The first being that you always get a warm welcome and great service, no matter what. For example, I once visited where there wasn’t a single seat free, the team were clearly rushed off their feet and incredible busy. However, they still came over as we entered, with bright smiles and kind words. And despite being unable to get a seat, I still went away happy to have not been shoo’d out the door. No rudeness here ladies and gents!
And finally, the price – I don’t know how they keep their prices so low in 2024, but every single time I go to pay the bill, I get even further delight by it being around £20 for two people including drinks.
My favourite savoury options are their bagels, generous with fillings and only around £7 each; their bagels are a great choice. Especially the smoked salmon one – three huge slices of smoked salmon with a great balance of rocket and cream cheese!Â
Not to mention their Avo Eggs, just £7.50 for a lavish amount of crushed avocado on soft bloomer toasted bread, topped with perfectly poached eggs, rocket and a feta crumble. For those of you as greedy as me, you also have to add on some halloumi for that extra salty goodness.
📷 Avo Eggs with Halloumi📷 Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagel
Those of you with a sweet tooth and like something on the sweeter side for your breakfast or brunch, then this is the place for you. Their French toast is outstanding, and when I say the portions are generous, I mean it! Prepare yourself for lashings of Nutella, Biscoff or whatever your topping of choice is, with the fluffiest French toast you could ever wish for.
Their pancakes are American style, huge, fluffy and f***ing fabulous, lathered in toppings and sauces. I’m probably the only person in my close group that doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but even with that being the case, I always have to steal a big mouthful (or two) of the sweet dish whoever I am dining with has ordered!Â
📷 Biscoff French Toast📷 Nutella and Berry Pancakes
Now, I’m just going to say it, I hate Starbucks, their coffee is rubbish and they don’t bring us locals anything but high prices and crappy coffee. The Cannon have fresh coffee options that are always lovely, strong and flavoursome, with the option of syrup sweetness or alternative milk – and of course, they do takeaway drinks. They do sensational milkshakes and iced coffees for those of you who love a cold sweet drink too!
📷 Greedy me enjoying their Biscoff Milkshake📷 The Cannon’s Biscoff Milkshake
So, please, ditch your morning coffee conglomerate stop and enjoy incredible takeaway drinks with the comfort of knowing that you’re supporting local 💛
The Verdict
Service 5/5 Drinks 5/5 Food 5/5 Atmosphere 5/5 Value for Money 5/5
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.
📷 Views.📷 The Inside Decor.
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…
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.
📷 Beef Part 1.📷 Beef Part 2.
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!
📷 Newport Fruits, Plating.📷 Newport Fruits.
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.
📷 Apple Souffle, Plating.📷 Apple Souffle.
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
LENNOX EATS 