The Tartan Fox — Restaurant in England

We have followed Adam Handling on GBM and were really looking forward to eating at the Tartan Fox. Overall we were disappointed.

The options for meat eaters was much more varied and interesting than that for the vegans at the table (part of this may be that we were there on a Sunday and only roasts were available). But when sustainability is front and centre of your branding, this was a bit surprising. We booked the table well in advance so the kitchen would have been aware we were coming with three vegans and we didn't feel they catered well for this.

The snacks for meat eaters were nice. The snacks for the vegans were underwhelming and the hashbrowns in particular were so expensive (£36 for four tiny hashbrowns). The waitress told us she would do us a portion for three people, but turns out she just gave us 2 portions (meant for four people) which we found out when the bill came. We were told 'this is how they do it for the vegan ones'. We were also told the cost was due to the truffle, which we understand as it is an expensive ingredient but we were really disappointed as the truffle had absolutely no flavour.

The roasts were good, the veg and potatoes were nicely cooked and all the meat options were great. Again, for the vegans it felt a little disapponting as there were only two sides (potatoes and greens) as opposed to the four sides for the meat eaters. The vegan option was a fairly uninspiring charred slice of suede and again we just felt there could have been a more interesting option that lived up to the meat dishes. There was also no vegetarian gravy which did feel unacceptable to serve roast dinners without gravy. A dry roast potato is nobody's friend!

Puddings were good, and the vegan option was just as good as, if not better than, the others.

The other thing which was just plain weird was the music. We arrived to music being piped out into the carpark from a speaker above the entrance. The loud, not very good, music continued inside and just didn't help create a good vibe.

We were also overcharged for some items on our bill which luckily we noticed just after we had paid and we were refunded the difference, without apology.

We were really looking forward to a special meal as a family and we felt disappointed with...

Having recently dined at The Frog in London, which is absolutely sensational I thought we would try The Tarten whilst on holiday in Cornwall. Acknowledging the different styles of the two, I was surprised how worlds apart they are in every way - yes the frog is a luxury, high end dining experience and the Tarten Fox is an affordable gastro pub but with both having Adam Handling above the door I’d expect a particular level of standard.

The venue is nice, decor well thought about and good spacing between each table.

The service needs improving, a lovely welcoming by the gentleman manager but the seated service lacks attention to detail - my partner spilt some sauce from his starter on the table, the waitress noticed it when clearing the plates as she picked a crumb up from the sauced area, she didn’t return to wipe it. A second waitress placed new cutlery in the sauced area. Small thing but a quick wipe would have gone a long way.

The food was a good standard of pub food, although a few negatives - the burger lacked flavour and the chicken butter was foul, a strong offensive odour and not at all the same taste as The Frog - a real disappointment as I’ve craved the chicken butter since my visit to the frog. Something not quite right there.

The menu is a little misleading, desert says coffee and chocolate but it comes out as a tiramisu style desert - very different to the description, desert was nice but the misleading menu description could be a problem for some.

Overall, a 3/5 - nice, pleasant, but not worth shouting about. I can’t help feel that you’re paying for the name here, as opposed to the quality. It’s an affordable option to be able to say you’ve dined in Adam Handlings restaurant but some simple changes could really improve this place. Bill came to approximately £120 for 3 drinks, bread, 2 starters, 2 mains...

My friend booked here as a birthday present for me, I used to dine here in the past when it was Viners and The Fox’s Revenge and loved it especially when Kevin Viner had it. We were expecting excellent food as Adam Harding is a Michelin star chef so our expectations were high. However I was bitterly disappointed with the food unfortunately and the only reason I didn’t send the roast main course back was because I didn’t want to offend or upset my friend who was footing the bill. I ordered the Beef with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes and gravy. The beef was a massive disappointment, it was two slices thick cut and resembled streaky bacon or sliced belly pork due to the top third having a strip of thick un rendered wobbly fat, the meat was pink but not rare with little or no flavour, I was so disappointed. The vegetables were a small portion of cauliflower cheese which was delicious and a small portion of kale.and delicious roast potatoes plus a very small jug of gravy. The food was too cold for me but the cast iron ramekins the vegetables were served in were red hot ? I asked the waitress for a plate to put the disgusting fat strips on and to take it away, I didn’t want to see it whist I ate, the big group of people on the table next to us left all the fatty strips on their plates too.The price wasn’t the most expensive place I’ve eaten but not the cheapest either, the mediocre meat/ vegetables and portions are just not worth it. On the other hand the cheese donuts are lovely and the ambiance and the lovely staff made it tolerable plus it’s very dog friendly. I was delighted to have a Michelin starred restaurant in Newquay but this place let me down unfortunately,...