Instagram-worthy food at Sheffield's Amaro Lounge tastes just as good as it looks - review

Amaro Lounge describes itself as an informal community focused café/bar, which also happens to be a dog-friendly location too. Extra marks there for its much-appreciated four-legged friend inclusivity — if you should so wish.

We were greeted by a delightfully friendly member of the front of house team who gave us a range of seating options, before seating us on what happened to be Tapas Tuesday, where you can choose three dishes and get a glass of house wine or a choice of desserts for just £10.95 from 5pm, every week. Admittedly they already had my attention at tapas.

Taking our seat, we ordered a large glass of Chardonnay and a pint of the Brewdog Punk IPA, before ordering our dishes. There are a few methods of ordering, you can wait for table service, order at the bar or scan the QR code and just order via your phone. Great for those of you who wish to order without having to wait for a waiter or talk to anyone.

You had me at Tapas Tuesday with a class of wine

To begin with we went for the Tapas Board Deal, opting for the Honey Whipped Goat’s Cheese, served with Aleppo chilli, extra virgin oil and toasted ciabatta slices. A Mini Brisket Chilli topped with a mature cheddar, spring onion, red chilli and a dollop of fresh yoghurt, and finally the Mozzarella Arancini which was served on top of a red pepper ketchup. Verdict? The honey-whipped goat’s cheese was a delightful surprise, creamy, rich in flavour and incredibly moreish, and the same goes for the delicious and perfectly cooked mini brisket chilli. Each mouthful felt like a prompt to go for more… and we did. The mozzarella arancini was equally tasty and the red pepper ketchup had the perfect balance of sweetness and a spicy kick, a combination that complimented each bite with ease. A definitive thumbs up.

Each mouthful felt like a prompt to go for more… and we did

For the mains we went for the Halloumi Fries with the red pepper ketchup, usually it is served with chipotle chilli jam but due to stock shortages they didn’t have this on hand. As it goes the red pepper ketchup was a suitable replacement and went well with the perfectly deep-friend halloumi fries which surprisingly were not greasy in the slightest, and they were sublime. The fries were brought out alongside the main a Wan Chai Fried Rice Bowl with Miso Chicken, a fried rice dish with a veggie XO sauce, spring onions, greens and topped with edamame beans, pickled slaw, roasted kale, a fried egg and chilli flakes. We completely cleaned the bowl out, which should tell you all you need to know about our thoughts on that.

Finally for dessert we decided to share the Sticky Toffee Pudding with vanilla ice cream and a salted caramel sauce. We didn’t really need a dessert after everything else beforehand but seeing as it was a special occasion - it was a Tuesday after all - we plumped for a pudding, and we were not disappointed.

Amaro Lounge is a great pick where looks do not deceive and you are pretty much guaranteed to leave with a smile

All in all, our experience at Amaro Lounge was a solid two thumbs up. Table service is great with friendly, approachable staff who are not at all intrusive. We were informed about the unavailability of any dishes while making our order and suggestions were even given for suitable replacement options.

The food not only looked amazing, and perfect for those prerequisite Instagram pictures it tasted even better than it looked. Amaro Lounge is a great pick where looks do not deceive and you are pretty much guaranteed to leave with a smile. It is not only the perfectly relaxed date night location but we’ll be coming back again to try out the enticing and extensive Brunch selection.