This review is for the recent pop up for Tata Eatery that was upstairs of the Newman Arms, serving a creative and inspiring twist to Japanese and oriental dishes.
The only impression I got of the service at the Newman Arms itself was pretty bad. How can a member of staff watch me go into the direction of the male toilets and not say anything. Very rude.
However service was great upstairs, friendly and welcoming. I almost felt I entered someone's home with the warm hospitality.
On the menu that evening were a variety of small dishes, designed so you can order many to share and prices were more than reasonable to accommodate this, ranging from £2-£5 only.
Congee
They started us with something light to refresh and hydrate our palate. I can honestly say it was the best congee I've had outside Hong Kong. It was packed full of flavour, made from a high quality chicken stock. This gave it umami and a good contrast in textures from the crispy chicken skin and the chewy dough sticks soaking up all the lovely savoury notes. The greens gave it nice earthiness and the thinness made it easy to consume like soup.
Shime Saba.
Cured mackerel, sweet daikon and soy dressing. I almost mistaken the daikon for onions because they were so incredibly sweet and soft. It was very appetising with the mackerel giving great flavour without being fishy in taste being very fresh. This resulted in a lovely firm and bouncy texture too. The sourness was pleasant, balanced perfectly with soy and sugar.
Prawn tartare.
The prawns and pickled greens were all chopped to similar size giving the dish a lovely bite with the various textures. The pickled greens was a very creative way to flavour the prawns, lifting its flavour and egg yolk to wrap everything together in a lovely rich creaminess. Tobiko bursting in every bite to salt it and a sweet nuttiness from the sesame.
Rice
No ordinary rice but cooked with house dressing that added umami to it. I could have easily had 2-3 bowls of this alone.
Aubergine braised in black bean sauce.
This was very tasty and nothing like what you get in takeaways. The aubergine were probably deep fried first until completely soft and silky and then braised in a oyster sauce soy sauce mixture then topped with fried shallots. The flavours were homely and seasoned perfectly. Love the soft textures paired with the crispy shallots
TATA egg
Inside were clumps of XO sauce made mainly of dried scallops, dried shrimps snd garlic. It was salty but scattered scarcely so you get burst of umami and flavour against the silky egg. The katsuobushi aided the seafood flavour. Have with rice for a balance of flavour.
Cuttlefish.
I was so fascinated with this dish I just had to find out how such amazing flavours were put together. After hearing I realise the chef must have had some creative talent to pull it off.
Beautifully fresh tender strips of cuttlefish in hot emulsified butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar, garlic, herbs and onions and then mixed in with yeast, butter and cod stock. It was then drizzled with cuttlefish ink to create a light creamy complex broth against the cuttlefish to accentuate the seafood flavours. Pure talent.
Butifarra
A homely dish made of pork and rice sausage and preserved turnips tops minced together then stir fried before being rearranged into a loose circle patty and a sunny side up placed on top. The preserved turnip tops did most of the seasoning sending a lovely salty pickled flavour throughout the whole dish. The sausage gave a lovely bounce and rice soaking up all the lovely juices and keeping the flavours intact. The egg gave it a nice yolky finish.
Ferments
A good selection of turnips, carrots, cucumbers and cauliflower lightly pickled so you can still taste the individual vegetable and its crunchiness. Refreshing.
Ricecream
So incredibly smooth! It was lovely and light but without taking any creaminess away. To add another layer of depth it was sitting on rice cream mixed in with olive oil and the zest and juice of bergamot sending lovely floral bitter sweet notes and a lovely olive flavour across the ricecream. The flavours were very new and unusual but delicious. Nice shaving of dark chocolate to add another layer of sweet bitterness.
I fell in love with Tata Eatery. Each dish had its own surprises making everything feel new and exciting. Flavours and textures I have never experience before with the ingredients used. It was almost like I entered a completely new cuisine although there was familiarity too. Prices were more than affordable too although for the same quality people have charged over triple their prices. But honest prices follows loyalty and humbleness and staff conveyed this with their kind level of service. We learnt so much and they were more than happy to share with you everything they know. Can't wait to see where their next pop up lies. read more