I'm a fan of Gastropubs and after reading reviews and glancing at the menu I chose this place to dine at with a friend. We both got the flank steak salad which was highly suggested by our waitress. Just when I thought that it wasn't possible to mess up a steak salad I was proven wrong. Visually it looked appetizing enough but for $16 the portion was more akin to an appetizer than an actual meal. I never can finish anything that I order at a restaurant including a steak salad. Not only did I finish this but I had to make plans on where to eat afterwards. In retrospect it was a blessing in disguise that the portion was small since it was barely palatable and I left more than a few of their "candy" tasting tomatoes behind.
So where did this dish go wrong? Way too much sugar; why any at all? Why do the tomatoes taste like they were candied? Why did the dressings (blood orange and another that I will assume was balsamic vinaigrette) taste like liquid sugar? I know how to make a vinaigrette and this was not it. The portion size compared to the price was way off, especially given the poor execution of the dish. Finally unseasoned flank steak; did anybody think to even salt and pepper it let alone add anything else? The salsa verde tasted like fresh from the can.The only reason that I did not complain and send this back was because I was on a first date and wanted to focus on that in a positive way. My date also found the dish to be sugary as well. Afterwards we agreed that we should have went elsewhere. My verdict is if you can't master a simple dish then I don't have faith that a more complicated one will be completed either let alone mastered.