A taste of wild Scotland supplemented with an ample dash of Scottish hospitality made my meal at Mac & Wild’s City outpost a deliciously memorable one.
Indulging in a hint of the Highlands hardly a minute’s stroll from Liverpool Street Station, an early midweek dinner at Mac & Wild was one of the tastier ideas Kemey and I have enjoyed recently.
Haggis Pops with Red Jon sauce (£5.50) was a savagely satisfying start to my meal. And a hefty beef and venison Veni-Moo Burger with a couple of slabs
with Portmahomack candied bacon (beef patty, venison patty, cheese, Béarnaise sauce and caramelized onions on a brioche bun with Portmahomack candied bacon, £10 + £2 for the bacon) kept the gourmand gratification high and humming. A side of hand cut chips (£3.50) did justice to my feast.
Kemey’s experience was equally yummy – though decidedly less meaty. Her heritage cauliflower (puffed minted barley with golden raisins and truffle puree, £7) proved vegetarians were not overlooked during menu development. Roast Scottish salmon with spring peas and sea vegetable (£14.50) pleased immensely, and she loved her Dirty Buttery Mash (£6). We both agreed a side of charred leeks with pickled mustard seeds and egg yolk puree ($.5.5) was a treat wisely recommended by our friendly server.
Libations were naughtily northern and strong and paired well with our food. Along the lines of an Old Fashioned, the Forager – made with Glenkinchie 12 Year Old, double infused heather honey, barrel-aged bitters and foraged pine leaf tincture (£9) – had a forest-y freshness to it. Something like an espresso martini, the Black Watch (Talisker 10 infused with coffee beans, coffee liqueur, amaro and cold brew, £9.50) ended the meal on a dark (and damn fine) note – and added umph to an already deeply flavoursome sticky toffee pudding (£7).
Service was warm and welcoming. I felt at comfortable ease in the restaurant’s post industrial Victorian setting with rustic edge and a strong smell of leather, whisky and grilled meat.
I’d be most keen to return – maybe for the newly launched weekend brunch (though I might like to check out Mac & Wild’s original restaurant in Fitzrovia before doubling back to Devonshire Square).
Mac & Wild is located at 9A Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YN. The original Mac & Wild is at Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia. Find out more at macandwild.com.
