The Loch & The Tyne | Old Windsor (UK)

It’s not often that you really enjoy every bit of a tasting menu.
This was one of those few happy occasions!

Driving through Old Windsor in Berkshire and arriving at the restaurant in one of the back lanes, it sure looked familiar. And then it struck me, this is where The Oxford Blue used to live! Covid made Steven and Ami Ellis, who owned the restaurant since 2015, put it up for sale in 2020. It was bought by Adam Handling a year later and opened as The Loch & The Tyne by Adam Handling on May 17th 2021. The Ellis’s since started a new adventure at The Baliwick in Egham by the way.

Born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1988, London-based Chef Adam Handling has been running sustainably-minded restaurants in London since 2016. Building a reputation as a low waste champion. After surviving the Covid troubles, mainly thanks to this home delivery business “Hame”, The Loch & The Tyne is his first plunge outside the capital.

Although Adam Handling’s name is above the door, The Loch & The Tyne is run and co-owned, by Adam’s longstanding cohorts Steven Kerr and Jonathan McNeil. Steven first worked with Adam in Newcastle in 2008 and Jonny in St. Andrews in Scotland in 2010. So, he put Loch (a Scottish lake) and Tyne (the river going through Newcastle) together and made them cross each other’s paths in the name and logo of the restaurant.

The Loch & The Tyne is a food-driven pub, with the low waste and sustainability ethos written all over it. Meat and dairy are sourced as locally as possible, while herbs, fruit and vegetables are mostly from the kitchen garden. A spacious, modern country pub with a large outdoor terrace. Exposed brickwork, comfy leather chairs and mahogany tables inside, with a relaxed vibe and hints of Highlands style.

Food is served at The Loch & The Tyne on Tues (only for Dec) & Wed 5pm-10pm, Thur-Fri 12pm-3pm & 5pm-10pm, Sat 12pm-10pm and Sun 12pm-6pm. Besides à la carte, they offer a set lunch menu (2 courses at £27, 3 courses at £35), Sunday lunch menu and a 6-course tasting menu (at £55), with a vegetarian option (at £50).

We had dinner on a Friday about a month ago and had the 6-course tasting menu.

A warm and beautifully airy sourdough with a proper crust. But that butter! Crispy chicken crackling on top with celestial chicken juices on the side. I finger-lickingly love it!

With the bread come a selection of snacks. A packed with flavour BBQ beef tartare with hints of spice and citrus, garnished with garden herbs and grated confit. Haggis Scotch egg with brown sauce. Disappointed it was only a half one each 😋. That earthy Haggis addition was just genius! And to top it off, Adam handling’s signature cheesy doughnut, just oozing indulgence!

Next was a surprising and peculiar blob, wrapped in wafer-thin salt-baked celeriac covered with nori powder, called Mother. Filled with egg yolk, which was confit for 12 hours, truffled cream cheese, walnuts, dates and fresh green apple, topped with cep powder and a generous shower of black truffle. Sharp stabs of lime with chive and leek oil balancing the flavours to a tee. “Starting to like vegetarian dishes!”, I said while stuffing my face with the next spoonful.

A great selection of locally sourced black truffles. Seeing this made me buy that microplane grater myself to impress dining guests at home with freshly grated truffle!

Second course was the lobster rarebit omelette. Yet another empyrean dish! Eggs from St Ewe farm in Tregony slowly cooked in salted butter, playing with generous chunks of Cornish lobster from Newlyn in a bath of a gratinated sauce of rarebit and hollandaise. Could do with a touch of salt and black pepper, but I’m nitpicking, while utterly enjoying this majestic dish! 

A small piece of plaice with a crunchy coating, cooked in butter. Topped with a capers, parsley and zingy lime salsa. Served with creamy mashed potato and a punchy anchovy emulsion. Accompanied with a gorgeous, almost like a bouillabaisse light, lobster sauce.

Confit pork fillet cooked for 12 hours, pressed and then crisped up. Served with cauliflower in all its glory, with florets roasted in yeast powder, purée from the stalks and kimchi from the cauliflower leaves served as an emulsion. Peppery notes of cayenne and zing from the kimchi emulsion. Dusted with yeast powder and ash powder. So much flavour in this dish!

For a ￡5 supplement you can add cheese on toast to the tasting menu. Baron Bigod, a luscious Brie-de-Meaux style cheese made in the UK, on toasted sourdough with a drizzle of honey for a touch of sweetness, covered with black truffle which is grated at the table. A gracious bite in all its simplicity. I stole this idea and served it to some dinner guests the other day. They loved it too!

Pre-dessert was served in a frozen stone bowl. Mix berry sorbet with pickled elderberries. Nice, but quite sweet for a palet cleanser.

Next was dessert. A cheesecake-like base from yoghurt and liquid shortbread, with blackberry jam in the center and dusted with cocao powder. A fresh blackberry on top together with a quenelle of blackberry sorbet. Excellent flavours and textures, beautifully made.

And to top it all of a raspberry jelly and a white chocolate & passionfruit bonbon. What a gracious end to a sublime dinner!

Service was ok, but the guys coming out of the kitchen, explaining their dishes, while graciously grating showers of black truffle, where excellent and a joy to watch.

It’s not often that you really enjoy every bit of a tasting menu. This was one of those few happy occasions! Not only great skill clearly on display here, but I also admire the synergy between the array of elegant dishes. The eco and zero-waste ethos is discrete, as are the Scottish vibes, in this casual fine dining restaurant hiding down some lane in Old Windsor. Make sure to go and find it!