REVIEW: Boeuf, Rochester
The menu is to the point; indeed, steak frites is the only main course.
From the founders of Kent’s best burger joints The Dead Pigeon and The Greedy Banker in Medway, as well as the street-food and entertainment hub Hatch in Gravesend comes Boeuf (@boeufrestaurant) - a concept restaurant that offers a classic dining pairing with a new twist.
Having conducted a huge amount of research over their years of working with beef, owners Jamie Clark and Tom Mudge have aimed to perfect the popular French/Belgian dish steak frites.
Sirloin pavé is a rare premium cut of beef that the team say “has the same juicy tenderness of a fillet steak with the rich beefy flavour of a sirloin”. It sounded good to us.
The menu is to the point; indeed, steak frites is the only main course. But as a bonus, and a totally unique experience, when you order one, you get two.
Alongside a couple of classic Saint Omer stubbies, to start we had sourdough bread with some beautiful boeuf butter. A plate of grill-blistered padron peppers (£6.50) sprinkled with smoked salt was a great sharing dish alongside the intriguing charred lettuce and chicory (£7.50), served with anchovy butter, as a flavoursome side.
The perfectly-cooked steak frites (£34.95 per head) was served medium-rare with crispy beef-dripping fries. The boeuf steak sauce and beurre noisette frites sauce added an extra depth of flavour without being overpowering.
As advertised, on finishing a first portion, out came a second - I mean, why only have one when you can have two? Brilliant.
Rather than a dessert we went for a cocktail from the in-house mixologist, taking on the latest special Mockbeggar milk punch, using Kentish Mockbeggar Farm strawberries, topped with white choc liqueur, agave and whipped cream - a sweet treat to end a great meal. Bouef was buff!
