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It’s said that great things come in small packages… but was that true of the tiny plates on offer at one of St. Helier’s newest eateries?
This month, Express’s anonymous food critic, Harry Smiles, takes on The Yard, based at Jersey Museum…
"After weeks of lockdown, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to visit my favourite eateries alongside a few new places. But the happiness was short-lived. As if 2020 wasn’t enough of an ‘annus horribilis’ already, I discovered I am gluten intolerant (cue the inconsolable cries).
My culinary options have since been drastically reduced. Gone are the days of biting with unrestrained delight into my chicken burger from the Deli. So long, yummy cakes from Vienna...
Pictured: Inside the Yard...
While some may argue this will be good for my waistline, it has done absolutely nothing for my tastebuds, which have been screaming for the tastier things in life. Is it me or is gluten lurking in all the good things?
Rest assured, I haven’t spent my time crying in a corner about baguettes and pasta. I have been scouring local menus to try and find some solace but I have had to come to the realisation that:
a) Not many places bother coming up with any gluten-free dishes that are not a salad or a soup, and
b) for those places that do serve alternatives, they come at a hefty price.
Particularly lacking on the local gluten-free scene are breakfast and lunch options. I have yet to find a gluten-free sandwich or even a full breakfast that doesn’t just consist of removing the bread and hash browns. But then a friend recommended The Yard’s ‘brunch tapas’, saying they had lots of gluten free options.
Pictured: We ordered a (nearly entirely) gluten-free array of small plates.
Having recently visited the new establishment, I can confirm this is the perfect place to get some tasty gluten-free, or vegan, treats. It is also a perfect breakfast spot for those who can eat anything and everything, according to my main squeeze.
Half of their dishes are gluten-free and that includes a coconut porridge – yes, most oats served in porridge contain gluten, nothing is safe anymore, eh? The menu also included a gluten-free bread option to dip into a very more-ish ‘herbed hummus’.
Some might point out that four of those options are sweet ones, but the two savoury ones were nothing to sniff at. I tried the potato rosti. The egg was perfectly poached, the bacon crispy and the salsa full of flavour – it got a 10/10 from me! (The taco was also calling my name, but I decided after careful consideration that 11:00 was probably too early to scorch my palette with ‘burnt spicy jalapeño'.
Pictured: The pancakes were small but mighty... And by 'mighty', I mean, 'incredibly fluffy'.
The coconut pancakes were definitely the highlight of my visit. Fluffy, tasty and doused in a delicious blueberry kombucha syrup, they went down a treat.
Gluten or not I couldn’t resist a bite of my lunch partner’s English muffin and the hollandaise was to die for.
Overall, my excursion to the Yard was as tasty as I could have expected. The Yard definitely deserve a mention for their imaginative gluten-free options. The non gluten-free options sound, and are, equally appealing but sadly I’ll have to trust the word of others on them.
Pictured: I couldn't resist sampling a small bite of my main squeeze's English muffin... It was a good choice.
My only (tiny) grievance about the experience would be that portion sizes are rather on the small side. But what they might lack in size, the dishes make up for in flavour
Also worth noting in those covid-riddled times, the Yard has gone the extra mile to make sure people share their details when they come for a bite: the QR code is on the menu, not in a corner or at the bottom, it is quite literally on the menu and you have to move it to read, at which point you can’t really argue you haven’t seen it (as I have heard some of our brethren do…)."
