Stew & Oyster on a Sunday

We did promise we'd revisit Stew & Oyster this weekend, to give it a real go after the opening.  We made the long walk (approximately half a mile) down the road and popped in on Sunday afternoon on our return from the Wirral.  

It was nicely busy, with most tables full of people relaxing with a drink and the papers.  The building itself is lovely - at the front there are high ceilings and huge windows which let in tons of light.  It occupies the old HSBC building and makes the most of the space.  It feels light and airy and altogether good for taking it easy and whiling away the hours.  As well as the tables downstairs, there's more room upstairs with comfy sofas and good people watching specs. 

This time we had a proper chance to check out what is on offer drinks-wise.  Apparently it had been a busy few days as they were out of one of the five white wines on offer, but I was able to try the pinot grigio rose (nice and easy drinking) while Joe made his way through some of the beers on offer.  These included Stew & Oyster's own brewed ale, another ale from the Burley brewery, and a pint of Vedett.  Anyone keeping their eye on twitter yesterday might have seen that the Vedett stirred up a bit of a debate - it's a bit on the pricey side!  The warning that should (and wasn't) given is that a pint of Vedett in Stew & Oyster costs a slightly inflated £4.95.  No worries if you really fancy a Vedett, but perhaps their beer prices should be a little clearer - it was more expensive than my wine, which was a first. This coupled with the fact that a very small plate of pistachios costs £2.00, and I was in a bit of a grumble for a while - it feels a little mean compared to what you get elsewhere in the local area.  Roundhay might be affluent, but it doesn't mean that people don't value their cash.  I only point these things out as constructive criticism as I like the place and want it to be a success.

Anyway, these were my only real negatives - it's a great space, the rest of the drinks are nice, and the food that we did see looked fantastic.  I spotted the pork pie plate, the Sunday stew topped with an enormous Yorkshire pudding and the ploughman's platter complete with pork terrine, pork pie and cheese, as well as some tasty looking oysters.  I'll have to get some more drinks in Joe before he will join me with the oysters unfortunately!

The oyster menu

The stews on offer - I haven't spotted the blackboard yet but it will be there somewhere

The £2.00 pistachios

Vedett - which is probably off the drinking list now!

Me trying the Burley ale - not quite my tastes!

In case you haven't seen it so far...the outside

Saturday Lunch at Dock Street Market - Review

Before moving to rural Roundhay, Joe and I lived in the Quays building in the centre of town, and the area around Lower Briggate, the Calls and Brewery Wharf were our local patch.  There are lots of good bars and places to eat in the area, but one of my favourite selling points was Simpsons, a local shop selling fun gourmet treats and booze.  Roll on two years, and Simpsons has gone, a victim of these hard times.  In its place is the Dock Street Market, a relaxed cafe/bar selling food and drink in a chilled out setting.

We ventured there for lunch on Saturday to give its food a whirl, spurred on by a sneaky Groupon voucher purchase a few months ago.

The Groupon deal was for a meat and treats platter, served with a couple of glasses of wine and some coffees.  The platter means you can try a couple of the sharing dishes on the menu, including the breads with oil and balsamic, cheese, meats and chutneys, and humous, babaganoush, slow roasted tomatoes and olives.  It was a good tasting plate, and I was a particular fan of the babaganoush and humous, both of which were rich with garlic and lemon.  The oil was a Yorkshire oil rather than olive, and a little tasteless, but that was a very small part of the overall meal.    The wines were nice, as were the double espressos so it was a good lunch all in.

Dock Street Market also sell a selection of sandwiches, salads and other deli treats, including a very delicious looking range of cakes.  They also have a bread counter for fresh sourdoughs and an interesting selection of draught beers.  I'll definitely head back for a few afternoon drinks at some point and to sample some more of the menu and would recommend others do the same.

The Dock Street Market menu

Our platter - breads, meats, cheese, chutneys, olives, tomatoes, humous and babaganoush.  Good stuff.

The slow roasted tomatoes, which had a deep, rich flavour

Babaganoush.  It turns out Joe is not a fan of aubergines, whereas I am...how will we ever get over this?!

Humous

The chutneys, including one which tasted just like mince pies

Me enjoying my wine and my papers - a perfect Saturday!

Joe really enjoying his wine - a good noseful there!

The double espresso - a much needed, very tasty,  caffeine kick

After this, we headed straight for Cornucopia, a food festival at the Corn Exchange, more of which on Sunday's post.....

And this is what is on offer at the Dock Street Market....