It means that they're keeping things seasonal, it means that you know it's most likely going to be local produce that is used, and it means that they care about their food. Which I believe can all be said to be true about Dough.
I went on a Saturday night with Katie (from Leeds Grub). She puts up with me telling her every time we go for a meal that Yes, I will start that food blog, definitely, at some point, maybe. And a few months on, I'm actually getting round to it.
The bistro itself is split into two small rooms, I liked the exposed brickwork and the lighting helped maintain a cosy feel. Yeppppp that's about as good as I get at describing décor, I'll be honest, I'm more focused on the food, conversation and trying to work out if that song playing in the background is the one from Amalie.
So onto the food...
We went for the 7 course tasting menu at £40 with a nice bottle of Oyster Bay courtesy of Dough's BYOB allowance.
1) An Amuse Bouche to start with, and it definitely amused my bouche; Artichoke and cream cheese mousse served on charred flatbread with shaved black truffle.
The mousse was light and delicate, an additional slice of cucumber added a refreshing crunch to it and it went down well.
2) Smoked haddock and crayfish chowder, served with potatoes, onion, garden peas and a creamy saffron, white wine and parsley sauce.
I'm not really a big fan of chowder, it's not something I would ever order from a menu, but this is where the beauty of the tasting menu comes into play. I had it, and I enjoyed it. A lot.
The smoked haddock was just as it should be, crispy skin with nice smoky tones and was a good focal piece to the dish. The crayfish were just the tails rather than the whole crustacean, and the meaty texture and flavour went really well with the creamy sauce. The potatoes, onions and peas worked in the background to bring everything together into a delightful dish.
3)Kiwi, lime, mint and cucumber sorbet.
As you can probably guess from the ingredients in it, this was refreshing, crisp and light. It was good as a palette cleanser between courses and made me appreciate my wine a tiny bit more.
4)Seared fillet of ostrich served on a bed of crunchy vegetables with balsamic syrup, caramelised
onion chutney, coriander oil and pea puree.
This dish was the only stickler out of the whole menu. I was looking forward to trying Ostrich, I think everyone's always seen it on offer as Ostrich burgers at every farmers market you ever go to. But I was intrigued as to what Ostrich fillet would be like. The bed of crunchy vegetables it was on went well with the balsamic syrup which had really strong flavours going on.
Now this is where I'm in two minds. The fillet was quite a light delicate piece of meat, it was definitely on the rare side and it wasn't as meaty as I was expecting from it's deep red colour.
I would guess that the ostrich could have been used as a vehicle to show off the other flavours in the dish, the onion chutney, balsamic glaze and pea puree, as it was not in itself a very flavoursome piece of meat.
It didn't become the main flavour in the dish, as meat often has the habit of doing. If this was the intention then I can see how that might work.
On the other hand, if the Ostrich was supposed to be the main player of the dish, as it would be if it was steak or duck, then I think this dish let it self down a bit, mainly on flavour.
5)Confit of Yorkshire lamb breast served in a filo basket on a bed of creamed leek with apple compote,Yorkshire blue cheese and crispy onion. (I'm stealing Katie's photo here, shhh pretend you didn't notice)
Mention the word 'confit' and i'm pretty much drooling anyway. This was no exception. The lamb was tender, meaty and moist and I loved it, especially as it's from Yorkshire. The filo pastry and crispy onions gave a good variation on texture, I think you need a bit of crunch with very tender meat and creamy leeks.
Now I believe that anything deep-fried should always have an abundance of salt with it. I know it's not healthy, but it's so good. These crispy onions were in a very salty batter, which I personally loved, especially when mixed with the sweetness of the apple compote, the two contrasting flavours just absolutely clicked for me. But I think some people may have found them a bit over seasoned. You definitely needed a drink after this dish.
6) Lemon and black pepper posset served with tarragon biscuit.
The biscuit was still warm when it came to our table, which meant it was crumbly and amazing. Mixed with the smooth sweetness of the lemon & pepper posset and cream it was the perfect accompaniment. I couldn't taste the black pepper too much, but then again only had half my posset*.
*I'm a tiny bit allergic to citrus fruits, which are in more or less every dish when you eat out. My face doesn't swell into a water melon, and I don't have trouble breathing but it does leave me sneezing a silly amount. As in about 7 times in a row. Which is great when you're eating with someone, really classy. That's me.
7)Sticky toffee bread and butter pudding with Cointreau soaked fruit, crème Anglais and toffee ice cream.
The sticky toffee, mixed with the bread a butter pudding and raisins, in a lake of creme anglais (That's French for custard you know), if I wasn't so full, I would have eaten Katie's too. The toffee ice cream was lovely in itself, I just wish I had had more room by this point. A nice ending to the 7 courses.
The wine we had as mentioned earlier was a bottle of Oyster Bay 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Malborough region in New Zealand. I love New Zealand wine, I worked over there for 3 months and got through many a bottle of this stuff so I was glad to find it when I came back to England. It's a fairly fruity wine, crisp and easily gluggable. According to the label it has a concentration of tropical and gooseberry flavours, all I know is that it's my favourite and it went nicely with the first 4 courses.
The meal was finished off with two huge coffees, which we were given free because we mentioned twitter (what's that place not good for eh) and as it was BYOB the meal came to a round £80 plus tip, which is exceptional for the amount of courses and the quality of food.
Dough has been getting busier recently due to a few good reviews so I suggest you make haste and get yourself booked on a table, you won't regret it.
And if you're still reading this... Thanks for making it all the way to the end of my first ever blog post, hopefully there will be some more soon, along with some recipes and the occasional photos of our house rabbit.
