I tried a new Sunday roast and the staff nearly made me cry
A Sunday roast is one of life's greatest pleasures - especially at this time of year when the weather is so cold and miserable that you just want to enjoy comfort foods. Most people will tell you their mum's Sunday dinner is the best you'll ever have, but occasionally it is nice to go out for a roast cooked by the professionals.
I'm a creature of habit when it comes to my favourite meals, and there are one or two city pubs that I'll always opt for when I'm booking a Sunday roast. I like knowing I'm going to be served a perfectly cooked Yorkshire pudding, a generous portion of roast potatoes and, crucially, a vat of thick gravy.
I find roasts can be really hit and miss depending on where you're dining, so I tend to stick to the same places for fear of trying something new and ending up with a slice of dry beef and a meagre amount of watery gravy. But last week I decided to be a bit more adventurous and give a new restaurant a chance - and I was so glad I did.
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El Gato Negro is a tapas restaurant based in Exchange Flags in Liverpool's business district. And despite being less than a five minute walk from the Liverpool ECHO's city centre offices, I've never been inside. I love Spanish food, so it's always been on my list of restaurants to visit - but it was their new roast dinner menu that finally got me through the doors.
The restaurant has locations in Liverpool and Manchester, and the Exchange Flags site recently reintroduced its roast dinners, with the choice between rosemary and thyme roasted half chicken, sirloin beef or Iberian suckling pig. There's also a £50 sharing platter which includes all three meats, served with parsnip puree, roasted potatoes, honey roast carrots, savoy cabbage, tender stem broccoli, Yorkshire puddings and Guinness gravy.
My husband and I booked a table for Sunday afternoon, but we actually considered cancelling our reservation on the way there because our toddler was teething - a struggle every parent of a young child can relate to. He was very teary and grizzly, and we were worried we might ruin the meal for other customers if we showed up with a screaming baby and tried to tuck into a roast.
If parenthood has taught us anything, it's that we are both incredibly concerned about causing a scene in any social situation - so we walked into El Gato Negro radiating nervous energy. Our scarlet-cheeked son was restless and grouchy, and we started apologising to the staff before we even sat down.
But our waiter put us at ease immediately - telling us he'd been through the exact same thing with his own child, and that he knew how hard it is to try and sooth a teething baby. He made such a fuss of our son and even offered us his tips on how to help make him more comfortable.
His kindness, and the patience of every staff member at the restaurant, almost made me cry at the table. I'm always so worried people will judge me if they hear my baby crying in a café or a restaurant, but the staff at El Gato Negro put us all at ease, and were so accommodating that we were actually able to enjoy our meal rather than worrying that we were bothering anyone.
Once we'd had a chance to settle in, we placed our order of two sirloin beef roast dinners (£20 each) served with horseradish. The waiter asked how pink we wanted our beef, which is always an indication that you're about to be served a good quality roast. Our mains arrived really quickly, and every element of the meal was served piping hot.
The beef was just the right shade of pink and came laid on top of a pile of punchy horseradish sauce, which gave the dish a fiery kick. The roasties and Yorkshire puddings were satisfyingly crispy and all of the veg accompaniments were really well seasoned. As a gravy glutton, I was pleased to see that not only was my plate drenched in Guinness gravy, but there were separate jugs brought to the table to top yourself back up (which I did, repeatedly).
We couldn't resist ordering some of the sides to go with our mains, especially given the opportunity to include some tapas classics alongside the usual roast dinner accompaniments. We ordered padron peppers (£6) and Catalan bread (£7), as well as a manchego cauliflower cheese (£7), which I haven't seen on a menu before.
The Catalan bread went surprisingly well with the meal and the sprinkling of coarse sea salt on top of each slice helped to cut through the acidity of the crushed tomatoes. But the real stand-out side dish was the cauliflower cheese, which was unbelievably decadent and creamy, with a deep nutty flavour thanks to the Spanish sheep milk cheese used in the sauce. We were glad we ordered one dish to share between us, because there's no way one person could have managed such an indulgent dish.
Having previously insisted on returning to the same venues over and over again for a Sunday roast, I was so glad we decided to try something new with this tapas-inspired menu because it was a nearly faultless meal. It's up there with the best roasts I've had in Liverpool, but the thing that really made this lunch stand out was the kindness of the staff who made us feel so welcome on a stressful Sunday.
Working in hospitality can sometimes be a thankless job, with long hours and the occasional awkward customer. But I want to thank the amazing staff at this city centre tapas bar for going out of their way to make sure two tired parents could still enjoy a roast dinner and a much needed glass of wine in peace.