Signature Dishes
Beef Stifado from Corfu. The dish that fills the restaurant with a smell worth explaining.
Slow-braised beef, pearl onions, cinnamon, and a rich tomato sauce with Venetian spice. Not a dish you rush. Not a dish you forget either.
The Corfu version
Corfu cooking has a Venetian streak. More spice, more depth, more time. The stifado from Corfu uses cinnamon and cloves alongside the usual bay and allspice, which is what makes it smell like something ancient is happening in the kitchen.
Pearl onions, not chopped
The onions in stifado are left whole and slow-cooked until they soften completely into the sauce. They are as important as the beef. The combination of slow-braised meat and collapsed sweet onion in a spiced tomato broth is what makes this dish specific. Not just a stew.
Takes time. Worth the wait.
Stifado is not a fast-cook dish. The beef needs hours. That is not a problem here because the kitchen plans around it. You get the result, not the effort.
How to build the table around it.
Stifado is a main course that rewards patience. Start the table with tzatziki, warm pita, and a couple of meze plates. When the stifado arrives, take your time. The sauce is worth using the bread on.
Questions about stifado
What is stifado?
Stifado is a Greek slow-braised stew made with beef (or sometimes rabbit) and whole pearl onions, cooked in a spiced tomato sauce. The Corfu version uses cinnamon and cloves, which gives it a warm, aromatic depth you do not get from most stews.
Is stifado on the lunch and dinner menu?
Yes, available at both lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday is lunch only.
What does it come with?
Stifado is typically served with rice or chips. You can round the meal out with bread to scoop the sauce, or start with dips and meze before the main arrives.
Is this dish spiced?
Yes, but not hot. The spice is warm rather than sharp: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, bay. It has depth and warmth, not heat.
Where is Jars Meze?
6 Northumberland Place, Bath, BA1 5AR. Walking distance from the Roman Baths and the main shopping streets in Bath.
Come and try it.
Jars Meze is at 6 Northumberland Place, Bath, BA1 5AR. Book online or call us. Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. Sunday lunch only.
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