When I say I like cheese I don't mean that I'll eat some cheddar, I mean if you put a cheese board in front of me, I will eat every single one. So when I saw that there was an evening on at The Seven Stars just serving macaroni cheese I had to go!
Firstly, Seven Stars is a new find for me. I always thought it looked a bit dingy, but I absolutely love it. There is great service and such a unique and great selection of drinks; from flavoured Gin and Vodka to deals on Prosecco and four different mulled drinks!
For Mac Mondays they offer six different type of 'Single Mac'. A large bowl of macaroni cheese with different additions; I saw a couple of these come out, all looking amazing and a decent size portion for one. They also have 'Dirty Grilled Mac' which is a macaroni cheese sandwich which looks mouth watering, filled with not only mac and cheese but also pulled pork!
In order to get a full range of Mac we decided to go for the mini options, which they call a MAC MIX. Three different flavours of your choice served in mini size and for just re other option was £6. A really great price for the amount of food you got! Mum and I both ordered this managing, for just £12, to get six different flavours of macaroni cheese..and we were stuffed by the end so great value for money. Here is what we thought of each one...
**This may not be a sticking point for many people but macaroni cheese should be made of macaroni, this was pasta & cheese. Large tubes of pasta are nice but nothing beats the thin small tubes of pasta filled with cheesy sauce!**
HOUSE MAC
House mac & cheese with bacon crumble
2 out of 5
This is definitely the closest to the one you would make at home. It was cheesy and had a good grilled top, the only thing missing was the bacon crumble...or if it was there we couldn't taste it at all.
CHORIZO AND NDUJA MAC
Chorizo and spinach mac & cheese with spicy Nduja sausage chunks
3 out of 5
Extra special mention to the sausage in this mac & cheese! It was absolutely delicious and added something extra to the macaroni cheese. This one was also the most stringy which, I think, is a sign of a brilliant macaroni cheese! The spinach added a nice colour to it but was over powered by the cheese and sausage.
BACON AND BLUE MAC
Chopped bacon and crumbled blue cheese mac & cheese
4.5 out of 5
I was initially worried about this one, menus often promise to have a strong blue cheese but end up just sprinkling a bit on the top...but this was mine and my mum's absolute favourite! It is definitely for blue cheese lovers and not just 'a bit of a fan'. The blue cheese was in nice chunks which meant that you got the taste throughout!
ONION AND LEEK MAC
Confit baby onions and sautéed leek mac & cheese
3 out of 5
Who doesn't like leek in white sauce?! I was really excited about the idea of all of this being mixed together but it actually overpowered the cheese completely. I think that the addition of leek added a nice texture and an extra taste, but the onion overpowered the macaroni cheese and meant that it wasn't cheesy at all.
MUSHROOM MAC
Sauteed wild mushrooms, herb and garlic mac & cheese
3 out of 5
So my overall feeling on this, is that it wasn't really macaroni cheese. It was mainly garlic mushrooms with white sauce, with an additional texture of pasta. You couldn't taste the macaroni or the cheese but the sauce and mushrooms were really nice and loved the aspect of the wild mushrooms! It was perfectly seasoned and very moreish but just not mac & cheese as the main option for me.
CRABBY MAC
Crab, lobster and herb mac & cheese
1 out of 5
This is a difficult one. I wasn't sold on this to begin with but with the extra price on the larger bowls I thought I may be persuaded. My mum was really looking forward to this one! Unfortunately we both weren't convinced, I was expecting chunks of crab and lobster but instead was met with a very very fishy mix! I love fish and my top meal to go out for is always fish or sushi, but even I struggled to eat this. The fishy white sauce was overpowering and there were no chunks of fish more tinned crab and lobster in a white sauce. I think if I had ordered just this one I would have been very disappointed which is such a shame because the others set the bar much higher.
Overall the venue, service and amount of food for money was brilliant! The different options are great in order to please everyone, and the fact that we were able to try six different mac&cheese flavours for £12 was amazing. The presentation of the food was great and all came out with beautifully grilled tops.
However, would I go on a Monday again? Probably not.
I am definitely inspired by the flavours they used and the textures they added in....and as a concept it is brilliant, but for me a classic macaroni cheese will always have my heart and theirs just wasn't as good as a homemade batch!
Since writing this post Seven Stars has undergone a huge refurbishment. I think new owners but definitely a new, and recommended menu. I will definitely be heading back soon to give them another go!
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