Opera Tavern

My first awareness of the Salt Yard group was Ben Tish’s recipe for slow-cooked lamb available on the web (since lost). After successfully trying the recipe at home, his restaurants have been high on the list of places to try. The Opera Tavern operates on two floors and I was given a table in the upstairs dining room. The whole place is pretty informal and gets a good buzz going as the evening progresses. The menu lists bar snacks, grilled items and then a fuller list of tapas. All plates sell for less than £10 pounds each. The menu has a number of dishes that sound delicious with the mini Iberico Pork & Foie Gras burger high on everyone's list of recommendations.  Served on the end of a wooden board, it was the first of the four plates ordered to arrive at the table, . The char-grilled burger, topped with cheese and sitting on a bed of onion marmalade was lovely and moist but definitely too small, leaving you needing much, much more. Was also unprepared for  the garlic aioli shooting onto the table at the first firm bite . I couldn’t tell where the foie gras contributed either but, no matter, it was really a really tasty start to the meal. 

Next to arrive was the Italian Scotch egg. This was the low point of the meal. The meat layer around the egg was meagre giving a very poor meat:egg ratio and didn’t do much for it. On the positive side, the egg yolk was nicely liquid. Overall the dish was not a winner. 

If mackerel is on a menu, it’s guaranteed that I have to have it. The Opera Tavern dish was listed as pan-fried mackerel with piquillo and hazelnut sauce, braised celery and apple compote. This was another dish that worked really, really well for me. The other components of the dish combined perfectly with the strong flavour of the succulent mackerel fillet. Very nice indeed. 

That was the end of my first pass at the menu. Desserts didn’t particularly appeal so it was back to the small plates and a golden opportunity to have another of the Iberico Pork burgers.  Second time around after learning to eat it more carefully, the burger tasted even better because all the components were in   the bun  rather than wasted on the table.

Final dish, again from the grilling menu, was the haunch of venison with beetroot. It was delivered as cubes of skewered venison sitting on a beetroot puree on a small wooden board. Nice moist meat and the beetroot worked really well with it. 

Overall verdict
With the exception of the Scotch egg the food was delicious. However, when you're eating by yourself, having plates turning up in random order or more than one at a time is not great. 

Would I revisit Opera Tavern?
 Yes – with company.