It’s just Tattu good

High-end contemporary Chinese restaurant serves up a visual treat

MY MUST SEE MOVIE of the year is the embarrassingly accurate portrayal of fine dining that is The Menu. Ralph Fiennes excels as world class chef Julian Slowik who, like his diners, is treating his food journey as if it were his last. This black comedy will resonate with anyone whose worked in a restaurant, not to mention some head in the hands moments for anyone who describes themselves in such cringeworthy terms as a ‘foodie’. No spoilers, but I rather sympathised with Slowik’s contemptuous demeanour and rejoiced at some of his culinary offerings.

The rules for children in restaurants should be the same as for grown ups: eat with your chops shut, be polite to the staff and don’t make a prat of yourself whilst tasting the wine. I was fortunate that my parents took me to great places as a child and decided that I would accept an invitation to Tattu to see how my own offspring coped with a more elegant dining experience.

Needless to say she was excited about the aesthetics alone. As was I, because when receiving Tattu’s booking confirmation it comes with the instructions which amount to no scruffiness, no fancy dress and no balloons at party tables. Quite right too. What’s the point of all that cherry blossom (the most in any

Tattu restaurant, the chap with the wine list informs me) to ruin it with ‘Happy Birthday Margaret’ balloons and people wearing tracksuit bottoms. I did notice one scruff dining in a t-shirt and baseball cap. Dearie me.

We began with a cocktail at the bar. Mixologists Reece and Manny were quite the double act and do more than a bit of tossing the bottles and shakers about. They also share a flat together, which is rather endearing. My daughter tried a mocktail, the Sweet Skullduggery which was served in a smoking skull bottle bubbling away with the addition of dry ice. She was delighted with this and seemed to find her comfort zone sitting at a bar. Apple, tree, not far.

I sampled the Cherry Blossom Negroni and Crouching tiger, an elegant mix of gin, tequila and pink grapefruit, two of the least sweet drinks and was very impressed by both. Although there is a great deal of theatre involved in the concoctions it is clear that the resulting flavour is at the forefront.

Time to dine and the restaurant area is simply stunning and a clever use of mirror means nobody gets a duff seat staring at a blank wall. The cherry blossoms add intimacy as well as prettiness.

We started with three small plates: Crispy salmon sashimi wontons, Sichuan rock shrimp with carrot, sancho pepper and pickle and the star of the show, sesame roasted scallops, Chinese sausage, crushed endame and mint. Not only were there flavour sensations but a pleasing knowledge of texture too.

Caramel soy aged beef fillet with shitake, ginger and asparagus was also delicious and served meltingly tender blue as requested. My only criticism is I’d have liked to see some chunks of egg in the duck egg fried rice.

Desserts are clearly seen as an opportunity for some sculptural art and we opted to share the white chocolate ‘dragons egg’ which with the balance of coconut and zingy mango was as delightful on the palate as the eye.

Naturally all this comes at a price and, yawn, some people will argue that they know a lovely little place, slightly out of town that serves great Asian cuisine for a fraction. Well the ingredients are on the upper end of the scale and goodness knows what they pay to have the blossoms dusted, not to mention the business rates to house them. It’s a treat, particularly the young and joyful service.