Steak eaters fall into two camps – those who love sauce with their dish and those who just want the meat plain. If you fall into the first category, then when you visit a classic British restaurant, one of the fun parts of the meal is to choose your favourite sauce to go with the taste local, home-cooked food on offer. But what are some of the best sauces to add to your steak?

Peppercorn sauce

This is a classic sauce for steak and is also great for dishes like pork chops.  It uses a simple mixture of chicken stock and red wine vinegar with green peppercorns.  These are crushed in the pan torelease the flavour and then double cream is added to make the sauce rich and tasty.  Easy to make at home, this can be as strong as you like.

Bearnaise sauce

Bearnaise sauce is ideal if you like thick sauces that almost resemble mayonnaise with your steak.  This one mixes white wine vinegar, shallots, creme fraiche and a little Dijon mustard.  It also includes capers and chopped tarragon.  It is a classic French sauce, but we have definitely stolen it for the classic British steak!

Sauce Diane

This is another French classic that we have stolen and claimed as our own.  It mixes onions, garlic and mushrooms with butter and a little Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.  You can add either brandy or whiskey for a little kick and then double cream for those smooth, silky texture.

Mushroom sauce

If you like Sauce Diane, this is a similar type of sauce.  You need chestnut mushrooms, garlic and brandy when wholegrain mustard and double cream.  The result is a tasty sauce that is great over steak but also works well with chicken and pork.

Blue cheese sauce

Steak and blue cheese work perfectly and you can use your favourites such as Stilton or Dolcelatte.  It is also a simple one to make – a basic roux of flour, milk and butter then add the grated blue cheese and stir until mixed.  It is ideal because you can have it as strong or as gentle as you like.

Salsa Verde

If you aren’t a creamy sauce fan but would like to add something to your steak, then Salsa Verde is a great idea.  This Italian sauce doesn’t need any cooking and just mixes parsley, chives and mint with capers or anchovies, garlic and a little lemon then adds olive oil to bring it together.

At the Bates Restaurant

As one of the best places to eat in Charminster, the Bates Restaurant offers something for the sauce fan and for the non-sauce fan.  You can have your steak just as it is, or we can add a number of sauces to it.  We even have other dishes on the menu with favourite sauces on them!  So if you are in any of the local villages of Ensbury Park, West Howe, Winton, Moordown, Mayrick Park, Queens Park, Muscliff, Throop and want a sauce-covered delight for your dinner, just pop in!