Roasting

Andrew Kay gets a good roasting at The Coalshed on Boyces Street

W hen asked where the best Sunday roast is in Brighton, I often answer ‘at our home.’ It may sound arrogant but I love to cook a Sunday roast and I think most of our friends and family would agree that I do a pretty good job. I am also very particular about a roast; there are rules that I like to adhere to, traditions that must be observed and couplings that need not be changed. All too often a Sunday lunch out will include far too much food, too many veg and the horror of a plate pre-swamped in gravy. Yeuk!

There are days though when I simply cannot face the slog of cooking a roast. Not that it’s hard to do, just time consuming. On such days I crave the joy of a roast without the effort and I have to say that I have found in Brighton that there are one or two places that do it with style and adherence, on the whole, to my strict rules. Yorkshires with beef and nothing else, etc…

This Sunday we made our way to The Coalshed where they had announced a new format for their Sunday Roast. Having been a few times before and enjoyed the great steaks, I was intrigued to see what the new deal was.
We arrived in time for a 1pm kick off. Mr R had a bit of a cold, was pretty keen on a decent roast but not for booze, so he had a diet coke and I had a large glass of gavi – rather good as it happens.

We started on the à la carte, Mr R with octopus and chorizo, a rich and tender mix of tastes and flavours that certainly put a smile on his face. I chose a tuna carpaccio which was as delicate as a silk camisole and as sexy too, if I am to believe my heterosexual friends. They were both packed with flavour but dainty enough not to spoil my appetite.

The new Sunday roast deal comes in the form of a roast for two, priced at £25. You can choose from beef sirloin with all the trimmings or a whole roast chicken with an equally appropriate list of side dishes.
We chose the beef sirloin, a thick rib cooked on the bone and then carved. It was simply sensational, succulent, medium rare with crisp fat at the edges and a gentle smokiness from the Spanish oven. On the wooden board came excellent roast potatoes, roast parsnips and huge well structured Yorkshire puddings. On the side came dishes of French beans, buttered baby carrots and braised red cabbage plus two jugs of first class beef gravy. All were good, even the red cabbage, which is not a favourite but had a good balance of sweet and sour.

The meat was once again the star of the day, succulent and full of flavour and at £12.50 a head, marvellous value. At the next table two more diners tucked into a very good looking roast chicken with a completely different range of side dishes. Detail like that really impresses me.

I enjoyed a large glass of malbec with the beef from a list that includes many choices by the glass. Mr R fell at the pudding hurdle, and I have to admit that I was only able to take a small jump at the ice-cream. I chose vanilla with peach and cinnamon. The vanilla was superb, the texture simply perfect, almost like butter. The peach and cinnamon was very nice but lacked a bit of acid to lift the fruit and give it punch.

The Coalshed has come up with an excellent Sunday Roast deal that I am sure will appeal to those of us who like that weekly ritual but do not like a mountain of random vegetables atop a plate of sliced meat, swimming in a sea of brown liquid of indeterminate provenance.

The Coalshed, 8 Boyces Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1AN, 01273 322998, www.coalshed-restaurant.co.uk