Andrew Kay tastes the wines and the steaks at The Hove Bank Steak & Ribs

Rare & red

Growing up with a grandfather who was a rather fine butcher, it should comes as no surprise that I am a seasoned meat eater with a reasonably good knowledge of fleshy parts. The misunderstanding has always been that we dined on fillet, the truth is that we dined on cheap cuts, all of which were dished up with the kind of culinary skill that cheaper cuts required, skills that I use to this day, when I can find those cheap cuts that have become the stock in trade of the gastro pub!

Invitations arrive here on a daily basis, which is rather nice, and I am happy to fulfil as many as seem appropriate. When one arrived from The Hove Bank I was immediately reminded of the fabulous picture of Blythe King on our cover a few weeks back. She had been one of my junior reviewers and she had a great time at The Hove Bank, including whippy ice cream. Now I love good ice cream, by which I mean artisan ices at artisan prices, but there is something appealing about a Mr Whippy, and that is one of the fun things they offer.

The second lure was the presence of Henry Butler of Butler’s Wine Cellar. Henry is my wine merchant of choice and I spend too much time and money in his shops. Knowing that he was there meant that the restaurant was A, working with a local supplier, a policy I wholly approve of, and B, choosing wines with a man who has an impeccable palate and the sense to supply affordable wines of quality.

On arrival we had a glass of prosecco, delicious dry stuff clearly a cut above the average bottle. It went down well and we even commented on the nice packaging. But that was merely a pre-amble to the core of the evening where an invited group would taste the red wines alongside a selection of the meats.

And what great meats! Selected for flavour rather than provenance we looked at the sirloin, rump, fillet, T-bone and pave. When asked if they were locally sourced the answer was clear; some were but on the whole they were chosen for quality and flavour. Now I am a big fan of buying local but I always, given a choice, go for quality. I am glad they do the same.

Raw meat viewed, Henry started popping open some wines. We started at entry level, the house red and very good it was too. Perfectly quaffable stuff that worked well with the meats which had started to arrive. Cooked medium rare, I tended to go for slices from the centre of the steak where it would be at its bloodiest. This may have been misconstrued by my colleagues as the bloodiest slices were also the biggest. I offer no apology, I know exactly want I like and it isn’t medium to rare steak.

At home I tend to cook rump, it is affordable and it is full of flavour. At The Hove Bank the rump was excellent, as was the T-Bone and sirloin. I didn’t bother with the fillet, fillet is for dainty mouths who are unprepared to chew and care little for the flavour – I am sure it was good.

I even liked the burger and I’m not a burger fan, but I discovered that some of the meats are supplied by Paul at Bramptons in Kemp Town Village, so the quality was assured. He also supplies the pave rump, a Scottish beef of superb quality that had us all smiling. It comes at a premium but my word it is tasty.

As the meats arrived so did more wines, all of them excellent and some truly delicious. Henry has a knack for finding wines that you will not find on the supermarket shelves or in your local newsagents. I hate that; high street wines priced beyond reason on restaurant menus. I would also add that the management at The Hove Bank are not greedy with their mark ups and would rather sell you a second bottle of wine at a good price than scare you away. Three cheers for that!

We tasted away, happily comparing notes and discussing the wine and food. Ribs arrived and delivered exactly what one would hope for, basted in their own basting sauce. We were given all the steaks cooked with that sauce as well as cooked without. I liked the sauce, especially on the ribs where the rich earthy pork could handle the sweet spicy concoction. I liked it too with the chips, but felt that it was best served on the side and not on the beef. It’s a personal choice and I am sure many will like the baste cooked on their steak.

You might imagine that we all left after that, but no, we were all invited to stay for dinner! Which we did, although I could only manage a small rump with a green salad. It was a very pleasant evening and one that I would recommend. You could just go along and dine, or maybe they could do a similar beef and booze tasting for a party, now that would be fun.

The Hove Bank Steak and Ribs, 64 Western Road, Palmeira Square, Hove, BN3 2JQ 01273 721182 www.thehovebank.com