:
http://www.edinblogger.com/2014/steak-edinburgh-review