Miller and Carter - Garforth, Leeds

There aren't an abundance of places to eat in Garforth... or rather there aren't an abundance of places you would want to eat.

I hadn't heard of Miller and Carter until 'The Old George' (which has previously been a Beefeater- do those still exist?) was taken over by them and transformed in to what is now a Miller and Carter. The locals still call it The Old George however.

My brother visited it before I did and said it was good for food but a little pricier than your normal pub food. The first time I went I was really impressed and I've been back a couple of times since... I have only been once since I started blogging... so only once in the last 8 months.



You can only pre-book large tables on a Friday and Saturday night as we found out when we first called to go. It was a Friday night and we decided to head down anyway. Each time we haven't been seated straight away, and we have always visited on a Friday night. They have kept a part of the old pub as a pub/bar area and you give your name to hostess whilst you order drinks at the bar. We've never had to stand around in the bar area crammed with other hungry folk, there has always been a place to sit or a table to share. The longest we have had to wait for a table is 15 minutes but it's usually 5-10 minutes. They do a range of alcohol free cocktails which is good for non-drinkers and drivers. On this night I fancied a glass of rose, I never order rose unless it's summer so who knows what possessed me!


Miller and Carter for those of you who are as clueless as I was...They are all about STEAK! Here's the blurb from their website...

"Our steaks are sourced directly from a select number of West Country farms. They are aged on the bone for 7 days and off the bone for a further 21 days minimum, to tenderise the meat and enhance the flavour. They are hand-cut by master butchers to our exacting, high standards. Then they are grilled to your liking by our highly skilled chefs'.

Sounds good to me! 

The first time we visited Miller and Carter we weren't sure exactly what to expect... and we ordered starters. I think if I remember correctly we ordered the garlic bread and cheese and some Buffalo Chicken wings... they were very good no complaints there. 

However, what we didn't realise was that when you order your steak this comes with chips, a slice of onion loaf and a salad (of which you have a choice: classic Caesar salad, cocktails sauce and croutons, bacon with honey mustard dressing or crumbled Stilton and blue cheese dressing) we thought the salad would just be a little side thing... Wrong. 

The salad is massive compared to other places I've been! So big it comes in it's own separate bowl. It's probably about half a lettuce in there with plenty of sauce and croutons. The size is comparable to a starter, so ever since we have treated it as such and it also means there is room for dessert to share too. (We were far too full the first time we visited for dessert!)

 You can get steak off the bone or on the bone, or if your feeling up to a challenge.. you could have the Chateaubriand a whopping 40oz!!!

On this occasion I decided upon Sirloin which is 8oz... mine looks tiny though as it's slightly cremated.. because that's the way I like it (bad food blogger!). A really good steak with little fat on it, cooked to perfection.

The chips here are AMAZING!! They come with the skins on and they are just so moreish! One of the things I don't particularly like about this place is that you have to pay for your sauce (unless you want bog standard tomato ketchup) and it's £1.50 for the little pot of sauce you see there on my plate. This occasion when this photo was taken they were being a little stingy on the onion loaf.. it's usually bigger. I wasn't impressed by this as I love it. I need to find a recipe and make my own!

You get the best steak knives here too. They literally hand you a kitchen knife! No complaining from me though as my steak with it being well done tends to be quite tough and I need a good sharp knife to hack in to it.

 Due to us not having starters we decided to share a dessert.. I had spied previously someone tasting the chocolate brownie and swore that this had to be mine next time we came. Hot chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, not the most sophisticated of desserts but always a winner in my book. The brownie is served piping hot and the strawberries tasted fresh and juicy.

I've already said I will be visiting again, it's a nice 15-20 minute walk from our house and during the summer evenings it makes for a really pleasant walk down next to all the fields with the sun setting just behind them. It would be nice to see some more opening around Yorkshire.. but then I also kind of like that they're not overly popular and dotted around everywhere, and it adds a little something extra to Garforth too.

So here are some of the pictures from before I started blogging...

 Note the bigger slice of onion loaf here....

Me fascinated by the knives again.

Berry Cheesecake and Eaton mess... very good but very filling!

The service is very good, for some reason we have always been served by the same woman, but then again we have always been seated in the same round-a-bout area and have always been on a Friday night. Thanks to lady who serves us whoever she is! She is always very friendly and very patient with us when we are taking ages to decide over things! 

It's cost us around £40-50 for each visit. 

Miller and Carter

Selby Road

Garforth

Leeds

LS25 1NB