Visit: 20 February 2022
Price: *
Website: https://www.upstairs.restaurant/
The Review:
Tom Shepherd’s new restaurant Upstairs has been awarded its first Michelin star in the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2022, announced last week. This is the first Michelin starred restaurant in Staffordshire.
If you’ve eaten at Upstairs already then you won’t be surprised. It was very good when it opened, and it’s got better every time I’ve returned (you can see my previous reviews in October 2021 and December 2021 for more information). The food is top drawer, as is the service. It really is very good!
Sunday lunches will be discontinued after the end of March, giving the kitchen team time to prepare for the week ahead and ensure the high quality and consistency that this level of cooking demands.
Today’s Sunday lunch was excellent. Starters included carrot masala, pollock served with a Vin Jaune sauce, or suckling pork belly in a dashi.
Mains included a superb beef sirloin, served with a Yorkshire pudding with braised pulled beef inside, or a Woolley Park Farm pork chop, or roasted sea bream served with a deep Bordelaise sauce, or a vegetarian mushroom wellington. All the mains were served with very good crispy roast potatoes and creamed cabbage.
Desserts included a very good bread and butter pudding, or rhubarb, or chocolate, pecan and passion fruit.
The cost of the Sunday lunch was only £35 per head, which is remarkable for this quality and level of service.
I recommend you book a table. You won’t be disappointed!
The Menu: