It’s going to be very difficult for me to remain impartial in this review since part of me wishes that I still lived in Glasgow. One of my favourite things about living in Scotland was the country’s incredible variety and quality of restaurants. In fact, I am convinced that modern Scottish cuisine is at the forefront of today’s foodie scene.
The good news is that Mac & Wild brings Scottish food to London. And while I do love haggis or a scotch egg, there is so much more to be enjoyed here than these stereotypes of Scottish culture. Instead, both Mac & Wild restaurants take diners on a gastronomic tour of the Scottish Highlands by simply focusing on locally sourced produce.
ABOUT MAC & WILD
Mac & Wild actually started as a street food stall serving up Scottish produce on Whitecross Street, right around the corner of the Barbican. The food stall then became a pop-up that did so well, that it’s owners Calum Mackinnon and Andy Waugh decided to open not one but two restaurants in the area.
The first restaurant opened its doors back in 2015 and is located in Fitzrovia. It was very well received, so Calumn and Andy invested in a second permanent site on Devonshire Square at the beginning of 2017.
It is this second Mac & Wild restaurant, on Great Titchfield Street, that Gary and I visited last month.
The menu prides itself on offering seasonal Scottish produce sourced from hand-picked suppliers in the Highlands. If you’re expecting a Scottish theme restaurant, however, you will be disappointed. This is a Scottish game restaurant. There are no kilts, bagpipes or Tam o’ Shanter caps to be found anywhere here
ATMOSPHERE AND INTERIOR OF MAC & WILD
Although Mac&Wild is located near Liverpool Street, it isn’t the easiest place to find. You will actually find it in the backcourt of an old warehouse, among several other restaurants.
We visited the restaurant on a Monday night in April, so it was rather rainy and gloomy outside. The restaurant itself however offered a welcome contrast. It was warm and welcoming, offering refuge from the wet and cold weather outside.
The dining room is a simple rectangular space. It is generous in size but not so big that you lose the overview of the restaurant. The interior of Mac & Wild unsurprisingly feels very masculine and somewhat reminiscent of a hunting lodge. However, exposed brick walls and simple lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling add an industrial touch to the space.
Wood generally dominates the material palette. The rustic tables and bars have all been handcrafted from trees sourced from the owner’s parent’s estate and are surrounded by coy red leatherette banquettes. The walls are adorned with black and white landscape photographs of the Highlands a well as butcher’s hooks and animal hides.
Unfortunately, the “trendy” lighting was rather sparse, which made taking pictures a bit of a struggle. If you are after an Instagram-worthy shot, make sure to come during the day and ask for a table near the very large crital windows at the back of the room.
The restaurant soon filled up with diners and was rather busy for a Monday evening. The clientele ranged from a gaggle of Scottish businessmen cheerfully discussing various topics in their broad accent to a young hipster couple that spent the night glued to their phone. So it’s pretty much suited to anyone, except perhaps if you are a vegetarian.
DRINKS AT MAC & WILD
One of my favourite parts of our evening at Mac & Wild were probably the cocktails. The drinks menu includes a wide range of wines, Scottish beers and ales
Unsurprisingly, however, this Scottish restaurant puts a lot of emphasis on Whiskey. In fact, every dish on the menu comes with a suggested whisky pairing. Believe me when I say that Mac & Wild has quite a collection. It almost rivals my stepdad’s.
Far more unusual however are Mac & Wild’s whisky-based cocktails. I never seem to have enough time to read through the drinks menu. So when the waiter approached our table, I quickly skimmed through the list and ordered an Irn Bru Daiquiri – a mixture of Ron Matuselum Platino Rum, Irn Bru reduction, angostora bitters and a dash of lime. Gary, on the other hand, chose a Bonnie Brae Spitz Style.
Now whiskey isn’t usually a beverage of choice for either one of us. In fact, whilst I enjoy its smell I am generally not a big fan of the taste. But on this occasion, I am going to have to eat my words. Because our cocktails were sublime, especially the Bonnie Brae.
The pairing of Haig Club Whiskey with rowan berries, lime, rosato vermouth, rhubarb, Peychauds finished with a touch of agave and soda was simply incredible. The sweet fruity flavours really softened the bitterness of the spirit. Needless to say, we ordered more than one cocktail.
FOOD AT MAC & WILD
The dinner menu at Mac & Wild is rather short, featuring only four starters, eight main courses and four desserts. But then I much prefer a menu that is kept succinct, to a confusingly long one.
The short menu is a meaty affair, focusing on modern British meat and seafood. All the venison and game comes from Waugh’s family butcher business in Ardgay, whilst the rest of the produce is sourced from various Scottish estates and farms.
It didn’t take us that long to make our choices. In fact, I had already arrived with a plan…
STARTERS AT MAC & WILD
VENISON SCOTCH EGG
Every year, when visiting Scotland with my parents during the summer break, there was only one item on my must-eat-list- a Scotch Egg.
In recent years this humble dish has become rather popular with gastro-pubs and so I wasn’t that surprised to find it on Mac & Wild’s list of starters. Albeit with a slight twist.
Anticipating a rather heavy three-course meal, I ordered the venison scotch egg (£7), even though the haggis pops had definitely caught my eye.
What I got was a flavourful (but not greasy) ball of venison, haggis and black pudding covered in perfectly crisp panko breadcrumbs. For those of you who don’t know, haggis is a mince made of sheep’s heart, liver, lungs, onions, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt. It is far tastier though then it sounds!
Slicing through the venison, black pudding and haggis casing revealed a gloriously gooey orange egg yolk within. I was not disappointed!
Th egg was paired with a bright yellow mustard sauce, that perfectly cut through the richness of the meat. In fact, I should have asked Mac & Wild what brand of mustard they used for its base.
The whole thing was pretty darn good!
MAIN COURSES AT MAC & WILD
When it comes to mains Mac & Wild are famous for their award-winning Veni-Moo burger as well as their Venison steaks – favouring roe deer which is widely available in Scotland throughout the year.
Mac and Wild are a great believer in well-sourced ingredients, taking their meat offering to the next level. The menu even includes information on the weekly source of the meet, including the name of the estate the wild deer was shot on, the shooter, farmer and butcher. It’s a welcome level of detail as the provenance and quality of meat we eat is increasingly coming under media scrutiny.
VENISON STEAK AND DIRTY MASH
Of course, at least one of us had to try the Venison Steak with chips (£14) and so Gary happily volunteered. The waiter informed him that the steak would require 10 minutes of resting, which only gave us greater expectations of the dish.
Disappointingly Gary wasn’t asked by the waiter how he would like the steak to be cooked. Luckily the venison steak turned out to be a well-charred medium-rare, which is exactly how Gary likes it.
The steak was served on a wooden chopping-board and oh my, was it tender. You didn’t even need a steak knife to cut through it.
Flavour wise, it was less gamey than I am used too and almost tasted like beef. It was well seasoned though, which is always a bonus. You can order a pot of sauce for your steak if you wish, but Gary is a simple man and decided to eat his au-naturel.
The venison came accompanied with a bowl of dirty buttery mash and a side salad. Our eyes were obviously bigger than our stomach when we ordered our meal. Mounds of butter had been mixed into the mash, making it sumptuously creamy. Not good for your heart but oh so delicious. And to my elation, the side-salad was served up with a delicious mustard honey sauce.
BOTTOMLESS MUSSELS IN ABROATH SMOKIE SKINK
The reason Gary and I visited Mac & Wild on a Monday evening rather than on the weekend, is because I wanted to take advantage of their Mac-Mussel Monday offer (£20). Every Monday Mac & Wild bring bottomless Shetland mussels to their customers.
The steamed mussels are served up with your choice of Arbroath smokie skink or a tomato-based sauce. You also have to make your mind up between chips or a hunk of sourdough bread. And finally, the deal includes a glass of white or red wine.
I chose to have my mussels with the Arbroath smokie skink made up of smokies, shallots, white wine, parsley. I chose well! I was also glad that I picked the bread rather than the chips, as it was exactly what I needed to mop up the delicious sauce. Finally, I opted to have white instead of red wine, since I personally think it pairs better with seafood.
I should note, however, that although I was planning to make the most of the bottomless offer, I only ended up having one plate full. This had nothing to do with the dish itself. It was delicious. I just wanted to make sure that I still had room for dessert.
DESSERT AT MAC & WILD
DEEP FRIED MARS BAR SUNDAE
If there is one thing Scotland is famous culinary-wise then it is the deep-fried Marsbar. Definitely, not the most glorious thing to have a reputation for. In the five years that I lived in Glasgow, I never tried one. In fact, I think the majority of Scots have not had the pleasure. Deep-fried Marsbars are mainly aimed at tourists in Edinburgh.
When I spotted the deep-fried Mars Bar Sunday on Mac& Wild’s dessert menu, however, I simply couldn’t resist. In retrospect, this was a life experienced I felt I needed to tick off my bucket-list.
Sadly, I am not convinced that combining a deep-fried Marsbar with ice-cream is the best idea. From what I have read the batter is supposed to be light and sweet, while the chocolate and caramel become gooey when melted. In contrast, the chunks of deep-fried Marsbar that topped of my sunday, were pretty tough to eat. They really stuck to my teeth. Not the experience I was expecting.
The Mackie’s salted caramel ice cream and whisky toffee sauce, however, tasted pretty heavenly.
STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING
Gary ended his meal with a good hearty classic – the sticky toffee pudding. It is hard to go wrong here, as long as you enjoy to sickly sweetness.
Mac & Wild’s sticky toffee pudding was rich, indulgent with a whisky infused caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla on the top. The dish was also pretty gargantuan in size.
The only thing that could have improved this dessert would perhaps have been a naughty dram of whiskey.
FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT MAC & WILD
It was a real pleasure to relax at Mac & Wild on a Monday evening. It really set me off for good rest of the week. In fact, I think Gary and I should indulge ourselves like this more frequently.
The service was more than attentive, it was warm and friendly. We really didn’t want to leave. The food was generally of very high quality and I would like to commend the owners for educating their clientele on the origin of the produce.
It is nice to see some good modern Scottish cooking in the heart of central London. In fact, the restaurant’s simple approach to serving very well-cooked dishes with locally sourced meat makes Mac & Wild a particularly refreshing addition to London’s restaurant scene.
If you’re looking for a whisky-fuelled meal in Fitzrovia that won’t break the bank (though maybe your diet) then this restaurant is the perfect choice. And I would recommend that you come with an empty stomach and a big-appetite because you are going to want to try at least a few of the side-dishes. Haggis macaroni anyone?
