Salt Yard Charcuterie Bar and Restaurant

54 Goodge Street
London
W1T 4NA
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A trip down to the big smoke for a couple of days to revel in Everton’s entirely predictable, never-ending ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the Emirates afforded the opportunity for a meal at Salt Yard Tapas, located on Goodge Street. The small bar area was busy for a Monday night and the four of us were taken downstairs to the cosy restaurant area. We decided on a sharing platter of meats and some rillettes with crostini to start, both of which were excellent, to be followed by a very decent selection of many of the various options on the pleasingly compact menu.

The main dishes, for the most part, maintained a very high standard. The jamon croquetas were superb, in no small part due to the manchego contained within, while the 'Gloucester Old Spot' pork belly with cannellini beans was moist and had gratifyingly tasty crackling.



The chargrilled chorizo with marinated peppers was smoky with a lovely substantial kick to it and benefited from the presence of the peppers, while another tapas staple, crispy squid, was lifted above the norm by a powerful and garlic-fuelled shellfish Aioli. One slightly unexpected hit was the light and moreish butternut squash gnocchi with a sage and butter sauce, which had a lovely soft texture.



The dishes were not faultless though. Despite a lovely goat’s cheese stuffing, the courgette flowers tasted slightly underseasoned and were marginally on the bland side of tasty. Similarly two meat dishes almost but didn’t fully hit the mark; an excellent salsa verde didn’t quite rescue the Fillet of Lamb, which didn’t seem well matched with crushed Jerusalem artichokes, and the bavette arrived at the table somewhat late and somewhat tough, although by no means inedible.



Pudding ensured the evening ended well, my excellent cold chocolate and honeycomb fondant was more than rich enough for someone without much of a sweet tooth, and an equally positive report was received on the milk pudding with rhubarb. A varied and well-judged cheese board rounded off an overwhelmingly positive night’s feeding, washed down very nicely by a couple of bottles –between the table - of a decently priced Honoro Vera. Competitively priced and very enjoyable.