Exterior
It was not my first visit to the Potting Shed, having visited
shortly after it opened. Since then both the menu and the interior have had a refresh, so it seemed like time for another visit.
I was joined on this quest by Lea, with whom I’d previously lunched in this neighbourhood at 56 North.
Pork belly
At lunchtime, you can choose from three different menus: a lunch for a fiver selection of a daily changing fish, veggie or meat dish; a pub grub menu of half a dozen familiar things like fish n chips and burgers; or their grazing menu, which attempts to offer food balance to their on-trend
selection of beers on tap, which number near twenty.
We chose initially from the £5 options with Lea choosing the root vegetable pearl barley risotto, while I went for the pork belly in sage and chilli broth with noodles.
Risotto
These were soon with us looking very neat and tidy. My dish was essentially just pork belly with the broth just a light sauce and the noodles there to dress the plate. The pork had a lot of good flavour to it, though, so it was a pleasing dish. Lea was impressed with her risotto which was similarly flavour-packed.
Strawberry, cream, shortbread
Lea has a sweet tooth and I fancied some cheese so we ordered a second course to meet those needs. Lea opted for a tidy looking strawberry creation, while my cheese selection was simple but showed smart choices, with the Strathdon blue particularly good.
So overall, I enjoyed my revisit to the Potting Shed. Dishes were high on flavour and delivered with assurance. I’m never going to be a fan of the decor; if anything it’s more pronounced in its appeal to a brand of humour that totally eludes me. However, the food was entirely more appealing on this visit, which was very pleasing to see.
Cheese
Scores
Blythe scores the Potting Shed
4/5 for food
3.5/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 14/20
Today’s questers were: Lea, Blythe
We ate: pearl barley risotto, pork belly, cheese, strawberries and cream
We drank: water, coffees
We wore: odd socks, stripes
Total bill: £26.50
