Once again I must apologise for the lack of content over the past week – it’s been one of those weeks where everything else just seems to get in the way, you know? But I’m back with a brand new post all about the stunning new seasonal menu at Red Onion!

Is there anything more luxurious than a taster menu? It always makes me feel super fancy, so when a restaurant launches a new one at an incredibly reasonable rate, how can you say no?! The new six course tasting menu was launched a couple of weeks ago by the city centre restaurant to celebrate the flavours and the produce of the Autumn months, and is available all day, every day from now until the end of November – just make sure you call and book in advance! There are also completely vegan and gluten free taster menus available, so don’t worry if you’re not a carnivore like me!

We decided to head along for a leisurely late lunch last weekend, and opted to include the matching drinks flight for an extra £25. That may seem steep, but for the total price of £55 per person, you get six courses of food and six drinks matched to each course, which I think is pretty reasonable!

The first course was more of a snack; harissa spiced houmous with garlic bread, served with a glass of prosecco. The houmous had a really lovely subtle heat to it and paired really well scooped onto the garlic bread – a simple way to start the menu, but a very delicious one too. The second course was wild mushroom veloute with pistachio, truffle oil and parmesan crisps, served with a New Zealand sauvignon blanc. It looked pretty as a picture, and gave off a heady truffle aroma, the flavours packing a real punch. It’s quite a rich dish, so the crisp sauv blanc paired beautifully with it – it was honestly one of my favourite courses.

Next up was a duo of crispy bon bons – one filled with Ramsay’s haggis and the other with black pudding, served with a crab apple and bacon jam relish. Both bon bons had a super crisp and delicate batter, and the relish was beautifully sharp and salty, matching the meatiness of the bon bon fillings perfectly. This course was quickly followed by seared shetland scallop with salsa, capers, pancetta and rocket. The scallop was beautifully cooked and I loved the sweet/salty/sharp flavours in the accompaniments – my only complaint is that one scallop seemed like a small portion, especially as the menu had ‘scallops’ plural, but it was beautiful none the less.

The main event was pan fried Caledonian sirloin with rosti potato, smoked sweetcorn puree, kale and Quigley’s Red bbq glaze. The steak was cooked just to my liking – a beautiful rare – and the rosti potato was incredible, so unbelievably crispy, I could have eaten a bowlful of them alone! The bbq sauce had a really great flavour, made with Quigley Red, the beer that chef and owner, John Quigley, makes himself with Drygate Brewery. It created a really flavoursome bbq glaze that just brought everything together.

For the final course it was Apple Tart Tatin with vanilla ice cream, served with a gorgeous dessert wine which wasn’t overly sweet and complimented the toasty, caramel flavours of the tart. The vanilla ice cream was smooth and had a great vanilla flavour, and the tart was just…stunning. The apple was lovely and soft, the caramel rich and sweet, the pastry crisp, what more could you want?!

Everything on the menu was beautifully cooked and looked stunning, and the drinks flight is definitely worth doing as each course is perfectly matched to a delicious wine, or, for the main course, a bottle of John’s Quigley Red beer. I really hope they continue these taster menus, and if they do, book me a table for the Winter Taster, I am there!