Menuwatch: Tallow, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Classic combinations are given super-charged flavours at Rob and Donna Taylor’s new Kent restaurant. Emma Lake reports

 

“It would be a hard heart that didn’t love the Compasses,” The Guardian’s Grace Dent wrote about Rob and Donna Taylor’s previous venture. No doubt she prompted hordes of hungry Londoners to set their sat navs Kent-wise, only to discover that the Taylors had promptly closed the venue. However, the glowing review then turned into tease for their latest venture, Tallow, which opened on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells last month.

 

The striking, grey-fronted restaurant, which looks out onto Southborough common, had first caught the Taylors’ eyes six years earlier, and when it hit the property market mid-pandemic, it posed an unmissable opportunity to downsize and refocus in their own space (the Compasses was tied to Kent brewer Shepherd Neame).

 

 

At Tallow, chef Rob observes a pared-down menu of three starters, three mains and three desserts to the 26-cover dining room, although the opening of an upstairs private dining room and tasting menu offering are expected in 2022.

 

Monthly changing menus see the chef showcase produce at its peak, using familiar flavour pairings intensified through technique. He explains: “I don’t put anything on the menu that I think would scare anybody. It’s not ground-breaking, it’s flavours people will recognise. Like the leek and Cheddar tart with walnut ketchup. It’s essentially cheese and pickle, but we concentrate every flavour. There’s Cheddar in the pastry, a cheese mousse, and some nice strong cheese grated on top. It’s layering those same flavours, not over-complicating it, but ensuring those flavours really come through.”

 

 

Tallow opened its doors in November and the first menu was full of hearty, fulsome dishes, much to the chef’s delight: “I love autumnal flavours, I feel that’s where my cooking really comes into play. I enjoy cooking really rich, indulgent, tasty food,” he says.

 

One of the Rob’s favourite ingredients is ox cheek; in fact he’s scarcely produced a menu without it in nine years. He says: “You have to put a decent amount of work into it, but the end result is beautiful: a piece of beef that falls apart that’s rich in flavour and has lovely layers of collagen through it.”

 

 

The chef sears the ox cheek before braising it in red wine and beef stock for 12 hours. He then slices the it and glazes it in reduced braising stock, so the exterior is sticky.

 

He adds. “I’ve served it with so many things over the years, including an English mustard clotted cream. You have this really nice piece of braised beef and then this cold, clotted cream on top that slowly melts into it. It’s super-tasty.”

 

 

Other incarnations have included the beef braised in stout, served with an oyster emulsion and crispy oysters. In Rob’s latest menu it is served with Jerusalem artichoke purée and horseradish emulsion. In his pursuit of punchy flavours Rob often uses Asian ingredients, something he picked up while working in Australia. “I use miso and soy sauce for seasoning,” he says. “Miso in the base of a mayonnaise gives it a punch; rice wine similarly helps add a kick to dressings.

 

On the opening menu Rob’s miso mayonnaise was served as an accompaniment to a starter of roasted wood pigeon with soused cucumber and coriander. Main courses included a celeriac and mushroom terrine with onion broth, which was another testament to the chef’s endeavours to serve up dishes with intense flavours. He says: “It’s layers of fine celeriac and chopped mushroom. We cook the mushrooms down until there’s no liquid , and then we add a little mushroom powder and some cheese in between the layers.” Desserts are classically inspired, such as an apple tart tatin and a chocolate financier with milk sorbet and praline anglaise, along with a monthly changing cheese course.

 

 

Rob says: “We do a cheese course as opposed to a cheese board. I’ve done an almond cake with melted blue cheese on top, and a truffle bread and butter pudding served with cheese. I try and make a dish people won’t have seen before.”

 

At Tallow the Taylors have created the restaurant they would wish to dine in. The chef adds: “We want people to sit here making as much noise as they want, drinking wine, having fun and going away thinking what an amazing night. We want it to be super-casual but with the food just as good as anything.”

 

From the menu

 

Starters

 

Squid bolognaise with warm cheese mousse £13

 

Roast squash cannelloni with chestnut cream and sage oil £12

 

Mains

 

Roast loin of venison with sticky red cabbage, potato and black pudding pasty and pickled walnut ketchup £30

 

Pan fried fillet of hake with baby leeks, cep puree and chicken butter sauce £24

 

Roast cauliflower with spiced onion sauce and linseed cracker £23

 

Desserts

 

Chocolate mousse with spiced orange curd and tonka bean ice cream £9

 

Warm ginger cake with roast pears, granola and apple brandy cream £9

 

Oxford blue cheese with mince pie £10

 

15A Church Road, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells TN4 0RX

 

tallowrestaurant.co.uk