Dinner With Meg

Recently I was lucky enough to head back to my favourite steak restaurant – Cowshed.

If you’re in my sphere of friends and family, chances are you’ll know how much I love this place, and since me and my other half have been together it’s somewhere I’ve insisted on taking him (sandwiched between cocktails in the city, of course. Shout out to Hummingbird – a must-visit if you’re looking for a classy cocktail bar amidst the madness of Liverpool City Centre).

In a nutshell, from start to finish, this place delivers on all fronts – service, settings, and seriously delicious food. There’s a reason they’ve got close to 1,800 reviews on TripAdvisor but still boast five stars.

Cowshed is an intimate venue. Nestled on Seel Street, the restaurant spills over a few floors, but each of them are small and homely. There are nods throughout the restaurant to ‘home’ – a bright red door on a terraced row, fireplaces, and pictures hanging on the wall.

At first glance, the menu is pretty small – about four starters, three desserts, and just the steaks, sauces and sides you need. It’s not overcomplicated. These guys know what they’re good at, stick to it, and nail it every time. They stay in their lane, and always win.

To start we shared the three cheese garlic bread which came with a chilli and sundried tomato pesto dip. It’s a starter that sounds so simple, but that bread lives in my head rent free. It’s absolutely delicious. If I could have an endless supply of this at home, you bet I certainly would. Not a want, but a need.

We also shared the croquettes which were lamb and emmental, with a red currant dip. I’m a sucker for a fruity dip paired with a cheese but honestly, as gorgeous as the combination was, these croquettes hit the mark just as they were. There was plenty of lamb inside, cooked beautifully and perfectly balanced with the cheese.

Now, give me a bottle of wine and the giddiness of anticipating the arrival of my order, and I could talk for days. But, even for me, this is the kind of starter that has the power to quieten the conversation. You know those times when the table falls silent, and you just revel in the fact you’re eating some seriously good food. It verges on the edge of smugness.

For our main, we shared the ‘Greedy Cow’ – for me this is one of my favourite things about Cowshed. It’s a reasonably priced place anyway given the quality of food, but I don’t know anywhere else that offers this sort of sharer, for such a good price, but of unbelievable quality.

For £62, you get a flat iron, rump and rib-eye to share, all cooked to your liking. Then you get to choose 2 sides and 2 sauces (we chose the blue cheese sauce and pepper sauce, with fries and a side of savoy cabbage and green beans in chorizo cream).

The latter is honestly one of my favourite steak sides and I am so keen to replicate this at home. The sauces were so indulgent and flavourful…if I had to pick a favourite it would have to be the blue cheese. Now sometimes, this sauce can be quite overpowering but at Cowshed, you just get a subtle hint of the blue cheese. Not too overpowering yet deliciously creamy.

As for the steak, it was cooked beautifully and just as we’d requested – gorgeously pink, and lovely and tender.

The only obstacle with the sharer is that you and your sharing partner would need to have the same preference for how you like your steak cooked – luckily my boyfriend has great taste buds and likes his steak the only way it should be cooked (medium-rare is the correct answer).

Every time I go to Cowshed I tell myself I’ll get dessert, but by the time that Greedy Cow had been demolished, I did infact feel like a greedy cow (in the best possible way) and there was no room for the raspberry panna cotta I had been eyeing up on the menu just 90 minutes or so earlier.

That being said, as a savoury girl, if I had room for any more food I think I’d have been inclined to get some more of those croquettes…

If you’re local to Liverpool or find yourself making a trip any time soon, get yourself down to Cowshed (just make sure you book well in advance). I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.