Tart Restaurant & Bar

After reading that it’d be 50% off food at lunchtime for the first month of opening, I quickly rocked on down to Tart with my eating buddy as the website made it look like an interesting place. I was intrigued by the promise of naughty pictures anyway! It is located about 5 minutes away from Farringdon station and fairly easy to find. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a very warm welcome from the French waiter (he might have been the manager, not sure) and seated halfway into the restaurant. It’s quite narrow but goes far back into the building. The bar is situated near the front of the restaurant with a very glamorous looking chandelier hanging near to the entrance. Halfway through the restaurant were a couple of tables with very colourful, funky seats which is where we were sitting. Further on is another dining room with the toilets downstairs.

The lunchtime menu had a good choice of dishes. Usually, I find that with lunchtime deals, it’s more difficult to find something that you haven’t tried anywhere else. We decided to go for a starter and main each. I had wood pigeon, beetroot puree and pancetta with a chocolate reduction. Sam had a ham hock terrine with pickles and pear chutney. My pigeon was perfectly cooked, still pink and tender in the middle. I was curious as to how the chocolate reduction would work with the dish but the flavours went really well. The sauce was only slightly chocolaty but combined with the deep gamey flavours of the pigeon and the slightly sour flavour of the beetroot, it was just unbelievable! I just love it when you go and eat somewhere and get something where all the things on the plate unite and work perfectly well with each other. It worked texture-wise as well. You have the slightly crispy skin of the pigeon, the tenderness of the meat, the smoothness of the beetroot, the crunch of the salad. I’d say it’s in my top 10 restaurant dishes that I’ve had ever. Sam’s terrine was pretty good too, it was fairly moist (for a terrine) which was nice and I especially liked the pear chutney that came with it.

Almost forgot, the bread was pretty unique. It was a sweet potato bread that they make themselves and it was refreshing to be given a bread that is a bit different. I gobbled it up pretty quickly and I think they realised how much we loved it and gave us a second helping, yay!

Now the mains… I had a slow roasted belly of pork served with cocotte potatoes and roast vegetables. Sam had a chicken breast with mushroom risotto. I think I was slightly disappointed with the mains at the time as the starters we just had were so fantastic but I did enjoy it. I’ve had quite a few belly of pork dishes now so it’s difficult to top the best ones and I think I’m a bit bored of having seasonal vegetables/potatoes with dishes. It’s just a bit too easy isn’t it? Lol. Sam’s chicken with risotto was perfectly cooked but nothing special.

The service is really good here. The French guy was obviously so passionate about his food and came over and recommended things and explained some of the dishes. He was raving on about the Tartinis which are cocktails that taste like desserts. We couldn’t resist and ended up trying two of them….the Lemon Meringue tartini and the Apple Tarte Tatin one. Both delicious and highly alcoholic! They do actually taste like their respective desserts aswell. My favourite was the tarte tatin which came with an apple crisp. The only thing missing is the flaky pastry! Somehow they managed to incorporate the deep caramel flavours and spices into the drink. If you do come here, you have to try one!

With the 50% off, our meal turned into a bargain as the food and drink was very high quality. I think the tartinis alone were £7 for each one. With a starter and a main each, everything came to only £45 which is awesome. I’d definitely come back again but maybe for a treat rather than making it a regular place. Hopefully after reading this review, more people will try it out as I want them to do well!