OUT AND ABOUT | MEAT BOARD AND WINE AT OUTLAWS YACHT CLUB

Last week myself and friend Diane went to go and check out an offer that we had been meaning to snap up for quite some time. Every Tuesday from 5pm, Outlaws Yacht Club have a offer of a meat or cheese board and a bottle of house wine for a mere £15 - perfect for sharing!

We went for the meat board option and for their house red. The house red was a Luis Felipe Edwards Lot 40 Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. Served at the right temperature this was pretty damn good for a house wine! 

Settling nicely into our bottle of wine, the Meat Board arrived about 10 minutes latter on a wooden platter with a plate of sourdough on the side.

A wooden board was ladened with Lonzino, Chorizo, Salami and a thinly sliced Pancetta - although I am not 100% sure if this is correct as the meats were not listed anywhere and did not match the description in the menu. Three little pots also accompanied the meat which were local producer Made by Jim's ale chutney, a red wine jam and olive oil.

The sourdough bread was served warm and slightly toasted. I would have prefered it to have been left un-toasted but the bread itself was delicious with a subtle flavour of aniseed drawing through - it was very good bread indeed.

The meats were served at room temperature. We tucked in and started working our way through the different cured meats. The chorizo was served in chunky slices, it was quite subtle for a chorizo and was slightly underwhelming in flavour for me. I prefer chorizo when it is strong and smokey.

The other meats were all tasty enough but were personally not a selection I would have gone for if I had been able to choose. Some of the cuts were extremely fatty... as most cured meat is, but I prefer leaner cured meats (or at least without strips of fat) over these.

Working our way through the board this was great food to share and to talk over. We were offered more bread and chutney as we'd some how managed to demolish the plater of sourdough that came with the board and devour the very more-ish chutney.

The staff and service was great and the atmosphere was an overall pleasant one. For £15 this is a great option to go for if you want to share some food over a drink with a friend and want to enjoy a nice relaxed evening in nice surroundings. There is something about this place which I really like - it's not pompous or over hip and makes for a nice escape from some of the busier Leeds bars. I will be back to try out more of their menu soon.

OUT AND ABOUT | NOONSHINE CAFE ROUND #2

Last week I was in between some flat viewings down by the market and needed to escape the heat and the sun! I'd been hankering after the crab salad from The Grub and Grog Shop for most of the month but had so far always missed their Friday lunchtime servings at the Noonshine Cafe hosted at Outlaws Yacht Club (see my previous post on my last visit here).

The perfect opportunity to sample their seasonal salad for this month.

Made to order I watched the Crab Salad being made in front of me. The menu all looked very appetising but it was definitely salad weather on that hot day.

Jim and Dan, the duo behind The Grub and Grog Shop were happy to share their inspiration for this dish and talk about how they source their produce locally and their suppliers. Their passion is inspiring and each dish on their monthly seasonal menu has a lot of thought and love gone into them.

Before came a plate piled high of beautiful colours and ingredients. The salad itself was made of brown crab cooked in Golden Owl Saison with jersey royals and pickled raddish with a Saison reduction and homemade shellfish mayonnaise.

Not only was this pretty to look at, it had a great variety of flavours and tastes too. One of Jim's most cited inspirations is a book called The Flavour Thesaurus and this influence is reflected in the creativity and composition of each of their dishes.

I loved the addition of the edible flowers and wild fennel which come with their salad. These are sourced from a local project run by the University of Leeds called The Bardon Grange Project. This project is volunteer run and supports and teaches people how to grow their own produce and encourage people to eat locally produced food. 

Noonshine Cafe is hosted by The Grub and Grog Shop every Friday lunch at Outlaws Yacht Club. On offer is a tasty and affordable lunch menu (available to have in or takeaway) alongside an amazing selection of cakes from Noisette Bakehouse, North Star Micro Roasters coffee and fresh retail loaves from Leeds Bread Co-op.

On the first Friday of each month The Grub & Grog Shop launch a new menu and to celebrate the whole gang get together to host a mini market.