Yee Gan O.
Yelp
Michelin seem to have a formula in awarding their Michelin stars. While I think that they're trying to be a little more broad-minded in their choices these days, I can still see similarities in Michelin starred establishments that I've dined in
I spotted Restaurant Tristan on a previous trip to dine at Wabi across the street. The menu straightaway caught my eye with its array of tempting ingredients cooked in a modern fashion and a perusal of their wevsite confirmed modern fine dining presentation
So, when the opportunity presented itself to make a visit to Horsham again, I made a point to book here for dinner. My only regret about this meal was that I was unable to coordinate to share the meal with my almost local Yelp fine dining friend Gemma G
Horsham seems to be a sleepy but quite large market town in West Sussex. A slight word of warning that the town is a little mazey and your satnav or at least my satnav can get confused. The restaurant entrance is actually on East Street. There is some street parking available on East Street but I'd recommend aiming for Piries Place car park which is clearly signposted coming into town - there's the added bonus that it's free to park there in rthe evening and it's only a short walk to the restaurant from there
For a supporter of local businesses, I found East Street a little depressing in that it's full of chain restaurants but at least they have 2 shining stars in Wabi (Japanese) and Restaurant Tristan to get behind and support
I received a warm welcome on my arrival and was shown upstairs to the dining room. I love the old exposed wood everywhere and the restaurant has a lovely historic feel to it. Although it was a wet Wednesday evening, the restaurant filled up quickly through the evening
Though Horsham is slightly off the beaten track, I suspect the local population are quite affluent and able to sustain a fine dining restaurant. However, I was very impressed at how Restaurant Trsisan is attempting to cater to all pockets, big and small, through its various menus
They have 2 a la carte menus, priced at £20 and £40 for 3 courses respectively. However, I was of course drawn to the 5 course tasting menu, which cost £55. In fact, my love of tasting menus has made me think that perhaps I should change my nickname to 'tasting menu'!
It was nice to have a small bowl of oilives to munch on while perusing the menus. The bread arrived first and I was intrigued by the 2 butters, which were already on the table. When I tried the darker one, it was a pow moment - packed with umami flavour and utterly delicious. I had to enquire from the waiter what it was - mushroom truffle butter. It was one of the most delicious things of the evening and it was under-sold by the restaurant - if you do visit and it's still on the table, make sure you try it!
1. Amuse bouche of confit salmon with cauliflower veloute
A generous portion. Lovely light veloute with rich salmon. I may perhaps suggest the addition of a little lighter salmon, perhaps as sashimi or lightly seared to keep the lightness of the dish
2. Crab, compressed cucumber, pink grapefruit, creme fraiche
A quenelle of lovely fresh white crabmeat augmented by sweet and slightly acidic grapefruit and the creme fraiche adding creaminess. Fine dining chefs are compressing everything at the moment - it makes the vegetable or fruit translucent and concentrates the flavour
3. Cured foie gras, chamomile, prune puree
The foie gras came out with an almost parfait consistency - nice to spread onto the toasted brioche with the other ingredients
4. Sea bass, cured venison, celeriac, cep, autumn truffle
Nice to see seasonal ingredients truffle and cep on the menu. The salty venison was a good foil for the sea bass
5. Lamb saddle & pastilla, Israeli couscous, smoked aubergine
For main course, I chose lamb over partridge. Lovely tender lamb with giant grains of couscous
6. Ruby Murray
For those unfamiliar with Cockney rhyming slang, Ruby Murray is curry. Yup, curry for the dessert course! What arrived was a slate of saffron ice cream, coriander rice pudding, almond cake and mango sauce
From the photos, you can see that presentation was top notch and very modern. Besides my palate telling me that there was a slight under-seasoning (possibly because I had a cold on the evening that I dined here), the dishes were well thought out and executed.
I wasn't surprised to find out that Restaurant Tristan were among a raft of new restaurants awarded their first Michelin star for 2013.
People of Horsham, you're very lucky that Tristan Mason decided to set up his restaurant in your town. If you have £20 to spare, please don't spend it in a soul-less corporate chain restaurant. Instead, come here for 3 course of Michelin starred food!
