Beautiful Pubs Roast Club

Roast Dinner: I’m not going to make a Fight Club joke, because I’m better than that. But if there’s one club I am at the front of the queue to join, it’s the Beautiful Pubs Roast Club. The Beautiful Pubs Collective are the lovely folk that bring us the Rutland & Derby, the Forge and Knight & Garter. So they’ve got form when it comes to delivering great food with impeccable sourcing (and saucing).

Edit: 25/01/21 The ordering link for the Roast Club is now live – click here!

With us deep into Lockdown 3: Hancock’s Last Hurrah, the team have developed a delicious finish-at-home roast dinner kit. It is too good to keep for just Sundays. It comes in recycled containers with easy to follow instructions. Happily everything cooks on the same temperature in the oven so it’s super simple too! When we put ours together I left it to The Boy to test. I was surprised just how quickly he got the whole thing plated up for us to enjoy. There was the added benefit of the whole house filling with the heavenly scent of rosemary as it cooks. Definitely builds the anticipation.

Locally Sourced Ingredients

As well as supporting the Beautiful Pubs team, the great thing about this cook at home meal is that it supports so many other local producers too. In particular, the meat is a beautiful quality 35 day dry aged sirloin from Owen Taylors butchers. It was fantastically succulent, tender and incredibly delicious. The thing I really loved about this meal, compared to others I have seen, is how generously portioned the joint was. You actually receive the joint to cook rather than just slices of meat. This means that there is loads to go around, AND it stays moist and you get the benefit of added flavour in your roasties. Plus you get to enjoy the whole ceremony of ‘the carve’. What is a roast dinner without a little showmanship. Thinking about it, this means that you could pass the whole thing off as your own cooking. But only if you can sneak it in the house without the rest of your household noticing.

Alongside the joint and potatoes, there were light and pillowy Yorkshire puddings, rosemary carrots roasted in honey and heirloom parsnips, an unctuous and rich Malbec and veal jus (and plenty of it). Plus my favourite element, the creamed leek and spinach gratin. I am such a sucker for a creamed vegetable on a Sunday dinner and this just hit the spot entirely. Plus I thought it was such a clever touch to include a gratin with the breadcrumb topping served separately. You added it at the last minute to ensure the perfect crisp crumb. Just delicious. The whole dish was brought together with a little tub of seasoned salt which was just divine, but I have no doubt is a secret recipe!! Every element felt special – carefully selected for maximum flavour and delight.

The Verdict

We served ours with a cheeky 2017 Bordeaux that I’ve been saving, and it felt like such a treat. Bam Bam enjoyed some roast potatoes, honey free veg and creamed leeks. She even tried to stash some on her face for later, but we are wise to such tricks. I have said before and I will say it again, as (relatively) new parents, bringing us food is pretty much the best thing you can do for us. This really felt like a delivery meal elevated to a different plane. The quality of the individual elements was so high, and it was so simple to put together. Plus even in our crappy oven the sirloin was still medium rare and juicy – absolutely perfect. I would absolutely look to getting this in again. We have special occasions like The Boy’s birthday and of course Valentine’s Day coming up. However I am pretty certain that this is well worth enjoying at any time to lighten what is already a pretty grey January lockdown.

Thank you to the Beautiful Pubs team for gifting us a Roast Dinner Club kit to try. My gushing review is my honest opinion of what we received.