Tallow — Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

Underwhelmed but had merit.I was prepared to drive an hour to this new restaurant based on the reviews and I was underwhelmed by tbe experience. It’s only been open since November so maybe time will tell. The ambience is delightful. Warm and very tastefully fitted out. The menu restricted. Excluding vegan options you have two choices for each course. I do not expect a chicken or fish option at these prices. I opted for chicken. Lovely Christmassy flavours but the gnocchi was solidly compact and inedible. If you don’t know how to cook gnocchi, don’t include it as an element of the dish. The partridge starter beautifully presented with interesting elements but overcooked and dry. The pastrami cured trout starter with refined pickles was beautifully fresh but lacked any pastrami flavours. The amuse bouche was a triumph. A mouthful of intense mushroom and crisp base. The warm cheese scone a delight with butter spread topped with crispy onion and nigella seeds. The desert menu was also limited to two choices but both very good. The cheese choice was inspired. A Bigot God with burnt apple sauce and a round of delicious caramelised bread was sublime. Would I travel an hour again based on our experience? Probably not. If I lived in the area I’d give it another go. Service was warm and attentive but half an hour between courses was inexplicable given the limited...

Having eaten several times at a pub run by the now owners of Tallow, we were keen to try their new venture.

A way to travel for us and expectations were high…

First impressions were of an inviting looking building, second impressions were of a warm, cosy place heated with a log burner. It was a cold, damp night but all this was immediately forgotten as we became enveloped in the Tallow magic.

Nice decor, a mix of old and the more contemporary; stripped back wood and brick which complimented the building itself, with the statement fireplace and central winding staircase, a really lovely atmosphere.

The waiting staff were all that you could wish for and more. Each course was described by the staff as it was served and just as delicious as its very explicit description.

Without being told, our server asked if I was Vegetarian as I had chosen plant based options for both my starter and main courses. Without being asked, two different amuse bouche arrived, one for me and a different one for my husband. It’s little details like this that separate this restaurant from a lot of others and possibly why, on a wet Wednesday evening in November, every table was taken - bar one!

Delicious food, beautiful surroundings, first class waiting staff, everything that we had hoped for and more.

Would...

Is it acceptable to mark down a place due to the toilets? When there are over 40 diners and only 1 customer toilet in the entire premises, and you’re paying over £100 a head for food, I think it is actually. It used to somehow feel a bit less enjoyable when it was The 26 but at least you had 2 toilets then. Now they’ve closed one of the loos. So you have to hang around in some sort of no man’s land purgatory; waiting neither on the stairs nor the landing, but desperately needing a wee (or worse). Food ok for the price. Service kinda ok for the price. Not worth the 5-star prices overall… it’s proper proper expensive … and, oh, have I mentioned one solitary loo between 40+ diners of all genders? EDIT 19/2/23- AFTER TALLOW’S CONDESCENDING REPLY TO MY REVIEW: To insinuate a reviewer has a problem with a toilet being unisex is both rude and very outdated. To imply a customer is a prude when unisex has been standard in many bars and clubs for 20+ years is really not a good look upon your establishment. Unisex is not the problem. One cubicle in a busy expensive restaurant is. 26 diners PLUS all the customers attending the private room hire party upstairs at the chef’s table have to share the one solitary cubicle. It is deceptive of you to suggest it’s not more than 26 people sharing the...