Since the team behind The White Swan at Shawell revealed they were opening a street-food restaurant in Lutterworth, many people (me included) have been eagerly awaiting its arrival.
After all, anyone who’s eaten at The White Swan will know that the food there is superb. So good, in fact, that it has retained its Michelin plate in the latest Michelin guide.
The idea of this level of culinary excellence being applied to a modern, street-food venue piqued my interest.
Unfortunately, coronavirus restrictions meant that Market Street Kitchen (MSK) had to delay opening its doors to dine-in customers – something it was originally planning to do in November.
So, instead it is offering a takeaway service, which is available from Thursday to Sunday.
I was planning to wait until the restaurant fully opened, but temptation got the better of me, and I decided to get a Friday treat delivered to our door.
More about Market Street Kitchen
Led by chef patron Rory McClean, who has more than 13 years of experience in the fine dining sector, the MSK team aims to give diners a taste of street-food from around the globe – drawing on the dining experiences the team have enjoyed while travelling.
The venue, they say, is “a perfect reflection of our love of food, socialising and consolidating a harmony of cultures from across the globe.”
Although the socialising aspect can’t currently be experienced, the food can – and it is available for collection or delivery, within an 11-mile radius of the restaurant.
The evening menu is available from 5pm until 9pm Thursday to Saturday, and on Sunday, you can order from the brunch menu between 9am and 1pm, and the Sunday roast menu between 1pm and 2pm.
The evening menu
There’s a selection of small plates, all of which are priced at £5.
There’s mac and cheese bites, MSK fried chicken, duck spring rolls, cauliflower pakora, pea arancini and sticky pork cheek bao, plus ‘special limited time’ small plates of spicy vegetable samosa, sweetcorn fritters and salmon fish cakes.
Large plates include curried cod loin, chicken yakitori, Moroccan pulled lamb, falafel, and a ‘special limited time’ large plate of crispy chilli beef (all priced at £8).
You can also choose an MSK burger, made with a bone marrow patty, an MSK fried chicken burger, or an MSK vegan burger, made with a wild mushroom, chickpea and beetroot patty.
Each burger (£10) comes with seasoned fries, or you can upgrade to three cheese fries, sriracha fries or Reuben fries for an extra £1.50.
Fries are also available as a side, along with frickles (deep fried gherkins), charred tenderstem broccoli, and a ‘special limited time’ side of patatas bravas.
We decided pretty quickly that we wanted to try the delicious-sounding MSK burger, including smoked Gouda, maple bacon and truffle mayo as well as the bone marrow patty.
To accompany this, we chose the Reuben fries, topped with smoked brisket, sauerkraut and Russian dressing.
We also fancied trying the Moroccan pulled lamb, with cumin flatbread, spinach, pomegranate molasses and zhoug yoghurt, and added a portion of seasoned fries (£2.50) to accompany this.
With our meaty large plates picked, we thought it would be good to try a couple of the vegetarian small plates, and opted for the mac and cheese bites and cauliflower pakora.
To round off the meal, we picked the banoffee waffle (£6).
Other desserts available include baked vanilla cheesecake, white and dark chocolate brownie, peanut, coconut and chocolate truffles and sticky toffee pudding.
Drinks are also available – ‘non-boozy’ if you’re collecting your order, with ‘boozy’ options including cocktails, beer and wine available for delivery.
I requested our delivery for 5.30pm, and the food was with us by 5.45pm, which I thought was pretty good.
The food was all well packaged – with the burger and the lamb flatbread being double wrapped – ensuring it retained much of its warmth.
The mac and cheese bites were very good, with a light, crisp exterior and a soft, creamy centre with a taste that was heightened by the earthy, slightly garlicky truffle.
The accompanying bacon chilli jam added a nice sweetness, but I’d have happily eaten the mac and cheese bites on their own.
The cauliflower pakora was delicious, with an exciting combination of flavours and textures.
We enjoyed the lightly spiced soft batter which encased the cauliflower florets and the accompaniment, which included spiced red onion, pickled ginger, spring onion and red chilli, along with a creamy coriander and mint yoghurt.
The Moroccan pulled lamb dish offered another beautiful combination of flavours and textures, with a soft cumin flatbread wrapped around a generous amount of moist lean lamb, together with spinach, strips of onion and cucumber, red chilli slices, pomegranate molasses and flavoursome zhoug yoghurt.
The MSK burger looked great – not least due to the MSK stamp on the top of the bun, which was a nice touch.
The patty itself is served medium-rare, which to be honest would have alarmed me had it not said on the menu that is served this way as the chef feels it is ‘perfect pink’.
You can request for it to be well done, but I always like to try food as the chef intends it to be eaten.
Well, the patty was excellent. It was rich and succulent, and the accompanying maple bacon was lovely and crisp, how I like it.
There was also red onion slices, tomato and lettuce, a good amount of melted smoked Gouda cheese, plus truffle mayonnaise.
The only slightly negative thing I’d say is that there was a tad too much mayo, because its strong flavour threatened to overwhelm the other flavours.
On a positive note, the burger also included the surprise addition of a frickle (battered gherkin) which I loved.
The Reuben fries were enjoyable, with a topping of smoked brisket pieces, sauerkraut, piquant Russian dressing, and slices of gherkin.
The seasoned fries tasted pretty good, I just don’t think fries (those without a topping, anyway) travel that well, as they loose their crispness in sealed containers.
The waffle was served warm, so by the time we’d finished our savoury dishes, the cream had started to melt.
It didn’t really affect the taste, but it does account for the slightly unflattering photo.
Again, there was a good combination of ingredients – the partly crispy, partly chewy bubble waffle, some particularly tasty chocolate brownie chunks, fresh slices of banana, and salted caramel syrup.
Verdict
This was a very enjoyable meal, with dishes offering an interesting combination of flavours and textures, and providing a taste of street-food from around the globe.
Some parts of the meal were better than others, with my standout dishes being the cauliflower pakora and the lamb flatbread.
The cost of our – very filling – meal was £38.00, which given the amount and quality of the food, seemed a fair price to pay.
I’m looking forward to when the new venue is finally allowed to open, so I can sample the full MSK experience.
Our rating: 4/5
Food hygiene rating: Awaiting inspection
