Restauranting again...
Tunbridge Wells has a limited number of restaurants that can be regarded as top tier, namely three. One of them, Hotel du Vin, I've been to 2 or 3 times. Another, Signor Franco's (they don't appear to have a website), I've visited once. I won't pass comment on either here as I haven't eaten in them for over a year. The third is Thackeray's and until now I'd never visited it. But tonight that changed.
One of our supplier's was visiting T/Wells and offered to take us out to dinner along with some mutual friends. Now we didn't suggest Thackeray's - the mutual friend did, honest. I wouldn't dare presume to suggest the most expensive restaurant in town as a destination.
So what was it like? In a word; sumptuous. In two words; very sumptuous. In three... oh you get the idea. We met initially in the small upstairs bar area. Lit by huge church candles in storm lanterns and decorated with gold leaf (there are pictures on the web site) it had a dark, almost gothic feel. And served a good G&T as well, though not as good as one I recall from Hotel du Vin, but that might have been the occasion more than anything.
They've got a separate, short, small (A5 format) vegetarian menu that you have to ask for. This struck me as odd - why not include it in the larger (A4) main menu? It left the vegetarians feeling like poor relations and a "special" case. At least they catered for vegetarians, not something you'd get from a French restaurant on it's home turf, certainly one of this calibre.
"So what was the food like?" I hear you cry. It was good. Pricey, but not much by modern standards. Starters around £5, mains £10-15. Some great tasting little between-course tasting dishes. The dining room is the current en-vogue simple design of floorboards, Farrow & Ball colours, white linen, etc. The tableware looked like something from the 1980's though; very large square plates, drizzles of this and sprigs of that. Tasted good though. Penjamin had a tomato rissoto which was very well balanced and I had something else. House wine was good and plentiful, thanks to our hosts repeated ordering. Service was slick, even if the poor girl couldn't quite remember what the tasting dishes were.
So would I go back, especially if paying myself? A tentative "yes". I would go for the atmosphere and the presentation and the whole experience. I wouldn't go purely for the food, but then eating out isn't just about the food, is it?
One of our supplier's was visiting T/Wells and offered to take us out to dinner along with some mutual friends. Now we didn't suggest Thackeray's - the mutual friend did, honest. I wouldn't dare presume to suggest the most expensive restaurant in town as a destination.
So what was it like? In a word; sumptuous. In two words; very sumptuous. In three... oh you get the idea. We met initially in the small upstairs bar area. Lit by huge church candles in storm lanterns and decorated with gold leaf (there are pictures on the web site) it had a dark, almost gothic feel. And served a good G&T as well, though not as good as one I recall from Hotel du Vin, but that might have been the occasion more than anything.
They've got a separate, short, small (A5 format) vegetarian menu that you have to ask for. This struck me as odd - why not include it in the larger (A4) main menu? It left the vegetarians feeling like poor relations and a "special" case. At least they catered for vegetarians, not something you'd get from a French restaurant on it's home turf, certainly one of this calibre.
"So what was the food like?" I hear you cry. It was good. Pricey, but not much by modern standards. Starters around £5, mains £10-15. Some great tasting little between-course tasting dishes. The dining room is the current en-vogue simple design of floorboards, Farrow & Ball colours, white linen, etc. The tableware looked like something from the 1980's though; very large square plates, drizzles of this and sprigs of that. Tasted good though. Penjamin had a tomato rissoto which was very well balanced and I had something else. House wine was good and plentiful, thanks to our hosts repeated ordering. Service was slick, even if the poor girl couldn't quite remember what the tasting dishes were.
So would I go back, especially if paying myself? A tentative "yes". I would go for the atmosphere and the presentation and the whole experience. I wouldn't go purely for the food, but then eating out isn't just about the food, is it?
Labels: Restaurant
posted by Bluebear at
12:00 pm
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