Medium Topside of Aberdeen Angus Beef with Basting Fat

Firstly, I am not in the habit of writing reviews, something has either got to be really good or really bad to motivate me to leave a review, in this case, A bad experience has prompted me. I was really looking forward to this joint of meat last night, whilst it was cooking I said to my partner how much I love m&s meat...... We cooked the meat to medium and it looked delicious. The taste however, was not delicious, it was tough, dry and it really was like chewing cardboard. I commented to my partner than my granny's slippers are probably more succulent. Not worth the money at all. Prob the worst joint of meat I have ever had.

Tastiest beef joint bought from a store. More than enough to go around and still had left over for a cold beef and mustard sandwich. Brilliant :)

Followed the cooking instructions for 'rare' : 55 minutes, and then rested. The result was extremely dry, completely cooked through ( not a trace of pink : well-done at the least) and very tough. I know that cooking times depend on the oven, but I erred on the side of caution. I don't expect topside to be as soft as fillet: I buy it because it is a good compromise between price/flavour. But this was really poor. The peppercorn/mustard basting layer simply leaves a thick layer of over-salted gunge on top of the meat and a large amount of fat in the pan : it doesn't keep the meat moist, at all ( and I like to roast beef with a layer of basting fat, precisely for that purpose) . On the plus side the meat shrank very little, so portion size was accurately described, and the meat was very lean, so there was no waste : just a shame it tasted of nothing except the topping and was tough as old boots. Wish I had just gone to the butcher's. I bought this product specifically because it had basting fat and beacsue I was familiar witht he cut and thought it would have more flavour. Not worth the money unless you like meat that doean't taste of meat.

Delicious beef cooked exactly as the instructions. Just as good cold the following day. My daughter loved it so much that she wants it for Christmas instead of Turkey.

I'm not an experienced cook so I was delighted at how easy it was to do a perfect roast for my dinner guests. Just ensure the meat is left to rest at room temperature for a while before putting into a hot oven and baste regularly. It was very tasty. The only thing I did not like was the packaging, the plastic container was far too large for the size of the content and the corners caved in when moving it about. The wasteful use of plastic packaging in this manner is something m&s are quite guilty of in general...