Miller & Carter, Wolverhampton
Feeling like a modern pub, Miller & Carter, in Penn, Wolverhampton is popular all week long, says Tim Spiers.
What kind of restaurant is it?
If you were to sum it up in one simplistic word it would probably be 'meat'. Yes you're unlikely to find a gaggle (or whatever the collective is) of vegetarians in Miller & Carter. Steak, burgers, chicken wings, ribs, liver, lamb, duck, gammon, chorizo and a host of fish dishes – the restaurant is meatier than a degree in meat from the Meat University where your certificate comes on a slab of butterfly chicken.
However, there are of course vegetarian options available on what is a wide-ranging and varied menu.
The menu sounds good, what about the location and/or decor?
There are a few Miller & Carters knocking around the UK – 27 to be precise – with another in The Mailbox, Birmingham, but its Stourbridge Road branch must surely be one of the most aesthetically pleasing of the lot.
Perched between Penn and Wombourne, the restaurant's car park is more often than not full to the brim and even on a Tuesday night there is hardly a spare seat in the house.
The restaurant recently underwent a refurb, tinkering with the layout to cater for a few extra diners and moving the (swanky) toilets upstairs. The former Penn Cottage site has a modern pub feel about it, while dim lights and no music mean you can enjoy your evening in relaxing surroundings. Plush and comfy decor, too.
So how good was the food?
Continuing the simplistic one word theme – divine. As well as its new interior the restaurant has an updated menu which includes steak frites and pumpkin and sage girasoli, amongst a host of other additions.
For us, goats' cheese and pea croquettes, served with celeriac and apple coleslaw, were excellently presented and offered a sharp contrast of flavours which worked surprisingly well.
Duck rillettes sounded a bit risky on the menu but the buttery-style paté, served with tangy onion chutney, was a pleasant and not overbearing starter. For main, calves liver topped with juicy bacon, crunchy parsnips and bordelaise sauce – all perfectly cooked, particularly the liver – was a revelation.
Miller & Carter is renowned for its steaks but unfortunately an 8oz sirloin came out rare, when medium was asked for (more of that later) however the enormous amount of extras including a jacket potato, onion loaf and iceburg lettuce with stilton topping, ensured we didn't end the course hungry.
And for desert – a delectably soft white chocolate mousse filled with raspberry coulis, surrounded by white chocolate sauce and on a shortbread base, hit the spot and rounded the evening off perfectly. A bottle of Argentinean Malbec also provided a celestial accompaniment to the meal.
What about the service?
The house manager showed us to our seats and from there on a helpful, smiley and keen waitress remained attentive throughout. Despite it being busy we were served in good time. And to boot, on being told of the steak error, she took what was left of it to the chef and between them they agreed it was unacceptable – so despite us not even hinting at a refund, we had it knocked off the bill.
A very welcome end to the night and a sign of the standards Miller & Carter lives up to.
And the price?
Without the steak the bill came to £49 but for the quality of food on offer this was a completely justified amount.
You can see exactly why Miller & Carter is so popular.
ADDRESS
Miller & Carter, Stourbridge Road, Penn, Wolverhampton WV4 5NG
Tel: 01902 896264
