After a whole January of eating in, we had a lovely evening at the relatively new Miller and Carter steakhouse at the weekend. Not least because we can walk there through the woods, which was fun. Miller and Carter is on the site of the old Toby Carvery at Parkhead next to the cricket ground, and indeed is owned by the same company, Mitchells and Butlers – in fact, they also own All Bar One, Vintage Inns (Fox House), and Browns.
Miller and Carter is a chain steak restaurant, and they recently gained accreditation with Coeliac UK across their 89 branches. This isn’t (yet) reflected on their website or menus, but I’m pleased to report they do have a gluten free menu, and it’s the reason we decided to give it a try.
The restaurant is full of nooks and crannies, so we had a fairly secluded table even though the place was quite busy. We loved the unapologetically beefy decor – photos of bulls everywhere, like this:
We chose to share a couple of starters from the gluten free menu: cluck and duck wings, and garlic king prawns. Both were great. The wings were unusual (in that I’ve never had duck wings before) and they came with a sticky glaze and some buttermilk dressing (although they didn’t really need the additional dressing). The king prawns were cooked well – just done, which is great – as overcooked prawns are a bit of a pet hate. (Yes, first world problems…)
For mains, there were a few other options (tandoori lamb, ribs, buttermilk chicken), but we were in a steak restaurant, so when in Rome… I had a bistro rump with my absolute favourite accompaniment, peppercorn sauce, and chips! (Yeh – the chips are GF! Although apparently not in all M&C restaurants, so you’d need to check others. They don’t all have separate fryers, hence not on the GF menu.)
I have to say, the steak option is totally inspired and different to any other steak restaurant I’ve been to. The steak comes with a lettuce wedge in a bowl (your choice of dressing) which is great as a refreshing taste to accompany the steak. But the ‘piece de resistance’ is the onion loaf. I had no idea what this was going to be (I was expecting something bready) but it’s actually a slice of a deep fried, battered onion slab (i.e. loaf). That doesn’t do it justice though, as the taste is that of a giant, delicious onion ring. In other words, exactly the sort of best part of the dish that coeliacs can’t normally have. I haven’t had an onion ring in about five years – so it tasted even better than it probably was. Seriously well done to Miller and Carter for making the extra effort here.
I was very pleased that 9-year-old didn’t want his, so I got an extra portion. The pepper sauce was good too – nice and fiery, in a mouth-warming way. The whole thing was really great. We ordered some broccoli as a side, which was also nice, with garlic and cheese, but we didn’t really need it.
We really didn’t need a dessert, but in the interests of Sheffield’s coeliac community, I forced down a coffee and mini chocolate pot just to try them, and they were also lovely.
All in all, a great meal. We will definitely be back here. My only constructive criticism would be to get the sides (some of which are clearly GF) onto the gluten free menu, and the chips. Oh, and really shout about that Coeliac UK accreditation – it means a lot to us!
Miller and Carter, 345 Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield S11 9PW
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