Update and Rutland Arms

Oh dear; it's been a while since my last post hasn't it?  Mmmmmm. 

Well a fair bit has happened over the past few weeks.  Firstly I passed my course with commendation - WHOOP! 

Secondly I've been going crazy with the Sheffield Food Festival for my Exposed Blog.  Click here to see just what I've been up to.

Anyway.  Things are getting pretty back to normal (ish).  Although I am still quite busy doing stuff for Exposed, which is great actually, so I'm not complaining!

Of course this weekend is the Tramlines festival and we shall see the whole city of Sheffield transformed into a huge free for all festival.  It's been going 2 years now.  I missed the first one, but last year was amazing, and this year is just gonna get better.  There was such a lovely vibe in town and, living in the city centre, I only needed to open my window to feel part of it!

This year I'm looking forward to getting a group of friends together and drifting from one venue to the next.  I'll also be looking at the food side of things for Exposed.  There will be a blog post going up on Saturday with top tips of where to pick up your festival eats and I'll also be tweeting foodie stuff for Exposed (YES - I HAVE THE POWER!).

But before all that, I figured I owe you a review; an actual food review..... so here goes.....

Rutland Arms

The Rutland Arms is probably considered a bit of a rarity in Sheffield city centre simply because it's a proper pub. A proper pub, with proper ale, proper carpets and proper Sheffield folk.

Having said that, I have noticed that a lot of bars are slowly but surely returning to the days of the local. Take Olive bar for instance. That was definitely a bar rather than a pub (although I still think it looked more like a coffee shop with those stripy chairs) and although the Great Gatsby hasn't quite gone the whole hog, it's certainly got a bit more of a pub feel to it now.

Being a long-standing fan of The Wick At Both Ends, The Rutland Arms has been on my 'to-do list' for some time. I'd only heard good things about it, but as it is on the wrong side of town for me, my visit on Saturday was my first.

Stepping into the bar, the first thing you'll notice about this place is that it's a pub pub, if you know what I mean. There's the traditional patterned carpet, the classic furniture; all the things that you would expect to find in a pub.

I'm not a huge beer fan, so apologies for not taking much notice of them. However I can tell you that this place has a decent reputation for its beer selection and it's a member of CAMRA. I was just happy to see Budvar on tap and went for a pint of the Czech stuff. The husband spotted an English lager which was nice enough but in all honesty, I was happy with my choice.

As he ordered our food at the bar, the husband also spotted some pork scratchings hanging up. Another sign that we were definitely in pub land, i.e. there weren't any olives on offer. Obviously feeling somewhat starved he bought some, in the full knowledge that he would shortly be eating a full meal.

The pork scratchings are so naughty (and wrong) but soooo tasty!

Actually, it's a good job I like pork scratchings, and the like, as when my dish arrived (cider pig) I was amazed to find the most enormous piece of crackling I have ever seen! Not only was it huge, it was perfectly formed and delicious (if still wrong).

There was also a decent serving of shredded pork, which was tasty, if just a little dry (more gravy please!). Veg was as it should be and mash tasted of potato. Although tasting of potato should be a pre-requisite of any mash, sadly it is not, so I was happy with this!

The husband had rump steak. Neither of us are huge fans of the rump (isn't it the arse end of the cow?) but we were very pleasantly surprised by this one. Firstly it was shaped as a fillet steak, secondly it was cooked well (rare) and it was tastier than any rump I had tried before.

It came with a mustard and tarragon sauce and although the husband doesn't normally have sauce with his steak, as he prefers to let the taste of the meat do the talking, he was glad to have this one. It was gorgeous and lovely on the chips (which were also good).

It was a pretty good meal and coming in under £25 for the lot, it was good value too. There are lighter (and cheaper) bites on their menu if you're after a quick lunch.

I'll now have to start alternating between The Wick At Both Ends and The Rutland Arms! It's a hard life!