63 Tay Street is one of the rare restaurants which gets everything right and you have no idea what a joy it is to report this as we crawl towards the end of an eventful year.
It’s been an interesting one, to say the least.
Reviewing restaurants in 2021 has obviously felt a more onerous task than it did pre-pandemic because of the current precarious situation the hospitality industry finds itself in.
The double whammy of Covid-19 and Brexit dealt killer punches to a sector heavily reliant on steady business, disposable income and labour often sourced from outside the UK. That’s before we get to severe problems in the food supply chain which have resulted in empty shelves and paucity of some ingredients for consumers and professional chefs alike.
Hospitality crisis
The crisis in staffing which Brexit caused would have been catastrophic even without a global pandemic to deepen the scale of the problem. The combination of the two has sounded a warning bell for many chefs and restaurant staff, who have decided either to leave the industry or were forced to return to their country of origin.
This warning bell tolled heavier for some who sadly witnessed it as more of a death knell for their business.
Restaurants which managed to keep trading inevitably now open on more limited days and times.
Many still can’t afford to open until a Wednesday, which must be a heart-breaking decision to have to make. Staff shortages are just one of the many issues faced by this beleaguered industry right now, but staffing remains intrinsic to the entire restaurant experience, and we customers have rightly had to make allowances which include being patient with inexperienced new staff.
In many cases it’s not even about getting the best staff – it’s getting any staff at all. This has led to a fundamental shift in what we expect from the service industry, where a good, well-trained kitchen brigade is now the exception rather than the rule.
Our expectations of what we would hope for from the restaurant experience have had to be modified.
As we returned from lockdown and once again remembered the thrill of eating out, it seemed like our whole system for judging restaurants would have to change. After all, it would be unfair to consider a small neighbourhood place in the same way you might a top London restaurant, even if the holy trinity of food, service and décor might still be paramount to a good night out.
As we’ve progressed further into the year though it’s become apparent that some places just aren’t any good and some chefs just can’t cut it – this would probably be the case whether we were living in this new world or not.
Tay Street 63
So, when somewhere like 63 Tay Street shines like the absolute beacon it is then it really has to be celebrated for everything they offer during very difficult trading times.
The first thing to say is that the lunch we had here was a steal, so much so I would have happily paid a whole lot more.
The “4 For 24” deal means you get four courses of top-quality food for £24.
It’s a real bargain for food of this high standard (check their website for timings but this menu is currently served for lunch on Thursday-Saturday and for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday).
I urge you to go before chef-owner Graham Pallister realises he’s almost giving this food away right now.
It was my first time here, although 63 Tay Street isn’t new and has won multiple awards including Scottish Restaurant of the Year twice and this magazine’s own award for Restaurant of the Year in 2019. Graham himself won Scottish Chef of the Year in 2013.
I haven’t ever had a bad meal in the beautiful city of Perth and I only wish there was enough time to revisit other great places like the North Port (the first restaurant reviewed here after lockdown) and Cardo.
63 Tay Street is now added to the list of places to return to as soon as possible.
The restaurant itself is simple and understated with a décor that doesn’t scream for attention. Here it’s all about the food and the service, both of which excel.
We were greeted by the affable and extremely professional restaurant manager, Christopher Strachan, who explained that there was no written menu and checked that we were happy with the idea of surprise. Of course we were!
I love restaurants which serve a very concise set menu simply offering good things to eat. One of my favourite-ever restaurants, Clarke’s in Kensington, brought the Californian idea of a weekly changing no-choice menu to London in 1987 and it became an instant hit.
The idea of the freshest ingredients of the season being served because Sally Clarke chose them as the best things to cook with that week was revelatory in a London dining scene powered by pretension.
Thirty five years after my first visit I recently returned to Clarke’s for my first Christmas lunch of 2021 and it still operates with that same ethos, albeit now giving customers a choice.
The food
I was reminded of Clarke’s when the set menu dishes started to appear at 63 Tay Street, where the ethos is “Local. Honest. Simple.” While I think these words sum up much of what is on offer here they also don’t give an indication of the brilliance of Graham Pallister’s cooking.
Everything I ate was delicious, starting with the superlative butternut squash soup with black garlic and parmesan custard with pine nut relish.
I don’t often order soup in a restaurant as sometimes it can drown the appetite but here the nectar on offer was absolutely perfect – as intense a combination of flavours as you could wish for and at once an illustration that here you’re in the hands of a master.
The next course of poached Gloagburn egg, smoked salmon, cauliflower butter and onion bhaji was just as divine, made all the more alluring with the surprise of the bhaji.
It all worked brilliantly.
The smoked shoulder of beef pave was my favourite, the tenderness of the meat perfectly complemented by the shio koji pearl barley, the allotment onion (Graham grows stuff over the road on Moncreiffe Island) and a horseradish gel. An absolute masterclass in beef cookery, and a joy to eat.
The shio koji barley, a fermented grain, was especially inspired.
The meal ended with a warm almond financier with Ailsa’s poached garden pear cheese, and chocolate ice cream – as harmonious and wonderful as the dishes which had preceded it.
I had eaten four courses of exceptional food and, unusually, so had David.
Regular readers will know it’s become something of a bugbear of ours that vegetarians and vegans are so poorly catered for in this part of Scotland.
This is borne out by correspondence I get whenever I point this out – vegetarians are so bored with being offered bland food like generic gnocchi, now as much a restaurant cliché as a nut roast.
Here it’s a completely different story in that David was given four courses of equal brilliance to mine (the restaurant makes a point of asking customers to let them know of any dietary requests in advance so that they can prepare).
While some of my exemplary dishes were mirrored on the vegetarian menu (the soup and dessert were the same), David’s poached egg was accompanied by curried lentils and this carnivore has to say it was equally as delicious as my dish with smoked salmon.
David’s main course of allotment onion and pepper pie was accompanied by the same fermented barley as my beef, but was also enhanced by roast cauliflower and a delicious miso and apple yoghurt. It was a true delight and I’d be very, very happy to eat this
any day.
Here, at last, is someone who is putting the same amount of thought into vegetarian food as they do into their main menu. Top stuff.
The verdict
It’s worth noting here that chef-patron Graham was the only person cooking in his kitchen on the day we visited and yet the food arrived seamlessly.
Service was excellent – friendly, knowing and proud of what they were offering, as they should be because this place has got it just right.
63 Tay Street is such a delight.
When visiting restaurants as regularly as I do it’s sometimes frustrating because there’s often something wrong that could easily be fixed.
Here there’s nothing that could be improved except perhaps moving it closer to my house.
Normally the cost of bringing such perfection together is reflected in the pricing, which is obviously fair enough – it costs money to open your doors and offer food and service.
Here at 63 Tay Street it’s a joy to have food of this quality at a price way below what could be charged.
Graham Pallister must be congratulated for doing this at a time when many, many others are raising their prices to reflect rising costs.
As 2021 draws to a close it’s wonderful to find a place like 63 Tay Street where there’s no ifs and no buts – it’s just simply great.
Information
Address: 63 Tay Street, 63 Tay Street, Perth, PH2 8NN
T: 01738 441451
W: www.63taystreet.com
Price: “4 for 24” set menu £24 per head (check website for days and times); “Just Feed Us” set menu, five courses for £49, six courses for £58 (check website for details)
Scores:
- Food: 5/5
- Service: 5/5
- Surroundings: 5/5
