Steak and a Shake for £10 at No 8 Lister Square
The new Quartermile district in Edinburgh has been a bit of a mystery to us with modern apartments springing up amid the Victorian buildings of the old Edinburgh Royal. We love how the architects have blended striking glass towers with Edinburgh’s old traditional stonework. Quartermile and Lister Square are incredibly handy for access to the meadows and the university buildings (mental note for Festival time!) There’s also a huge public underground car park within Quartermile so no worries about parking.
We had seen lots of updates on social media about No 8 Lister Square but had never visited. I think it’s probably fair to say that it always seemed that wee bit outside the city centre and we never quite made it that far. No 8’s got plenty going on each week to encourage you along to Quartermile. Monday to Thursday there’s live music in the downstairs bar. Tuesday is pub quiz night, Friday gin night, Saturday games day and Sunday is all about the roast. In addition to this hectic calendar of events, they have just introduced Steak and a Shake for £10 between 4 pm and 7 pm Monday to Thursday. We visited on a Wednesday night and lucked out – live music and a fantastic steak deal made for the perfect midweek evening.
The Steak and Shake Deal
Yasmin looked after us and explained the menu, taking our order and talking us into adding on some extra onion rings, and we’re so glad she did! She also explained that No 8 is big on their shakes and regularly have a unique creation on the menu. For Easter and one week only they have made a “cream egg monster that swallows a Malteser bunny shake.” I think this one might be for the sweet-toothed as it’s a cream egg milkshake topped with Malteser bunnies and mini eggs – but doesn’t it look good!
The tremendous value for money £10 Steak & Shake deal includes 150g of steak, chips and one of their more standard vanilla, chocolate or strawberry shakes. I haven’t had a milkshake since I was at school and it wouldn’t have been at the top of my drinks list. Raymond chose the chocolate flavoured version, and I went from Strawberry, hoping that they wouldn’t be too sweet or the milk warm as we remembered.
Dining at No 8 Lister Square has recently changed with the downstairs bar area around the pool table and musicians used for drinks and bar snacks. The upstairs area with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the square is the main restaurant area. It’s a great space, and you can enjoy the music from a distance while still being able to chat (that makes us sound old!)
Sizzle Sizzle Sizzle
A few tunes later and we had a roasting hot lava stone delivered to the table along with a dish of salt, two bowls of raw steak, chips, onion rings and our two shakes, and for a brief moment, we panicked.
We have never cooked steaks on a lava rock before, and the instructions were given to sprinkle salt on the stone to stop the meat sticking and then fry away. It was a bit like learning to drive and not having enough hands to do everything at once, but once the first piece of steak was sizzling away, we were hooked.
Within minutes the first piece of steak was coming off the stone, and as you cook it yourself it’s cooked just the way you like it – first plus point! The second – your food is always hot! All too often by the time you get to the end of your meal, the steak is cold, but by cooking your own, you can stagger the amount of meat cooked at any one time.
Yasmin was spot on as the onion rings were fabulous. Crisp light and delicious and the perfect accompaniment to the steak – the batter is freshly made for each order resulting in perfect onion rings.
When to shake?
Now about the shake. We were a bit confused – do you drink the shake with the steak or treat it as your pudding? We did a bit of both as it turned out to be not too sickeningly sweet, perfectly chilled with both ice cream and milk and was delicious. Yasmin did mention that they plan to give folks the option of having the shake at the same time as the steak or after. I think a nice chilled beer with the steak, and then the shake for dessert would be perfect.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at No 8 Lister Square and loved the experience of cooking our steaks. The place had a great vibe, service was first class, and both the bar and restaurant were busy the night we visited. We will go back and sample the main menu as it also looks delicious with a range of flatbreads and sharing plates all reasonably priced. They also have some great deals for students and the Friday night after work crowd. How can you say no to a £12 pitcher of beer, £3 G&T of 2 cocktails for £10 in such a lovely Edinburgh bar!
Find out more and book a table.
No 8 Lister Square
Simpsons Loan
Edinburgh
EH3 9GL
TEL: 0131 229 4634
[/su_gmap]Many thanks to No 8 Lister Square for inviting us along to try their new Steak and Shake Deal.