Little Seeds Bar & Kitchen, Stone

I knew I had to eat at Little Seeds Bar & Kitchen in Stone when a series of delicious-looking dishes kept popping up in my social media feeds.

Run by co-owners Jake Lowndes, who’s also Head Chef, and General Manager Sophie Hardman, Little Seeds describes its food as vibrant and contemporary British, and those images which had grabbed my attention certainly seemed to match that description. Besides the perfect-looking breakfasts and quality Sunday lunches there were beautifully prepared and tempting-sounding dishes such as flat iron steak with truffle potato gratin, broccoli puree, malt crumbed carrot and red wine sauce or coley with garlic & thyme crushed potatoes, roasted and pureed cauliflower and curry sauce. Take a look at Little Seeds’ Instagram feed and you’ll see what I mean.

So, as you can imagine, it was with somewhat high expectations that I went along one Saturday night recently.

It being rather chilly, we quickly walked the short distance from a public car park to Little Seeds’ bright and welcoming entrance on Radford Street. The interior is pleasantly modern without being insufferably trendy, and Sophie showed us to a good-sized table with very comfy upholstered benches.

Wanting to try as many dishes as possible, myself and partner ID (also my photographer for the evening) decided to order nibbles as well as starters, mains and desserts. Lucky we’ve both got pretty hearty appetites, as Little Seeds also treated us to a delightful little dish of garlic and oregano-flavoured popcorn. I haven’t popped corn at home for ages and have meant to have a go at savoury versions – this one just might spur me on to do it as it was a lovely little snack with just the right amount of seasoning.

Little Seeds has a good range of cocktails, so I settled down with a nicely tart passion fruit and prosecco Bellini. To drink with the meal, we ordered a bottle of Chablis from the short wine list.

NIBBLES

The first of our nibbles was Pea Bhajis with Mint Yoghurt. I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of bhajis; I lived in Leicester for over twenty-five years where they know a thing or two about how to make them. I also fry up a pretty mean one myself. I was pleased to see that Little Seeds didn’t make the common mistake of using too much flour and not enough of the vegetable. These crispy little morsels were definitely more pea than flour, the little green spheres just lightly held together by the crunchy, lightly spiced batter.

We’d also ordered a Mini Sourdough Loaf with Smoked Butter. The homemade bread came with the butter in a petite jar. On lifting the lid, the butter gave off a properly smoky aroma. I’m always disappointed when menus describe items as ‘smoked’ and then fail to deliver – perhaps it’s a fear of overdoing it – but that wasn’t the case here. The butter had a good, strong taste and, slathered on the bread (not the best sourdough I’ve had, but still tasty), this was another good little dish.

STARTERS

For our starters proper, I had the Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes which the menu said came with capers and horseradish mayonnaise. The perfectly shaped pair of fishcakes had an enticingly crispy exterior and were very soft inside. It was a nice combination of textures but, flavour wise, I’d have preferred a little more smoked mackerel and a little less potato. Nevertheless, I enjoyed them alongside the mayo (again though, maybe up the flavours a little with a teeny bit more horseradish?). I think what were described as capers were actually caper berries – that is, the fruit of the plant rather than the flower buds – but I prefer them anyway so no quibbles from me.

I allowed ID to have for his starter the Salt Baked Celeriac with mushroom ketchup, candied walnuts and parsley velouté. I say allowed because this is what I’d wanted but, in the interests of trying lots of different dishes and in a generous mood, I’d settled for my second choice of fishcakes instead.

This dish came in the first of a series of beautiful, wonky crockery. Within the deep bowl, the colours were stunning too: the pale disk of celeriac sitting in a pool of bright green parsley sauce which was studded with walnuts. On top of the celeriac, dabs of dark and shiny mushroom ketchup were pierced by shards of deep green – I’m guessing a sort of parsley tuile?

We agreed that this dish, to the eye and palate, was faultless. The only mark against it was that beautiful bowl: too deep to easily get a knife and fork in, and a spoon would have been good so as not to waste any of that great parsley velouté.

MAINS

One of the posts that had caught my eye on social media was Little Seeds’ 2 for 1 Buttermilk Wednesdays: fabulous looking plates of crispy-coated chicken and various adornments. Consequently, I’d gone along thinking there was a good chance that’s what I’d order. However, on the day the choice wasn’t so easy. I was also greatly tempted by Slow Roast Pork Belly with squash, pear, pickled red cabbage, mash and sage jus. But, finally, buttermilk chicken called the loudest.

The question then was, which version should I pick? The Classic served with chips, slaw, corn on the cob, BBQ sauce and hot mayonnaise? Or the Gourmet with mashed potato, gravy and buttermilk biscuits? Both sounded (and looked) wonderful. In the end I went Gourmet, partly because when British corn on the cob is in season we quite often have it with coleslaw and a spicy sauce alongside chicken or pork, but mainly because I’d never had USA-style biscuits and gravy before.

Completely illogically, I was drawn to the biscuits and gravy because of their rather depressing association with scenes from one of my favourite books (and films), John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. There, the Joad family and thousands like them have nothing but flour and a little fat to eat for much of the time and consequently biscuits and gravy appear regularly. Of course, in the salubrious surroundings of Little Seeds, we’re a million miles away from subsistence and I was served a plate of delicious, smile-inducing food.

The four generously-sized pieces of chicken were covered in a crunchy coating which was full of flavour. Inside, the chicken was flawlessly cooked, tasty and incredibly moist. The mashed potato was as smooth as you like.

And what about those biscuits and gravy? The biscuits were bite-sized and with a scone-like appearance, but much harder. They were perfect for dipping into the intensely flavoured, very chicken-y gravy. I really liked the different texture they brought to the dish and, if you’ve read many of my reviews, you’ll know that for me it’s those textural contrasts that often make the difference between a good and a really good dish. Some might feel that the gravy, in its own dinky saucepan, was over-salted, but I thought it was just on the edge and that’s exactly where I like it.

I loved this dish – even, I’m ashamed to admit, the nicely charred but out of season green beans. They were delicious, but I couldn’t help feel a pang of guilt with the thought of the food miles from Kenya or wherever.

For his main course, ID chose the Superfood Salad. Personally, I’m rather skeptical of the concept of superfoods, agreeing with the person who wrote, “we know that if you eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and do regular exercise, nothing is a superfood. And if you don’t, no superfood will save you”.  I’m certainly a fan of including lots of vegetables in your diet – I even recently started a series of posts on this very theme – but I don’t believe that any particular food has the almost-magical properties some ascribe to them.

Whatever your view of superfoods, there was no denying that this was a pretty good salad: a large, attractive plate of pickled red cabbage, avocado, spinach, quinoa, roasted nuts and seeds, crispy kale and with a chilli dressing on the side. ID also added an optional extra of grilled halloumi, which came in big, satisfying chunks.

DESSERTS

For dessert, I chose the lemon meringue trifle with Chantilly cream and mint. It was served in one of those lovely, deep bowls which, this time, didn’t present any problem as I was able to spoon out every last delicious mouthful. At the base was a nicely dense sponge which was covered by a lemony custard that was good and tart. Sitting on top of a little sweetened whipped cream, the meringues – which came as both mini piped ones and in large shards – were lovely and light. Besides a sprinkling of lemon zest, the shards were also speckled with pretty little flecks of mint. I’d have liked to see a little more mint in this dish, if only because it features in the description. A lovely dessert nonetheless.

ID is a big fan of chocolate puddings of all kinds, so it was no surprise that he chose the chocolate and tonka bean cheesecake with chocolate ice cream and coffee meringue. The tonka bean was not particularly pronounced and, although you have to be careful not to overdo it, we thought it could’ve stood a little more. This was still an excellent dessert with lots of interest, flavour and texture. I doubt the tonka bean would’ve been missed if it hadn’t appeared as an ingredient. I’m not usually a fan of chocolate desserts, but I’d have happily eaten all of this one – even the coffee meringue, and I almost never order desserts with coffee in either.

With the bill came a couple of lovely little jaffa cake petits fours with marzipan-like centres. I love this sort of generosity and, when you consider that the bill for food came to less than £30 per person – and we’d ordered nibbles as well as starters, mains and puddings, remember – I think this represents excellent value for what is very good cooking.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

That the kitchen is very talented is pretty clear, but the front of house staff were also excellent. All were welcoming and friendly and appeared to work as an efficient team. I loved the casual style of Little Seeds and we certainly intend to become regulars, whether for weekend breakfast and lunches or for enjoyable, relaxed evening dining.

Little Seeds takes its name from the popular rendering of Greek poet Aeschylus’s ‘From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow’ and that seems suitably fitting. Jake and Sophie have created an excellent base of sound cooking which incorporates some real delights coupled with great customer service. Consequently, I’m sure this little seed will continue to grow into something even more impressive.

Unless otherwise credited, all images in this post © Ian Dakin Photography