Emily’s Steak House
The best steak in town?
When my boyfriends 28th birthday was just around the corner I asked him the inevitable question, “where would you like to go for your birthday meal?”
His response was surprising because;
He is the most indecisive man in the world, but he already knew the answer as though prepared for such a question
He decided on a place I had NEVER heard of (I like to have all the know)
We walked past this particular place every single day *
*The route we walk everyday embodies similarities with a slum, lots of crime and general drunkenness, urinating-in-the-street-types. You get the idea.
My response was dramatic…a new steakhouse? YES STEAK!? Where could this place be? How have I not heard of it? All of which came across in my actual response of “where?”
Once he told me that a good foodie friend had recommended it, I felt better about where it was, just off Macklin Street. Obviously being the eternal pessimist that I am, I insisted on taking a peek in on the way home, just to make sure this place checked out.
I was delighted, it looked like a charming family run restaurant, something almost continental about the layout with a little bar at the front and polished furnishings with lots of quirky things to look at.
So I booked it, a quiet Sunday evening birthday get together-table for 5.
I think its important to say as well, that I am clearly one of the few people that didn’t know of this hidden gem, as people would casually ask me about Ben’s birthday, they all seemed to have been to Emily’s and had high praise for the place, as the recommendations grew so did my excitement and expectations.
So like hungry orphans we all gathered outside Emily’s and it didn’t take long for the delightful aroma to carry us in. Greeted by a delightful and polite young host who looked after us all evening. The place was quaintly decorated with lashes of soft furnishings alongside the elegance of bold artwork, polished floors and fabric napkins. It looked cosy with a touch of class.
I had been warned that it could get pricey and had inevitably passed on the info to the other guests, I’m pretty sure we all took in a deep breath when we opened the menu’s but a sigh of relief when we weren’t shocked by the prices. The steaks ranged from £12.95 for an average sized 8oz Rump to £25.95 for a 32oz ‘Almighty Rump’. I was happy because there is no chance I could eat more than an 8oz rump and £12.95 is a pretty decent price for that…thankfully the other four are big bellied beasts who could appreciate the bigger cuts of meat.
Now Ben and myself are pretty excitable when it comes to starters, a sexy starter to us is like taste bud foreplay.
So we were pretty impressed with the selection and although they had sadly run out of my first choice Mussels in a white wine sauce, my dismay was pretty minimal because I had several other back ups that I was contemplating earlier. Instead I chose the Crab Pot with Toast-£5.95.
I found it light but not stingy which is what you need in preparation for a big steak just enough to get your appetite going, it had a beautiful consistency and wasn’t lacking in flavour, still want to try the mussels though.
Ben had chicken wings. You’ll soon understand reader, that Ben loves chicken wings…he will always order them in every place be it restaurant, take away or Tesco. I’m pretty sure he’d swap me for the promise of the perfect chicken wing. (Luckily he is the one that holds the recipe for that already.)
So, yes…chicken wings, which in his words were good about a 7 out of 10. He very much enjoyed them but I think he prefers them hot rather than honeyed. Sorry the man knows what he wants form a chicken wing.
Ok enough about chicken…. lets get to the all singing all dancing* no longer mooing Steak!
*Disclaimer none of the steaks actually started singing or dancing in anything but the metaphorical sense.
We all ordered our steaks either rare or medium rare. (I believe anything above a medium might as well be a posh bun-less burger. Sorry well-done-ers.) In case you are a bit of a wimp there is a guide to the bottom of the menu describing exactly how the steaks will look to specific orders, which is essential if you’re dining with someone who couldn’t bare the thought of uncooked or bloody/pinkish meat etc
Now from a recommendation I had, I heard that Emily’s cooked a beautiful steak but you don’t necessarily get a massive lot. All I have to say is PANTS to that. I couldn’t believe the bursting extras we got aside these beautiful cuts of blushing meats. A hearty house salad, crispy fried potatoes, peas and surf and turf as an added extra for those hungry enough.
There was a selection of sauces including, peppercorn, port and Stilton and a secret pepper sauce. Words cannot describe to you the depth of flavours to this immense secret family sauce. All I can say is that I wish I could buy it, bottle it, and market it. It had the consistency of creamy gravy but with all the punch of pepper and deep flavours of wine and spices. It was definitely a highlight.
It is pretty important, being a steak house and all, that they got the steaks perfect. Honestly I can say they nailed it. We were all delighted with what we received...an array of Rumps, T-Bones and Sirloins cooked to our individual ideas of what constitutes the perfect steak. For me, I love the char-grilled flavours which my steak was far from lacking I like it mostly pink-red in the middle I would always prefer it to be under done than over done, because I think it’s criminal to loose the tender juiciness of the meat that it embodied at Emily’s.
As far as desserts go, I find it difficult to judge as like I said above I love to have a starter and unfortunately my gut does not allow me to have both, in such a case of a hearty main meal. Fortunately two of my good friends and dinner guests were more than happy to sample a dessert from the menu.
Bailey's Profiteroles with Ice Cream it was, priced £4.25. The host alerted us to a special offer; ten for the price of four on this dessert…how could one refuse? It didn’t take them long to devour the little frozen delights. It seemed like a well-presented chocolaty cold dessert to me, but again I’m not the one bet to judge on the matter. I will say however the dessert menu did tempt me with its lavish selections of both hot and cold desserts, shame I don’t have the room for it. Sorry!
There was an elegant extra we did splash out on and that was buying a couple of the Cuban cigars advertised after the desserts. Sadly they had run out of the majority of the brands par the house brand £12.95- which we bought two of, a quirky little extra indeed.
I can honestly say this is one place not to miss. Derbytons should revel in having such a triumph on their doorstep and visitors shouldn’t leave without experiencing the best steak in town.
Emily’s Steak house, I will be back, hungry.
24 Monk Street North, Derby, DE22 3TX.
Tel: 01332 368 863