Sheffield on the whole turned out to be somewhat of a letdown for dining. I definitely need to find some local recommendations - came up empty this time, but we’re certain we will go again. We did, however, have one decent (and in parts lovely) meal at The Furnace, which is by its own description: ’ …a melting pot, forged from the elements that make our city unique. Where industrial heritage, meets modern design. Where local ingredients are cast into new, imaginative menus.’ What I expected was Yorkshire fare with a modern twist and I got it. The Furnace is in the regenerated modern centre, a light and airy interior. They sat us in a booth and I squeezed myself in.
We shared a cocktail. We aren’t big drinkers. This was a smoked maple bourbon. Pretty and quite delicious. The little smoking stick was cool.
We had a starter of Yorkshire fishcake. It was like a potato croquette with a layer of fish in the centre. I really liked it. It was served with a fried egg and some tartare sauce. Again, we shared. We always share a full meal between us - usually with two starters but this time we stuck with just one. Fish cake had been on my list so that one’s done, and I would do it again.
The main course was a Henderson’s Relish steak and potato pie. The famously local relish is like Worcestershire Sauce but no fishy component. I had tried it the previous day and thought it tasted like sherry vinegar with a hint of heat. Not as special as I’d hoped but the pie was decent enough. The meat could have been more tender and there could have been more of it, but we dug in. I added extra Henderson’s - well, I had to really, to get into the Yorkshire spirit.
We had two sides. One was elote, the other a coal roasted beetroot salad. Neither is worth a re-order or a photo. Not nasty but no. And they weren’t in keeping with the Yorkshire theme, anyway.
Not having had two starters, we opted for two desserts. A Yorkshire pudding with ice cream and salted caramel sauce, and a Liquorice Allsorts milk pudding.
A bit out of focus. The Yorkshire pudding would have been perfect if it were hot and had a hot sauce too but it was still very enjoyable.
I loved this pudding. It was like a panna cotta, so quite light, and it definitely aced the Liquorice Allsorts flavour. I could eat two!
No coffee for us. A good meal served by friendly servers who we could joke with. We were the last people to leave. Nice one.
