Salt Yard, Dehesa, Opera Tavern - all names I knew last time in 2012-2013 but never tried. The Opera Tavern foie gras burger was one that was thrown around Hot Dinners back in those days. Finally the opportunity arose in halfprice weekend dinners. No idea why, maybe it is difficult staying new during the quieter months. I chose Ember Yard due to their having a special josper grill.
All the dishes were nice, but particularly the josper roasted duck (turnip, calcot, pork rillons) £9.5 and the iberico cuts plate £30. These were the dishes cooked on the josper so it isn't surprisingly they pleased me most.
Most interesting was the rare to medium-rare pork that only iberico could. The iberico abanico with chicken butter (left, fan that surrounds the ribs), iberico pluma with black pepper (middle, feather blade) and iberico presa with jamon butter (right, shoulder) were all phenomenal. The texture was probably the softest on the presa, the grain and flavour most powerful in the pluma (which was my favourite) and the strong saltiness from the seasoning and chicken butter was sometimes a touch too potent. But boy was it good.
Desserts were ok but nothing special. We ate way too much...