To mark Yorkshire day, the fantastic Dough Bistro in West Park put on a special 7 course tasting menu created by chef Luke Downing that showcased the best of Yorkshire foods.
To go along with this, guest sommelier for the evening Leigh Linley (who writes The Good Stuff beer and food blog as well as being the CV editor of Tavern Tales) chose a selection of local beers and wine to pair with the food.
I was invited along (for free!) to see what it was all about.
Dough is really quite small and cosy inside, the tables are crammed in together and the interior is simple, bare brick and plain dark wooden furniture.
I would like to describe what we had in my own words but that wouldn’t really do the food justice. So much thought had gone into the selection and combining of ingredients I have lifted the descriptions almost directly from the menu.
On arrival we had a glass of Leeds Leventhorope sparkling Bucks fizz and some canapés which included a sample of Paganum Yorkshire Chorizo which was quickly followed by some bread from the Artisan Bakery in Headingley.
The fish course was described as ‘Carpaccio of line caught Filey Bay tuna served with Whitby crab, caper & cream cheese quenelle, orange & home-grown carrot puree and Civiche of diver caught Whitby king scallop on Epworth Grapefruit salsa’. This was Served with Kirkstall Brewery’s Three Swords Pale Ale.
This was a fantastic dish showcasing the regions sea food and the minimal interference in terms of cooking allowed the true flavours of the fish to shine through.
Slow-cooked Wike-ridge wild rabbit was served in a filo basket on a bed of creamed Roundhay leek with cherry coulis, Yorkshire blue cheese and crispy onion. The rabbit was so tender that I was almost convinced that it was chicken! The syrupy cherry coulis was very sweet but worked with the creamy cheese and the crispy pastry. This came with another Leventhorpe wine, this time a fruity and surprisingly palatable red.
A home-grown strawberry and basil sorbet was a quick interlude before moving onto the Swillington farm Organic chicken breast poached in nettle nage served on Yorkshire Paganum chorizo, new potato & sprouting fennel salad with capers & mayo, home-grown money-maker tomato gazpacho and tortilla crisps. This was served cold which was a shock at first but actually really worked. The flavours were really bold despite the dish being slightly chilled. Served with Magic Rock Brewery’s Rapture Red-Hopped Ale this was (like the others) a fantastic dish and I was really quite sad that the soup was only a taster sized portion.
By the time we reached the Tenderloin of Swillington Farm organic pork coated in Denholme Gate honey, topped with Pudsey Pickle’s rhubarb & chilli chutney, served on Arthur Haigh’s black pudding, red currant sauce and diver caught Whitby king scallop we were a bit stuffed! The combination of meat, fish and black pudding was a bit unusual. I enjoyed the meat element of this the most. The real surprise was the Leventhorpe Madeleine Angevine Leeds white wine. It had a beautiful crisp fruity flavour and completely blew away my prejudices against British wines.
We were revived by the Home-grown Roundhay Yellow raspberry and black pepper posset served with tarragon biscuit. The biscuit was still warm and the herbiness went so well with the fruit and pepper combination making this sweet almost savoury. Served with home-made Lemonchello this was an ideal end to the meal…
However that was not the finale. The second dessert came in the form of a Yorkshire pudding stuffed with cream custard, home-grown blackcurrant & Leeds sparkling wine compote, whipped cream and chocolate crisp. This was served with a rich Ossett Brewery’s Treacle Stout, sweet enough to go with a pudding, but with enough dry, savoury notes to make a refreshing contrast.
If that really wasn’t quite enough, we were provided with a teaspoon full of ganache as a petit four.
I had a chat with Leigh and Luke in the kitchen afterwards. Luke said that he wanted to mark the occasion of Yorkshire day and wanted his menu to feature the best of Yorkshire hence why a lot of products like the bread and the rhubarb & chilli chutney were brought in instead of being made totally from scratch in the kitchen.
This was a special menu for the occasion but there is a seven course £40 tasting menu available at all time featuring items from the ever changing A la carte selection.
II can’t believe i missed this! Looked absolutely amazing! I’ve just found Dough Bistro and can’t wait to try the next event!