Iris, Wakefield, March 2016

Sorry there's been such a long delay since the last post but one or two things have conspired to restrict our restaurant visits slightly. Anyway, after a weekend of some of the worst dining ever in Glasgow we thought we'd go to one of our favourite local places again for a rare weekday evening treat. Here's what we had:

Salt-baked Beetroot with Goats Cheese

Mussels in Bloody Mary sauce with nice bread

Fish Pie with Parmesan Mash

Venison with Shallots, Mushrooms, Mash

Millionaire's Shortbread

Mary loves beetroot and goat's cheese. This is one of her favourites - she has had it before and it didn't disappoint.

My starter was an unusual way to have mussels - hot but without shells in a tomato sauce. Very nice.

Mary often orders Fish Pie in restaurants. It is usually a let down (I don't know why she still does it) but this one wasn't.

My main was a very rare but rather tough piece of venison. The standard dinner knife supplied was not very useful; my struggle to cut with it was a waste of energy. I requested a sharper knife, which cut through it without difficulty. It was a perfect demonstration of the importance of cutlery. With the wrong implement this was a poor dish. With the right knife it was fine. The gravy and accompaniments were lovely.

I had wanted to try the Millionaire's Shortbread since Mary had it a while ago. It comes as a chocolate sphere perched on shortbread crumbs, then a jug of hot toffee sauce is poured over it, so the sphere melts away.

Another great meal in one of our favourite places.