The Square only arrived on the foodie scene earlier this year and already it’s made a big impression, thanks to their impressive decor and excellent menu put together by head chef David Cameron. So far I’ve sampled the delights of their excellent drinks and cocktail menu but haven’t before sampled their food offering. So off my friend and I popped one Thursday night to see what the Square had to offer for discerning diners and we weren’t disappointed.
Welcomed by the fabulous Nina, their front of house manager, we were shown to our table towards the back of the restaurant. Once we’d settled in our seats and ordered a bottle of wine to share, well it was a Thursday after all, we began to peruse the menus. For those of you who don’t know The Square is all about seafood, steaks and barbecue. Not wanting to miss out on the menus highlights we asked for the help of our excellent waitress who talked us through what she suggested would work for our raging appetites.
The clever menu has options for the smallest to the biggest appetites, thanks to their mix of small bites through to magnificent sharing mains. We were two very hungry ladies so were recommended to choose two or three of the small bites to share to start with, an excellent recommendation as it meant we could sample more things too! To cover all bases we opted for the butterfly tiger prawns cooked over charcoal with garlic, parsley and piquillo pepper, crispy (the crackling was exceptional) Thai pork belly, spicy peanut and cucumber salad and goats cheese with crisp fried courgette flower and truffle honey dressing. Each dish was beautifully presented, full of flavour and left us hotly anticipating the arrival of our main courses.
Our lovely waitress had recommended that we opt to share either The Square Seafood Fest (grilled butterflied tiger prawns, Thai stir-fried crab claw, mussels in wine & cream, baked scallops, crunchy squid rings, citrus aioli & new potatoes) or the Cote de Boeuf (served with grilled plum tomato, slow-baked mushroom, watercress, hand cut chips, green salad, peppercorn cream & béarnaise sauce) but we couldn’t agree which we preferred so instead we both went for dishes of our own.
Stir-fried cracked crab claws with sweet chili, coriander, ginger & spring onions, which is served with bok choy and steamed rice, although the partner in crime decided that she wanted a portion of fries instead and she was happily obliged (sorry chef). This was a very hands-on dish and was enjoyed with gusto and the use of several lemon scented wipes once the claws had been cracked and eaten clean. A savoury dish with sweet notes kept the seafood lover very happy.
I, being a former vegetarian, opted for the rib eye steak, a cut you don’t always see and a particular favourite of mine. Cooked to perfection over real charcoal in their JOSPER Oven and served with a plethora of sides it was delicious. The Square only serve Irish Beef that has been aged for a minimum of 21 days and from grass fed cattle and that shows in the taste of the steaks they serve.
It’s hard to believe there was any room for dessert, but after a self-imposed break in proceedings we bravely battled on and were both glad we did. There is a strong menu of desserts to choose from at The Square, all of which are handmade in house. We sampled the Pana cotta royale – topped with fresh raspberries a lovely light take on this popular dish and I had the dessert of the day which was a butterscotch sundae with squares of chewy meringue and Amaretti biscuits nestled between scoops of coffee, chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
We left The Square feeling full and very happy after our incredibly indulgent Thursday evening. Both the surroundings and the service at The Square were excellent and we’d highly recommend you get yourself booked into sample it for yourselves.
As The Square is a member of the Liberation Group don’t forget to take along your Indulgence Club card too. If you don’t already have one then head to www.inndulgenceclub.com and register for one, it’s free and they’ll even credit you with 500 points straight away, which amounts to £5 of credit which you can use in any of their participating pubs, bars and eateries.
