Tudor Room at The Great Fosters

Editor's note: in July 2022 it was announced that Tony Parkin will leave in the summer of 2022. 

The building of the Great Fosters hotel in Egham dates back to 1598, set in extensive grounds. The Tudor Room is the flagship restaurant of the hotel, the kitchen led by Tony Parkin. The restaurant has a Michelin star. For background on the head chef, and some analysis of the wine list, please see my previous review. There was a three-course set lunch at £55 or a tasting menu at £130, with the tasting menu in the kitchen at the chef’s table at £160. We opted for the tasting menu today.

The meal began with a set of canapes. Seared tuna loin was topped with mango salsa and sesame oil and garnished with N25 kaluga caviar. This worked well, the tuna working nicely with the caviar, and the acidity of the mango cutting through the richness of the tuna. Also pleasant, if less elaborate, were turbot cheek fritters served with a spicy dip. Best of the canapes were the croquettes of fallow deer supplied by Mike Robinson, the venison meat braised in chipotle with whipped cream and lime. These were lovely, the spheres of venison crisp on the outside with deep meat flavour, the lime providing some freshness (canapes 16/20 average). The canapes were accompanied by a nicely made laminated brioche flavoured with thyme.

The first formal course of the tasting menu was kaluga caviar with kaffir lime, coconut and cauliflower. The caviar was topped with an aerated velouté of cauliflower cooked in coconut milk scented with caviar and lime, finished with kaffir lime zest and puffed rice. The touch lime worked nicely to work against the richness of the caviar and the earthiness of the cauliflower, and the puffed rice gave a contrasting texture (15/20).

Next were slices of raw Orkney scallops with finger lime, ginger, and spring onion, with a spicy Thai hot and sour broth poured over the other ingredients. The scallops were unusually large and had lovely natural sweetness, and the spicy broth was very well judged. There was enough spice to deliver a real bite and to lift the flavour, but not so much as to overwhelm the delicate flavour of the scallops. This was a lovely dish (17/20).

This was followed by white asparagus (from Provence) along with Iberico ham, lemongrass, monk’s beard and maitake mushroom, with a lemon sauce. The asparagus was excellent quality, accurately cooked and complemented well by the ham and mushrooms, the fresh tasting lemon sauce bringing the dish together nicely (16/20).

Fillet of Cornish turbot was from a huge 9.2 kg fish (with turbot, bigger is better in terms of flavour). The fish was roasted and then steamed, served with a sauce of dashi along with turnip juice, smoked eel oil and horseradish. The fish came with pickled apples and turnips and some sea fennel. The fish cookery was precise and the touch of horseradish nicely livened up the sauce (16/20).

Cornish lamb came with morels and green asparagus. The dish was completed by a purée of black truffle and chestnut mushrooms and a lamb jus made from lamb bones, chicken stock, rosemary, port, tarragon and vinegar flavoured with pine nuts. This was the dish of the meal for me, the lamb having lovely flavour and the just in season morels being particularly good. I loved the sauce, with the truffle puree adding an extra dimension of flavour (18/20). 

Pre dessert was yuzu sorbet with salted biscuit, covered with a crisp tuile of chocolate and olive oil. This was refreshing, with the sharpness of the yuzu balancing the richness of the chocolate (16/20). The main dessert was steamed dulce (caramelised milk) sponge with yoghurt sorbet, honey crisps and white chocolate. The steamed sponge seemed just a touch dense in texture to me, though the yoghurt sorbet was quite refreshing (15/20). Coffee was superb Panama Gesha from Difference Coffee. 

Service was friendly and professional, and the dishes came at a steady pace. I was being taken here by a friend so did not see the bill, but if you shared a modest bottle of wine between two and had the short lunch then your bill might come to around £95 or so. At dinner with the tasting menu and wine would realistically set you back more like £180. This was a most enjoyable meal, with particularly top-class ingredients evident and a high degree of technical skill on display, for example with the lovely lamb jus and the carefully controlled Thai broth with the scallops. This is a restaurant that thoroughly deserved its Michelin star.   

Further reviews: 30th Jun 2023 | 09th Jul 2021 | 27th Sep 2019