The arrival of Miller and Carter in Mirfield was hailed by locals as perhaps the most exciting thing since sliced bread, or Town getting promoted...or free beer being given away.

You get the gist.

I agree, the launch of a new place to eat in North Kirklees’ premier town was long overdue.

The fact that a swanky steak house chain chose Mirfield also helped boost our fragile egos.

No more going to Leeds when we fancy a quality meal in comfortable and salubrious surroundings, hooray!

And so, the clamour to get to the upmarket steak place and review it online was a challenge eagerly taken up by dozens, with 100% of those amateur food critics giving it a big thumbs up.

But what about now? Two months on from its much vaunted opening, how’s it doing?

Me and the missus decided to venture down there for Sunday lunch to see what all the fuss was about.

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I first noticed Miller and Carter when it launched in Leeds city centre four or five years ago.

I hadn’t eaten there but it looked like a posh restaurant and I had no idea it was part of huge pub chain Michells and Butlers, the people behind All Bar One, Toby Carvery and Harvester, to name but a few.

It’s no Wetherspoons but I feared this connection with common pub grub might bring it down a notch from my early expectations.

I’ve eaten a lot of steak, in the USA particularly where it tends to taste a lot better, and my standards are high, if I do say so myself!

Thankfully steak fans I can happily report my anxiety over the quality was unfounded.

As the other half aptly said within seconds of her first bite of tender 8oz fillet steak, “It’s so good you don’t need the sauce!”

Rib eye steak and chips with porcini mushroom sauce and onion loaf with lettuce wedge on the side at Miller & Carter Mirfield

And that, as far as I’m concerned, tells you all you need to know.

Both our steaks were so tasty that none of the sauces nor relishes provided were needed to enhance them.

My Australian ‘Grain Fed Black Angus’ rib-eye was promoted as being “intensely packed” full of flavour, and I wasn’t disappointed.

But it was the ‘bog standard’ fillet that really impressed.

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Typically a very bland cut, where taste is sacrificed in favour of tenderness, fillet steak normally needs to be slathered in peppercorn sauce to be worth eating. Not here.

A whole pot of peppercorn sauce was completely ignored as Mrs L devoured the sumptuous, medium cooked steak, naked.

The steak was naked, not her.

Similarly I left my porcini mushroom and black garlic sauce untouched, except for dipping a few chips in it.

Thankfully sauces are included in the price so we didn’t feel as though we’d been ripped off.

And talking of the prices, they’re fairly reasonable.

Chips, a salad of sorts, a slice of onion loaf, a balsamic glazed beef tomato, parsley butter and the sauce of your choice is all included with whatever hunk of beef you select.

It’s not a cheap meal out but steak that’s worth eating never is.

In the spirit of performing a thorough review, we forced ourselves to have a starter, side dishes and desserts.

Afterwards, we were both so full that we didn’t eat any evening meal at all – a first in my life time.

My first course of bourbon glazed chicken skewers had me slightly worried for what was to come, as while the chicken was lovely and juicy and nicely charred, I found it a little devoid of flavour. Thankfully, as I’ve said above, that wasn’t the case for the main event.

Bourbon glazed blackened chicken skewers at Miller & Carter Mirfield

Mrs L loved her black pearl scallops, with pan fried chorizo and potatoes, but again I found it a touch under-seasoned.

Alongside our steaks we had a portion of lobster ‘mac ‘n’ cheese’ and another of bacon and stilton mushrooms.

The latter was decent but it was the mac ‘n’ cheese that I’d order again, very rich and cheesy (obviously) – a lovely warm gooey dish to complement the salty and savoury chips and onion loaf.

You probably wouldn’t expect the lettuce wedge that comes free with every steak to even get a mention in this review.

When you’re sitting down for a large hunk of red meat, why would a bit of Iceberg get some precious column space?

I’ll tell you why. Because yet again, my expectations were exceeded. The garlic dressing I chose was delicious and a generous portion of parmesan cheese was tossed in, essentially giving me a free Caesar salad on the side.

The desserts were again, marvellous.

The chocolate brownie portion was generous and came with a dollop of ice-cream and a large fragment of dark chocolate and pistachio shard. My only quibble would be, it’s hard to eat ice cream from a flat plate when you’re only given a spoon and no fork. Try it.

Chocolate brownie at Miller & Carter Mirfield

Mrs L’s ice-cream and home baked cookie option was fine but she would have preferred a soft cookie to the crunchy one that was served.

After all that we were unsurprisingly groaning from over-eating.

I would suggest you save yourself £15 per head by avoiding starters and ‘afters’ as the expertly griddled steak is all you’ll need, and all you’ll want. Just please don’t order it well done, it’s got to be medium.

Moving on from the eating experience, we would have to knock a mark off for the lethargic welcome we received when entering the revamped former Three Nuns pub.

But we had no complaints about the speedy and professional service from our waitress once we were sitting in the very comfortable new seats.

The toilets are posh too. Altogether a very satisfying experience and I will most definitely be back; if I can get a reservation.