Stone Steakhouse, Staffordshire, Sexy Stone Cooked Steak!

Dining at a restaurant for the first time, particularly if the restaurant happens to be the new kid on the block is always exciting, especially if that block is actually slate, a heady mix of intrigue, trepidation, and a healthy dose of rumour and hearsay. Thursday last week was our first visit to the all new Stone Steakhouse, the brand new dining concept at the Crown and Anchor. The restaurant has tasked itself with the ambition of 'striving to become The Best Steakhouse in Staffordshire'.

No mean feat I'm sure you'll agree since there are a number of other quality Steakhouses in Staffordshire.

Cook Steak

We arrived half an hour early so took a couple of drinks in the lounge area before taking our seats in the restaurant proper. The new decor is modern and contemporary which is unexpected if you remember the fixtures and fittings from the Crown and Anchor's pre food reincarnation. The decoration though is clean, simple, warm and inviting all at the same time. The service and mood of the restaurant is unfussy yet competent, the staff are friendly and personable, if young and slightly inexperienced. This however is made up for tenfold by their enthusiasm and willingness to meet our every need.

Choosing a Stone Steakhouse Signature Combo to share with a side of vegetables, couple of extra sauces and a glass each of the wine of the week, we modified our order slightly to come with an 8oz Buffalo Steak in place of the usual fillet of Staffordshire beef, much to the displeasure of many other diners as it was the last one!

The Argentinean Malbec, which we were told would complement our food was a great recommendation, balancing flavours of the lean Buffalo, melt in your mouth baby ribs and salty king prawns. One of the big draws of this new restaurant is the Hot Rock which is used to cook steaks at the table. Sizzling at 450 degrees a slab of slate with a juicy piece of Buffalo steak on it arrives at our table, and we're cooking the meat just to our liking right away. Even before the rest of the food has arrived the steak is cooked to perfection, this is the most fun we've had in a restaurant in a long time, and away the rock goes, back to the kitchen leaving plenty of room to manoeuvre the generous helpings of baby ribs, prawns and ham mash.

Served with a hearty portion of homemade onion rings, a good salad and our extra order of vegetables the food surpassed all expectations, the Buffalo has a delicate taste reminiscent of the best steak you've ever tasted, the meat is lean and tender, a pleasure to eat. The rack of baby ribs simply fell off the few bones, this is possibly the highlight of the evening, and smothered with a sticky hoi sin sauce the ribs are divine. The prawns are excellent, fresh and tasty; the parma ham is an especially nice touch. The ham mash is a good helping, smooth and creamy. The vegetables are bright, fresh and crisp just as they should be. The sauces are excellent too, garlic and chilli is hot and spicy in equal measure and the Jack Daniels is deep and earthy with a kick of alcohol to liven up the palate.

The whole evening is a very pleasant and enjoyable experience, excellent food, fine wine, and great service. The Stone Steakhouse is a night to remember, highly recommended.

Stone Steakhouse, Staffordshire, Sexy Stone Cooked Steak!

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