Donald Russell Beef Wellington with Truffle – Product Review
Today I am trying out and reviewing the Beef Wellington with Truffle from Donald Russell online butcher and fine food delivery service. It also happens to be Mother’s Day and my husband has treated me to this Beef Wellington spectacular!
After watching Jamie Oliver making a Beef Wellington a few weeks ago, I happened to mention to my husband that I’d love to have Beef Wellington as my Mother’s Day meal. He seems to have come across lots of articles that feature amazing food producers in the UK to buy from during lockdown and just because we’ve had to stay at home doesn’t mean that we don’t want to enjoy amazing new food finds. It’s been such a long time since we’ve been permitted to eat out and I realise now how much I’ve taken that and lots of other things for granted.
Of the many online offerings available, we decided to order from Donald Russell.
With such a high pedigree (including The Queen’s royal warrant), we placed our order which included:-
Beef Wellington with Truffle – A thick juicy cut of grass-fed British beef fillet steak and a rich black truffle duxelles enclosed in a flaky puff pastry case. Serves 2-3, £29.95
Like many online shops there was a FREE DELIVERY option if we spent over £40 so we added some pork chops and burgers to the basket to make the most of our ordering experience!
First Impressions
The delivery arrived in a polystyrene box which included instructions not to deliver it back to the depot if there were issues with delivery – thankfully it was an early delivery and I was in! I opened the box straight away and although I was worried initially about receiving a meat delivery via courier, I was relieved to see that the box had been well packed with dry ice and all products were frozen solid and I really mean solid.
Of course while unpacked the box I took a moment to inspect all of the items. First impressions count and I was incredibly impressed with the condition the meat was in and I was really looking forward to my Mother’s Day meal over the weekend.
Let’s Cook
There’s no need to worry about how to safely defrost the products or how long to cook them as each item’s packaging includes the defrosting instructions, cooking instructions along with nutritional information.
We followed the defrosting instructions but we deviated from the glazing instructions which recommended the pastry was glazed with egg and cream. I didn’t have any cream so I recommended to my husband (as he was cooking) that he glazed the pastry with egg yolk (if you’ve ever wondered how some bakers achieve a glorious finish to their pies it’s the egg yolk glaze!).
Armed with the recommended cooking times depending on how you like your beef cooked, off he went while I put the children to bed with a story.
We opted for the beef to be cooked medium (we have been to restaurants where they refuse to cook a fillet of beef anything but medium. Last time this was an issue for me was in 2014 when I was pregnant with my boys. I had to explain to the waiter that I was pregnant and the chef made an exception – I’m not joking!), sorry slightly off topic, so with the cooking time calculated and along with the resting time he was able to cook the beef perfectly. He used a meat thermometer to check the beef so he was confident at how he’d cooked the Beef Wellington.
One thing of the many things that that really impressed me (along with the delivery and quality of product) was the tip to pre-heat the oven dish that we were planning on using to cook the Beef Wellington in. Bake Off fans will know that there’s nothing worse than a Beef Wellington (or any pastry) with a soggy pastry bottom and this simple tip worked a treat as you can see from the picture I took.
The Look
The Beef Wellington was finished with an attractive lattice design which really enhanced the look of the finished Wellington. I hoped it tasted as amazing as it looked and smelled. It seemed like a generous Wellington too. The product listing mentioned that it was a 550g product serving 2-3 people and I would have happily shared this with a third person but I enjoyed a generous portion!
Before glazing 
Beef Wellington with Truffle well rested
To serve I cut the Wellington in half and the room filled with the aroma of the delicious truffle layer. I really couldn’t wait to sit down to eat – you’d be surprised how long it can take to photograph food for a review like this!
The Taste
The pastry was buttery, flakey and light. Then the truffle layer was rich in flavour and a lovely contrast to the pastry that enveloped it and then the beef itself……… totally OUTSTANDING! I have a general rule about eating beef or steak that’s been frozen, in as much that I don’t because I feel that it loses flavour, but now I realise that this is a direct reflection of the quality (or lack thereof) but this wasn’t my experience with this Beef Wellington. I’d never have guessed that the beef had been previously frozen it WAS that good!
The beef was tender, full of flavour that worked beautifully with the truffle and pastry. Each mouthful was as delicious as the first and I was really glad that there’s wasn’t a third person to share this with!
The Cost
The price of the Beef Wellington with Truffle was £29.95 and if you spent £40 you qualified for free delivery.
My Verdict
Taste : 5 out of 5 – this Beef Wellington with Truffle was absolutely delicious and you could really taste the quality of the beef. I can say hand on heart that this is the best beef that I’ve had in a long time and most definitely the best Beef Wellington that I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating!
Value for money : 5 out of 5 – you could taste the quality.
Likelihood of buying it again : 5 out of 5 – never again will I settle for a supermarket Beef Wellington. This is such a great quality product that I’m currently decided when to order it again!
Where To Buy It
You can find this Beef Wellington with Truffle at Donald Russell for just £29.95 (delivery charges apply to orders below £40.00).
Refer a friend, discount code
If you’d like to try this for yourself below is a link which will qualify you (and me) for 10% off your order. It’s their refer a friend feature on their website and once you’ve tried it perhaps you can refer your friends using your own code!
Please note that this review is based on the product that I’ve purchased and the review reflects my own honest opinion.
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