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The eponymous 63 Tay Street restaurant of a street of that ilk in bucolic Perth, is the place to head for in that area, before you tackle the real highlands of Scotland. Situated on the wrong side of the road flanking the river Tay (so you can't really get a good view of it), this is a busy, local restaurant - one of the best in the area, so it's going to be wise to book in advance.
Jeremy and Shona Wares had spent enough time working for others in top class catering establishments, when they decided to set up on their own in their native Scotland five years ago. They quickly built up a reputation for savvy food and wine at savvy prices and their small, rectangular dining room plays host to an increasing number of savvy locals and tourists alike.
The Dinner Menu has about five starters, five main courses and five desserts, with an additional three dishes after the starter section called "to follow". However, you can really have anything from any section - it's all very flexible - and you are charged according to how many courses you have - 2 courses £20.95, 3 courses £25.50 and 4 courses £27.95. Presumably you could have more and you would probably get an even better price per course. But Jeremy's portions are designed for rugby players. There is a £3 supplement for the fillet of beef, but presumably it's there to persuade the gastronomically unwashed to try something else.
Starters may include a chicken liver and foie gras parfait with onion chutney and toasted brioche - very smooth with the onion chutney setting off a nice bit of spiciness against the parfait. Or seared scallops with herb salad, lentil and coriander sauce - a dish we have seen elsewhere in a similar format, but nevertheless, extremely well executed by Jeremy. Apart from the fillet of beef with shallot purée, spring vegetables and thyme jus, both loin of Glen Isla venison with braised red cabbage, and fillet of halibut with crushed potatoes, spinach, fennel and hollandaise showed a deal of accuracy in their execution.
Home-made sorbets and ice creams show good intensity of flavour, whilst rhubarb crème brûlée with a rhubarb sorbet is a great combination of two rather boring ingredients to prove that 2 + 2 can sometimes make 5. Other desserts are strictly for the trencherman.
The lunch menu (two courses £12.95, three courses £15.50) can include as starters, a wild garlic and potato soup with crème fraîche, or steamed Shetland mussels with chilli, coriander and ginger, a welcome change from boring old moules marinières. Other exotica on the main courses feature marinated leg of lamb with aubergine pesto, mash, rocket and rosemary jus.
Jeremy and Shona Wares had spent enough time working for others in top class catering establishments, when they decided to set up on their own in their native Scotland five years ago. They quickly built up a reputation for savvy food and wine at savvy prices and their small, rectangular dining room plays host to an increasing number of savvy locals and tourists alike.
The Dinner Menu has about five starters, five main courses and five desserts, with an additional three dishes after the starter section called "to follow". However, you can really have anything from any section - it's all very flexible - and you are charged according to how many courses you have - 2 courses £20.95, 3 courses £25.50 and 4 courses £27.95. Presumably you could have more and you would probably get an even better price per course. But Jeremy's portions are designed for rugby players. There is a £3 supplement for the fillet of beef, but presumably it's there to persuade the gastronomically unwashed to try something else.
Starters may include a chicken liver and foie gras parfait with onion chutney and toasted brioche - very smooth with the onion chutney setting off a nice bit of spiciness against the parfait. Or seared scallops with herb salad, lentil and coriander sauce - a dish we have seen elsewhere in a similar format, but nevertheless, extremely well executed by Jeremy. Apart from the fillet of beef with shallot purée, spring vegetables and thyme jus, both loin of Glen Isla venison with braised red cabbage, and fillet of halibut with crushed potatoes, spinach, fennel and hollandaise showed a deal of accuracy in their execution.
Home-made sorbets and ice creams show good intensity of flavour, whilst rhubarb crème brûlée with a rhubarb sorbet is a great combination of two rather boring ingredients to prove that 2 + 2 can sometimes make 5. Other desserts are strictly for the trencherman.
The lunch menu (two courses £12.95, three courses £15.50) can include as starters, a wild garlic and potato soup with crème fraîche, or steamed Shetland mussels with chilli, coriander and ginger, a welcome change from boring old moules marinières. Other exotica on the main courses feature marinated leg of lamb with aubergine pesto, mash, rocket and rosemary jus.
... There’s and a butternut squash risotto with pesto dressing to satisfy any Scottish vegetarian Italophile. But, of course, there is the mandatory supplement (£2 this time) for the beef eaters. Desserts are just a smaller selection of what is available on the dinner menu (and the cheese selection is limited to three - more in the evening), but all in all, this is terrific value for first class cuisine that doesn't pretend in any way to reach the heights aspired to by Andrew Fairlie.
Value is also apparent in the Special Dinner Menu (Tuesday-Thursday) (for parties of up to 8 people), which takes a combination of some of the lunch time dishes and some of the dinner dishes at a price of £16.50 for 2 courses and £20.00 for 3 courses. This has worked very well for them in encouraging customers to come during the week, where they can eat for less, although the regular dinner menu is also available. Of course, it goes without saying that there is no beef on this menu!
Service, well led by Shona Wares, is very friendly and professional and customers obviously feel at ease when eating in this small, modern, bright, rectangular restaurant.
The wine list is fairly short, but there is a choice of good quality wines, at all prices, that you don't normally see in every high street. Four entry-level white and four red wines, a Champagne, a dessert wine and a rosé make up the "House Selection" but it pays to be more adventurous than that. However, Domaine Rieflé Pinot Blanc 2004, at £15.75 and Odfjell's Cabernet Sauvignon "Babor" 2003 from Chile, at the same price are eminently drinkable wines from that selection. Wine prices are gentle.
Restaurant Ratings...
Food 41
Winelist 15
Service 9
Ambience 5
Value for money 13
Total 83
63 Tay Street 63 Tay Street, Perth, Perthshire PH2 8NN. Tel: 01738 441451 Fax 01738 441461. www.63taystreet.co.uk
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
Closed: 2 weeks Christmas, last week June, first week in July.
Credit cards: Visa Mastercard, Diners, Amex
Fixed price menus: £12.95 to £15.50 lunch, £16.50 (Tues. - Thurs.) to £27.95 dinner. Service at customer's discretion. No smoking.
Value is also apparent in the Special Dinner Menu (Tuesday-Thursday) (for parties of up to 8 people), which takes a combination of some of the lunch time dishes and some of the dinner dishes at a price of £16.50 for 2 courses and £20.00 for 3 courses. This has worked very well for them in encouraging customers to come during the week, where they can eat for less, although the regular dinner menu is also available. Of course, it goes without saying that there is no beef on this menu!
Service, well led by Shona Wares, is very friendly and professional and customers obviously feel at ease when eating in this small, modern, bright, rectangular restaurant.
The wine list is fairly short, but there is a choice of good quality wines, at all prices, that you don't normally see in every high street. Four entry-level white and four red wines, a Champagne, a dessert wine and a rosé make up the "House Selection" but it pays to be more adventurous than that. However, Domaine Rieflé Pinot Blanc 2004, at £15.75 and Odfjell's Cabernet Sauvignon "Babor" 2003 from Chile, at the same price are eminently drinkable wines from that selection. Wine prices are gentle.
Restaurant Ratings...
Food 41
Winelist 15
Service 9
Ambience 5
Value for money 13
Total 83
63 Tay Street 63 Tay Street, Perth, Perthshire PH2 8NN. Tel: 01738 441451 Fax 01738 441461. www.63taystreet.co.uk
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
Closed: 2 weeks Christmas, last week June, first week in July.
Credit cards: Visa Mastercard, Diners, Amex
Fixed price menus: £12.95 to £15.50 lunch, £16.50 (Tues. - Thurs.) to £27.95 dinner. Service at customer's discretion. No smoking.
