A Smokin' lunch deal

Smoke - St Paul's Place - 17/03/15

We have been planning to go to Smoke since it opened in Sheffield, and when we saw an offer for it on the ‘NowThen’ mobile app, we just couldn't resist it any more. The Now Then app aims to promote and support local, independent businesses in Sheffield via promotional offers and discounts. There are a range of offers available, from shopping and eating out, to chiropractics, yoga and oven cleaning! It’s definitely well-worth downloading =D

Before we jetted off to Budapest for Tom’s Birthday, we decided to fuel up for the journey at Smoke. The offer we used during this visit was ‘Two Lunches for £10’ at Smoke. This gave us two main courses from the lunch menu, for £10, between Mon-Fri 12-5pm.

Mains

We opted to share the Hot Dog and Brisket Butty, both of which were served with chips, a gerkin, red cabbage slaw and ketchup. The Hot Dog also came with sweet mustard. On the table, a bottle of sweet and smoky BBQ sauce was provided - this was awesome and took a lot of restraint not to take the rest of the bottle home! =P We also opted to share two sides; the Pit Beans were smoked mixed beans with peppers and onions in the sauce too, whilst our Side Salad included lettuce, grated carrot, peppers, radishes and spring onions, all in a light dressing.

Emily: The brisket meat fell apart beautifully in the mouth; whilst it was tender and juicy in the centre, the outside of the meat was crisp and charred. The hot dog bun was nicely toasted, which meant no soggy bun, and the sausage itself was tomatoey and nicely spiced, similar to a bratwurst. We were both impressed with the portion sizes and thought the meat was fantastic. Tom enjoyed it so much that he decided to take some away with him on his shirt and trousers - maybe not the best look to start a holiday with =D We washed this down with a Diet Coke and Fentiman’s Cloudy Lemonade, both served in retro-style jar glasses, before we soon decided that dessert had to be done too ;) 

Dessert

Tom: I went for the Banoffee Pie Jar, which was a deliciously indulgent combination of cream, chocolate, banana, toffee sauce and a digestive crumble. The only criticisms would have been that the toffee sauce could have been more malty/caramel and that I would have liked a bit more of the digestive crumble at the bottom.

Emily: I went for the Smores, a buttery biscuit-cookie, topped with melted marshmallows and chocolate. This was very gooey, yummy and super-sweet, although could have been nicer if warm.

Ambience and Service

We felt the service was very quick and friendly; however one thing did seem a bit weird. Instead of taking orders on a usual notepad, the waiters used mobile phones. This felt odd as it just seemed like they were texting when taking orders - which they may well have been, but we’ll never know! Other than that, the rustic décor was great and suprisingly comfortable. 

Final Review (Marks out of 10)

Food: 8.0
The meat was awesome for both mains and we will probably end up trying to 'borrow' the bottle of BBQ sauce next time we visit =P Also very impressed with the little touches and extras that we didnt expect. It was just the desserts that let it down a bit.

Ambience and Service: 8.0
Very prompt and friendly service, but still weird to use phones for orders - they could maybe use a stylus or something to make it look a bit more formal? Also a very open, light and warm atmosphere, helped by the rustic furnishings

Value for Money: 8.5

In the end, this worked out at £31 for mains, sides, desserts and drinks for two. The basic 'Two for £10' offer is incredible value for the size and quality of the food. We wouldn't pay as much for the desserts in future though. 

Emily and Tom rate this as Easy-going and Tender (meat =P)