Since I moved to Dundee, I have heard a great deal about The Tayberry restaurant.
Like a mythical beast lingering outside my eyeline, The Tayberry’s reputation has certainly preceded it.
Saddened by its closure before I could visit, I was delighted to hear about the venue’s reopening in Dundee’s city centre.
So would the venue on everyone’s lips live up to that sparkling reputation, or would it disappoint?
What is The Tayberry Dundee like inside?
At its new home in Tay Square, The Tayberry has a warm and sleek interior.
The rich plum colour of the walls is a theme throughout the venue, and immediately brings to mind a sense of class.
Gold fixtures gleam at us as my friend Cara and I are led to a table for two.
I often feel that lighting can make or break a venue, and a lack of modern lighting can severely date a restaurant.
However, an elegant lighting fixture above the dining area immediately caught my attention.
The menu, once we got into it, was no less impressive.
Bread and butter – without the boring
The Tayberry Seasons Menu is a palate-pleasing sensation, showcasing the skills of those in the kitchen without coming across esoteric.
We went for the 4-course option, £49 per person. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, though there is a less expensive pre-theatre menu as well for those with smaller appetites.
After a busy day of work, though, Cara and I were ready to tuck in to a large selection.
We are served bread and butter first off – you might immediately think: boring.
It was anything but.
These are daily changing according to the menu, but we were served the rosemary and thyme bread rolls with sweet chilli butter.
We both could have licked that butter bowl clean.
The butter was the perfect mixture of sweet and salty, with an accompanying sweet roll. The bread was too sweet for Cara, but it was excellent for me.
This menu on our The Tayberry review certainly isn’t suitable for those with a small appetite, as we were soon served the canapés – three a piece (£10 for us both).
The selection was a small chicken liver parfait cracker, an ox tongue fritter and a goats cheese parcel.
There was a little too much going on with the parfait for Cara, but personally, the sharp rhubarb topping was an inventive touch I thoroughly enjoyed.
The ox tongue was incredibly tender, and fell apart perfectly.
The goats cheese was refreshing and not too overpowering either.
How were the starters on our The Tayberry Dundee review?
I am not usually so far down a page when I get to discussing the starters on a review, but that is a testament to how much food they served us.
I went for the Scottish Confit Lamb belly (£14), while Cara chose the Arbroath Smokie (£14).
Cara’s Smokie was served with cannelloni, wasabi, beetroot and avocado. These were in saucy dollops around the dish.
The flavours worked well on the plate and the presentation of the smokie inside a crispy cannelloni was ingenious.
My lamb was served with delicious barley, radish slices, spiced carrot dollops and crowdie cheese.
There was a perfect crispy edge to the lamb, while it was tender in the centre. It was difficult to bring myself to share even a forkful with my date.
In between our starter and main, the staff served us the intermediate course. Sadly this wasn’t much to write home about, though it was memorable.
A madras curry and carrot soup, it had a very interesting frothy, mousse-like texture. This had a nice flavour to it, though I couldn’t get past the odd texture. Cara, though, polished this off in about three spoons.
It was at this point that we noted, with surprise, how quiet the venue was for after 7pm on a Friday night.
Is Chateaubriand worth the price tag?
For our main dish, Cara and I chose the Himalayan salt aged Chateaubriand (a £20 supplement) for two.
The accompanying pepper sauce had an excellent kick, far better than other bland, mild sauces I have had with steak.
The crisped veg topping was a lovely touch, and added a good variety in texture.
A recent mushroom convert, I enjoyed that the mushrooms with our Chateaubriand had bite to them and weren’t too soft.
The mash, though, let the dish down just a little for the both of us. I would have liked it a little creamier.
The meat itself was exceptionally tender, and cooked well. There was a lot of flavour and crisp to the edge of the fillet.
When we – eventually – made it through our main, we were absolutely stuffed and couldn’t even look at the dessert menu.
The verdict
I am not a fan of overly elegant dining where flavour is compromised for presentation – luckily, The Tayberry was no such place.
We adored every dish we had, with highlights including Scottish confit lamb belly and of course the Chateaubriand.
Our only negatives would be the lack of atmosphere due to it being surprisingly quiet for a Friday night. Perhaps people aren’t aware that such a gem is tucked away inside the city square.
Also, some of the music – like Canter by Gerry Cinnamon with its colourful lyrics – didn’t seem well-suited to the venue either.
The service was great, with friendly attentive staff keen to make sure we had everything we needed.
Information
Address: 11 Tay Square, Dundee DD1 1PB
T: 01382 472221
Price: £124 for bread and butter, two canapes, two starters, two intermediate courses, two mains and two soft drinks.
Scores:
Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Surroundings: 5
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