Featuring stunning views over the southern bank of the River Tay and specialising in tasting menus, The Newport is my favourite restaurant. Bar none. And although this isn’t my first visit to Masterchef Winner, Jamie Scott’s restaurant, and it certainly won’t be the last, this review covers my favourite dining experience with them on every level.

We had their 8 course tasting menu as a Sunday lunchtime treat that lasted around 4 hours.

The first part of the dining experience consists of “snacks”, four small but incredibly delicious little treats, which are the part of The Newport’s offerings that I love the most. It feels like Christmas morning, guessing what these will consist of and always being blown away by the surprises within.

The first snack was my favourite – a Cep Doughnut, soft dough packed with a sweet mushroom filling, coated in a crunchy sugar – I still have no idea how they balanced the flavours here, who knew mushroom would be paired with something sweet and taste so good? Certainly not me until this punched my tastebuds.

The other snacks included a cheese “jammy dodger” cracker, with a sweet jam and top and creamy cheese filling. A beautiful flaky little tart, made with kohlrabi and micro herbs. Then a barbecued mini roast potato, topped with charred onion skin dusting and served with a homemade whipped soft cheese dipping pot.

Now I know this sounds a little absurd, but I would pay to have these little gems alone, without a quibble. They’re bloody divine! And the great news is that their new Cove Bar actually serves some of these little delights on their menu. So if you want to try them on a tighter budget, you can!

We then got a little breadbasket with multigrain crackers and a thick black garlic spread. As well as a generous slice of The Newport Bakery sourdough and salted butter.

Now onto the 8 course tasting menu. That’s right ladies and gentleman, I’ve already rambled on for 300 words of painful detail on the pre-appetisers. We’ve not even actually started the 8 courses yet…

ONE | ‘Our Humble Onion’
Ever the advocate of no waste, Jamie Scott and his team have taken every single little element of one onion, cooked them in a range of ways to bring out different flavours and textures, all to create one dish. Tasting this dish, you would think this has a plethora of different ingredients within it, but no, it’s literally just onions with some oils and seasonings. Even the onion skin is charred and used on the mini baked potato snack I mentioned earlier.
I digress…back to “Our Humble Onion” – genuinely, this was sensational. I really mean it when I say this is the single most delicious savoury thing I have ever eaten, and I’m struggling to actually find the words to describe how incredibly flavoursome the velouté was. Rich, sweet and creamy. I also loved the little theatre addition, with the dish being assembled at the side of the table, taking the top off of the onion, the heart out, before pouring the velouté and oil.

TWO | ‘Early Autumn Offerings’
The second dish was a wonderful mix of mushrooms on top of root vegetable purée. Seasoned well and full of meaty flavours, this was also slathered in a beautiful duck sauce. Adding to the decadence of this plate of food was a side of brioche style crouton, topped with a rich and ironic duck pate, a slither of cured duck and micro herbs.

THREE | ‘Cullen Skink’
A very posh take on Scotland’s renowned dish, Cullen Skink. Now, let me be clear. If you’re looking for the usual large creamy, thick potato infested bowl of smoky chowder which fills you up by the third mouthful, then this is not for you. However, if you appreciate a bit of fine dining pretentiousness and want the classic stunning flavour of smoked haddock and cream, then you’re in the right place. Using local Arbroath haddock, The Newport have very cleverly compacted your typical flavours of a Cullen Skink into what I can only describe as small cylinder fish cakes (reminiscence of a Thai fish cake where you simply combine the meat of the fish only) this may not sound spectacular, but it certainly tasted so. Served with leek velouté and a crispy potato tuile, the combination of textures and colours added a new dimension.

FOUR | Peterhead Landed Hake
Then the second fish dish of the day. A delicate little piece of hake cooked to perfection with a layer of crispy skin, served with a roasted bone cream and herb oil. For additional sweetness, the fish is served with hay baked layered carrot and a smooth spiced carrot puree.

FIVE | Beef Part 1
Onto battle of the beef. Beef Part 1 consisted of a feather blade of beef cooked for whopping 48 hours until fall apart tender, creating a heavenly sauce which coated every bite. Served on a creamy and buttery mash, topped with salt baked celeriac and a crunchy tempura onion ring.

SIX | Beef Part 2
The second beef dish was salt aged beef cooked rare with a homemade tomato puree, sun dried tomatoes, courgette and another delectable sauce. With more of a Mediterranean feel, this was lighter on flavours making it a nice segue into desserts. Although truly delectable, this didn’t compare to Beef Part 1 which I’d genuinely give 10/10. This, I’d maybe give an 8.

SEVEN | Newport Fruits
The first of two desserts was a stone fruit melba and sweet cicely, layered and topped with a custard style cream and micro herbs. This beautiful little work of art had so much flavour and it almost broke my heart tearing into it!

EIGHT | Apple Souffle
Now to the absolute star of the show. This might sound like one hell of a statement, but this was the best dessert I have ever had. I adore apple desserts, but I’ve never had one as brilliantly composed as this.
Light as air apple flavoured souffle, risen to an impressive level, topped with a sweet melted white chocolate disc. The top was sliced open at table side where a beautifully smooth apple caramel was poured into the souffle (which didn’t fall when they did this by the way) giving this dessert another level of incredible flavour. To the side of the souffle was a mini apple crumble with ice cream, giving a beautiful much needed crunch to an otherwise soft dish. And of course a sweet vanilla finish from the ice cream rounded the meal off perfectly.

The Atmosphere

The Newport gives you everything you would expect from a fine dining experience; a romantic ambiance, beautiful views – especially if you are lucky enough to be dining while the sun is setting and a balanced smidge of that plate-pretentiousness we all love when exploring a tasting menu, with the added bonus of some table side theatrics.

The Verdict

There’s no plot twist here folks, there’s a reason I started this review off so strongly. From my very first visit back in 2018, The Newport Restaurant remains my favourite restaurant.

Service 5/5
Drinks 5/5
Food 5/5
Atmosphere 4/5
Value for Money 5/5
Overall Rating 24/25

Information

Address: 1 High St, Newport-on-Tay, DD6 8AB
Telephone: 01382 541449 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNewportRestaurant/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewportrestaurant/
Reservations: https://www.thenewportrestaurant.co.uk/