The last couple of years me and my awesome cousin visit the Taste of London food festival together, where we eat a vast amount of dishes from London’s best restaurants. Visiting the festival with my cousin involves a large spreadsheet with not just the restaurants that were there but also all the dishes on offer. This spreadsheet is then sent to me by my cousin where she has highlighted which dishes she wants to try then I have to add which ones I want to try too. This generally normally means the whole spreadsheet gets highlighted!
One dish both of us was super excited to try out was the Roasted and Chargrilled Ibérico Pork Ribs with Quince Glaze and Celeriac Purée from Ember Yard. Read what I thought about them here, but spoiler alert – they were epic and my favourite dish of the day.
We had to pay Ember Yard a visit to try out the rest of their treats. Spanish/Italian tapas all cooked over their amazing charcoal grills. To start off we went for the super sweet and smokey Padrón Peppers. I love these little peppers and could happily eat a mountain of these with a glass of chilled sherry.
Next a dish they were making at Taste of London last year but we just didn’t get around to trying on the massive spreadsheet was the Courgette Flower Stuffed with Goats’ Cheese and Drizzled with Honey. I love the pairing of the sweetness and floral notes of the honey with the salty crisp of the batter with the tender flesh of the courgette. The goats’ cheese adds a beautiful creaminess. I love these bad boys.
Now time to get seriously meaty with all the treats from the grill. And for the main dish, I had been dreaming of since the Summer at Taste of London. Roasted and Chargrilled Ibérico Pork Ribs with Quince Glaze and Celeriac Purée. I can’t tell you just how incredible these sweet morsels of perfectly charred and tender flesh are. The quince adds a sweetness that just enhances the natural sweetness of the pork and the cauliflower purée. I just need to make sure that I have another plate of these beauties much sooner than between Taste of London shows.
We kept the meat train rolling with this next beautiful dish from the grill. Grilled Salt Marsh Lamb Loin Chop with Parsnip Puree and Salsa Verde, Again a charred to perfection with the sweet fat crispy as well as melting with the tender flavoursome lamb, the punchy salsa verde cut through the richness of the meat. A beautiful dish.
We ended the savoury treats with the Hot Smoked Butternut Squash with Goats’ Cheese and Grape Jam. A fantastic and unusual combination that totally rocked my world. The smokey sweet squash with the tang from the cheese with jam just made for a great eat that made me want to try my hand at home smoking to try to recreate this wonderful dish.
You would think that after all those smokey, meaty delights we wouldn’t have room for any dessert, well you haven’t met the cousins!! Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake with Blood Orange Marmalade Ice Cream was calling to both of us. You can’t go wrong with a chocolate dessert but this isn’t just a standard chocolate dessert. A deep rich fudgey cake with the floral citrus joy that is blood oranges. The slight tartness from the orange just lifted the deep chocolate. Our plates might have been cleaner than clean after we had finished.
Once again I had a wonderful lunch with my cousin and glad we got to try more of Ember Yard’s dishes. I can’t wait to see what they have on their menu at this year’s Taste of London. Fingers crossed for more Ibérico Pork Ribs….
Address Book
Ember Yard
60 Berwick St, Soho, London W1F 8SU
Tel: 020 7439 8057
Website: saltyardgroup.co.uk
Pinterest!
Save this article to Pinterest, pin the below image!
