The Talbot Hotel Malton Review Dan Graham’s Incredible Nine Course Tasting Menu

Talbot Hotel Malton Review
We were fortunate to visit The Talbot Hotel in Malton to experience Head Chef Dan Graham’s Spring nine course tasting menu in their two AA Rosette Restaurant.
Situated within the centre of Malton, which has been described as ‘Yorkshire’s Foodie Capital’ sits the grand Talbot Hotel. Once inside The Talbot is welcoming and cosy with period features, open fires, a relaxed bar and brasserie area and their more formal Wentworth Restaurant. Previous home to celeb chef James Martin, Dan Graham took the reins in 2015, bringing a taste of modern British cooking and making full use of the many independent food producers Yorkshire has to offer. Including Malton’s very own ‘Made in Malton’ producers. With Dan being a finalist and runner-up in the BBC series of Master Chef: The Professionals, training at Roux restaurants in London and working for such well known establishments as Le Gavroche, we were very excited for the meal ahead.
         
At £69 for the nine course tasting menu, Restaurant Manager David McDonald explained,

“Our ethos is to utalise local, fresh and seasonal produce. With the price of food rising our tasting menu allows us to showcase outstanding produce on our doorstep at an affordable price”.

We started off with an amuse bouche of char-grilled Wye Valley asparagus with a slow cooked hen’s egg and hollandaise sauce. The asparagus was perfectly crunchy and delicious with the soft yolk and sharp spike from the hollandaise. Keeping it simple to showcase the seasonal asparagus with very moreish accompaniments.

Freshly baked cheese bread with marmite butter and pickled shallots arrived next. The warm cheese bread smelled amazing and the contrast between the savoury marmite butter and sweet sharp pickled shallots worked perfectly.

The next course was one of my favourites of the evening and was true to David’s comments about the quality of the produce on the menu.  Beautifully presented tender 50 day salt aged Dexter beef tartare with beetroot rye, pickled beetroots, onions, capers, wasabi and wild garlic. Wow, food heaven. I wanted to eat it again. The depth of flavor from the diced fillet was incredible!

With the chefs bringing each dish to the table to explain the produce and cooking processes involved it already felt like more of an experience than another meal out, but the next course took the evening to another level. A bowl of hay, yes hay, arrived to the table with the chef creating a dry ice effect. Accompanying our ‘Hay baked Yorkshire Carrots’ with homemade ricotta, carrot jam and carrot ketchup, this bit of theatre was homage to British farmers. Farmers store carrots encased in hay and on cold winter mornings they can sometimes see a fine mist coming from the carrots, with their natural warmth escaping from the hay. The carrot jam packed an amazing kick, perfectly paired with the silky ricotta.
          
Although onto our fifth course we didn’t feel over-faced, the portions were just right to enjoy each dish. Again beautifully presented, the ‘Wester Ross Salmon’ with oyster emulsion, parsley foam, sea herbs and rye was delicious. Fresh, light and complimented by delicately salty herring’s eggs, capers and samphire.  Served first with nasturtium leaves and an oyster emulsion we we’re advised to eat this before our salmon, another explosion of flavor that paired perfectly to the salmon dish.
         
‘Loin of Holme Farmed Venison’ with teriyaki, mushrooms and wild rice arrived next. A generous piece of melt in the mouth tender venison worked well with the rich teriyaki and crunch of the wild rice.

Being greedy and so impressed with the food so far we didn’t want to miss out on the optional cheese course. Perhaps the best ‘cheese on toast’ you can ever experience. Tunworth cheese on Malton’s own Blue Bird Bakery sourdough served with Canadian minus 8 vinegar and freshly grated Italian truffle. Sous Chef Chris explained the minus 8 vinegar being more like a wine, aged in French barrels and made of grapes picked at only -8 degrees.

Still happy in foodie heaven it got even better with this next course described only as ‘Talbot Waldorf’. Celery and apple sorbet with celery and apple ketchup, fermented grape and sprinkles of candied walnuts. My mouth is watering just thinking about this dish again. I wanted to pick the plate up at the end and tip the rest in my mouth. Far from just a palate cleanser but one of the most interesting dishes of the evening.

Another exciting dish next of ‘Sea Buckthorn’ which comes from orange berries in certain thorn bushes. The sea buckthorn was encased within a tart that looked too good to eat, with a buckwheat base, fresh rose petals, Italian meringue and rose sorbet which tasted exactly how it smelled. The sea buckthorn itself was really hard to describe, a completely unique and interesting flavor of its own. A number of impressive ingredients in this dish I’d never tried before.

After trying many ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ desserts over the last three months I have to say that this was one was of my favourites, if not the best. Beautifully presented with different colours and edible flowers. The custard tart had a ginger split pastry bottom, topped with creamy meringue and perfectly poached Yorkshire rhubarb. The micro coriander perfectly paired with the the rhubarb and ginger sorbet.

We were so impressed not only with the food on offer in such a beautiful setting, but also with The Talbot’s friendly, passionate and knowledgeable chefs and waiters. It is the perfect foodie escape. We can’t wait to go back to treat ourselves to a sleep and dine experience and wander around ‘Yorkshire’s foodie capital’.
Find out more about The Talbot Hotel Malton and their current offers.
Find out about the Made in Malton Food Tour.
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