Opened in 2018, by the team behind Innes & Gunn, 3 Session Street is a locally owned award winning cocktail lounge serving artisan cocktails, beers and wine. They have also, much to my delight, recently launched their brand new menu, consisting of hearty but more elegant plates to pair perfectly with your drink of choice. We were invited to come along and try out their first ever Spring Menu.
Let’s talk about the menu – it’s not too big, and not too small (just call me Goldie Locks) but for me, that’s a big insight into how the food will be. If it’s too big, you’re likely not getting super fresh food. If it’s too small, you’re almost being told what you’re eating without getting to actually choose. Well, 3 Session Street is the proverbial Baby Bear – they’ve got it just right. Still showcasing their pizzas and burgers, there’s options for everyone. But they also have more classic plates like pork belly, steaks, arancini, mussels and pan seared chicken.
Starting off strong I had their Life’s a Peach cocktail. A lovely little mix of Cognac, Maraschino liqueur, peach schnapps, passion fruit puree and lemon juice, topped with Prosecco. Really fruity and delicious.
Dominic tried their rum based cocktail “28 Days Later”, made with rum, cinnamon syrup and pineapple juice, torched at the table and left flaming for a smoky addition. I can see why this cocktail bar is award winning!
📷 Cocktails📷 Bar
Onto starters and my love of mussels, but dietary intolerance to them strikes again – gutted to not have the scrumptious sounding starter, I went for the arancini. Really impressed with how crunchy yet light the outside coating was, and how light and fluffy the risotto inside was. The sauce below was lovely with strong tomato sweetness, balanced with a little hum of heat.
For my main, I had their pan-seared chicken, a slightly healthier option from their mains. The chicken itself was fantastic, an impressive colour on the outside with soft and juicy meat inside, not overcooked at all! The peppercorn sauce was really nice, not too thick but has a lovely creamy consistency. Served with new potatoes and steamed veggies, this might seem like the sides are a bit basic, but to be honest it was ideal – nothing too fancy and nothing coated in oil or butter. I loved it!
Dominic had the steak and ale pie, with seasoned fries and the same veggies my dish came with. The steak was bloody amazing, so much flavour and gravy with cooked down carrots giving it sweetness throughout. For those of you who get on your high horse about “a pie should be cooked as one” then the pastry which is cooked separately and placed on top might not be to your liking, but that gives a nice crunch to the dish and some flakiness to soak up that amazing gravy beneath.
📷 Starters – Arancini and Beetroot Terrine📷 Steak Pie and Pan Seared Chicken
Also a major shout out for their seasoned fries – these are exceptional, so much salty crunch on the outside (without being burnt!!) with a fluffy centre, absolutely piping hot, I wanted a huge bowl of these to myself. So add these on a side when you visit – you won’t regret it!
Desserts were nice and simple – I had strawberry covered strawberries which were a lovely, healthier end to a hearty meal, while Dominic had their lime panna cotta balanced nicely with fresh berries and a sweet little tuile on top.
📷 Lime Panna Cotta📷 Chocolate Strawberries
We’ve actually previously been for cocktails and pizzas, and were blown away with how good they were. I’ve also done two different cocktail classes with them which were both so much fun! They even do cocktail tea parties – so this is the perfect place to celebrate!
The Verdict
Service 5/5 Drinks 5/5 Food 4/5 Atmosphere 4/5 Value for Money 4/5
Starting my Lennox Eats Local Dundee series strong with The Cannon, one of my favourite cafes in Dundee’s City Centre. This beautiful little café is is run by an incredible team of locals. I’ve actually posted about The Cannon on my Instagram page around three times in the one year I have had the page, and to be honest, the third post isn’tlikely to be the last! I absolutely love this café for several reasons.
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!
Another reason this is one of my favourite cafés is their consistency of high standards and great products. I’ve never had a bad experience with their food or drinks. When ordering the same thing, it comes out the same and to cooking (or baking!) perfection each and every time.
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!
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!
📷 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…
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.
📷 The Humble Onion, Set Up.📷 The Humble Onion, Oil Addition.📷 The Humble Onion, Final.
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.
📷 Mix Mushrooms on Root Vegetables.📷 Brioche Crouton with Duck Pate and Cured Duck.
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.
📷 Cullen Skink, Plating.📷 Cullen Skink.
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 