Reviewing Sheffield's Hottest New Pop Up Restaurant – Courses 

Review Courses Pop Up Sheffield – Best Restaurants in Sheffield – Sheffield Supper Club – Sheffield Pop Up Restaurant – Fine Dining Yorkshire – 

Reviewing Sheffield’s Hottest New Pop Up Restaurant – Courses

The Sheffield dining scene has come on leaps and bounds over the last year or so. With a striving street food scene from regular foodie pilgrimage Peddler, award winning small plates from the team behind Joro and a thriving indie daytime dining and café culture. Sheffield really is putting up a good fight for foodie capital of the north.  When we heard former Head Chef Jamie Robinson, of one of Sheffield’s best, award winning Gastro pub and restaurant The Milestone, had setup Courses, a ten-course pop up restaurant we knew this would be another great addition to impress the steel city foodies.
With their first event selling out and future aims to be one of the best restaurants in Sheffield, we didn’t waste time booking onto Jamie’s July event in the basement of The Wig and Pen, off Paradise Square.  The Courses team had really gone to town on the intimate space. Wooden shutters, rustic furniture and candle lit tables gave a great informal and atmospheric setting.
          
As we sat down with our glasses of wine and tucked into our freshly baked bread rolls with whipped marmite butter we attempted to work out some of the dishes from the night’s menu. Jamie likes to keep his diners intrigued so it’s a very stripped back assortment of ingredients for the night’s feast.
          
Our first course set the bar very high, crisp potato skins filled with whipped potato and smoked cheese, topped off with pickled silverskin onion and chorizo powder. What a great combination of flavours and textures to start the meal. I could have eaten about 20 of these, really moreish.

Our next few courses just kept getting better and better. Perfectly seared scallop wrapped in a blend of subtle Indian spices and served with a sweet raisin and apple puree, granny smith and cod roe. Absolutely faultless.

Jamie has really put in just as much thought into the techniques to deliver each dish, as he has to the ingredients used. Our aged beef tatare with salt baked beets, mustard and beetroot gel, then garnished with flowers from the garden looked almost too good to eat.
          
The next dish that arrived to the table got another wow for presentation. The stone bass marinated in a zesty soy and ponzu dressing tasted delicious. Served with courgette ribbon, fennel and toasted sesame seed. The red lotus cocktail of vodka, lychee puree and cranberry paired really well with the delicate Asian flavours.

One of my favourite cuts of meat. Pork belly, coated in a Chinese 5 spice blend, slow cooked until melt in the mouth tender. Served with kohlrabi, young leek and tart apple caramel puree to bring all the flavours together.

Our next course described as ‘chicken, white chocolate and roasted mushroom’ was not what I or the other guests expected. Arriving to the table, crisp, chewy chicken skin served with a white chocolate sauce and powdered sep mushroom. Not for the faint hearted and a bit too salty for my partner, but for me the combination of salt, fat and sweetness along with the deep savoury umami hit of the sep worked really well.

To cleanse our palate of the big bold flavours of the chicken skin Jamie’s palette cleanser couldn’t have been more refreshing. Compressed watermelon, lemon gel topped with a mint granita and a dash of basil oil was fresh, clean and delicious.

Our ‘chocolate and popcorn’ dish again was a great surprise. A rich dark decadent selection of taste and textures. From the bitter chocolate mouse, dehydrated chocolate sponge and served with a scattering of toffee popcorn and white silky chocolate shard.  A celebration of chocolate, so tasty.

Another light refreshing course to finish such a perfect evening. Strawberry compote, sour yogurt, macerated strawberry and finished with a black pepper meringue. The sweet, sour flavours combined really well with the subtle spice of the black pepper.
At £40 each with the option of paired cocktails or wines for an addition £20, this was excellent value for money.  We were absolutely blown away by the event, an experience rather than a meal out, which really celebrated a range of tastes and flavours. Jamie developed Courses to showcase some of his favourite dishes and the great seasonal produce available. We couldn’t have wished for a better night in such intimate surroundings, each dish with a surprise, explained with full precision and a drinks pairing that holds its own against the impeccable food delivered. With talk of the success of Courses pop up evenings leading to something more permanent this could soon be one of the best restaurants in Sheffield.
Upcoming Events: email [email protected] to find out more.
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Review Courses Pop Up Sheffield – Best Restaurants in Sheffield – Sheffield Supper Club – Sheffield Pop Up Restaurant – Fine Dining Yorkshire