“HEY, everybody! It’s Saturday night! Get your gladrags on because we’re going to Newtownstewart!”
OK, so that’s a bit smart-alecky. Nevertheless, I doubt it’s a cry often heard ringing round the Sperrins. I reckon, though, that you’ll start hearing it more often, once people start cottoning on to Sugarbeet.
It’s been open since March, since chef Neill Auterson, formerly of Sole Seafood in Belfast, was wooed west by a woman (we should start a club, or, better still, a self-help group). It’s a café open from 9 to 5 most days for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, but they’ve started trialling Bistro Nights, too, opening at the weekend from 5.30pm to 9.30pm, and the three of us headed down there to see what was what.
First impressions? Well, the greeting couldn’t have been warmer – instant, genuine friendliness. We were early, so it still felt more café than restaurant, with one blackboard showing the breakfast menu and another the lunchtime specials, and there was a TV tuned to a vintage pop channel. (On a side note, having Bucks Fizz singing Making Your Mind Up while we looked over the menu was either a fantastic coincidence or a touch of genius.)
I’d say the best thing to do is see Sugarbeet as a chrysalis, in the sense of both its development from an empty space since March and in its transition from café to restaurant on Bistro Nights. As such, you’re going to see elements of the old case alongside the new, emerging identity, and there’ll sometimes be a clash.
I’m going to struggle if I try to expand this metaphor any further. So, here are the few things I didn’t like. The wine wasn’t cold enough. There weren’t enough prawns in my prawn cocktail. The steak wasn’t pink enough. And the cheesecake – well, I just can’t get my head round northern Irish cheesecake. It just seems more like whipped cream to me. (Perhaps it’s my fault. Maybe instead of trying to get my head round it, I should just put it in my mouth).
A much longer list of likes. The soup was lovely – rich and sweet tomato with a lightness and tang from the peppers. I really enjoyed the light, spiky, citrusy Marie Rose sauce. The mushrooms were deep and earthy and deliciously complemented by the saltiness of the cheese.
Turning to the mains, the beef and penne pasta was a hearty bowl of warmth and loveliness – just the thing for an Irish summer – with the cream sauce lightly coating the pasta, rather than glooping it. The vegetables were done perfectly, full of bite and flavour, and the side salad, so often an afterthought in many places, was made with care and consideration.
Top marks to the chips – deep brown, crisp, and then soft and fluffy as you like. The cous cous was full of zingy lemon and prepared just right.
The best things, though, were the salmon and the little dish of sauce that came with the beef penne. The latter was made with lemon, coriander, and chilli. Now the dish was nice enough anyway, but a little dab of this sauce suddenly gave it unexpected dimensions of smokiness and lightness – subtly balanced flavours that took you in a new direction.
The salmon fillet was the best I’ve ever tasted. Full stop. Crisp skin, flesh that was moist, soft and melting, but still firm and shaped. Getting this right is not easy – knowing when to stop, knowing how to let quality ingredients take centre stage are real skills.
Well, it was definitely worth the trip. And it’ll definitely be worth another one, to see how things are developing, because there was very good cooking here. Neill Auterson is clearly a shrewd and talented chef, getting to know his customers’ likes and gradually introducing them to his clever way with flavours and textures.
Keep an eye on what he’s doing here: something special might just be emerging.
THE BILL
(Prices, for three)
Starters:
Roasted tomato and bell pepper soup – £3.50
Creamy garlic and cheese mushrooms – £4.95
Prawn cocktail – £5.50
Mains:
Sirloin steak, garlic butter, chips – £15.95
Creamy beef penne pasta, chilli mayo – £10.50
Salmon fillet, citrus cous cous – £12.95
Side Orders:
Chips – £2.50
Seasonal Vegetables – £2.50
Salad – £2.50
Puddings:
Lemon and raspberry cheesecake – £2
Drinks:
Diet Coke – £1.75
Sparkling water x 2 – £3.90
Corona Light – £3.50
Sauvignon Blanc – £4
Total: £76
