The Warren
Crowborough Warren smoked duck breast, broad beans and garden peas with a pomegranate glaze
AS MY FORK touches the confit of venison haunch it simply falls apart, it is so beautifully cooked. In the background, pianist Chris Bewley is playing something familiar. It sounds like a classical piece, but it turns out to be Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n Roses. Cute.
It’s a Saturday night, and The Warren - at the top of the old High Street in Tunbridge Wells - is buzzing. The restaurant is full and, front of house, manager Magdalena Szczerbova and waiter Finn Crisp are bouncing around like balls in a pinball machine.
Head chef Andras Roflics is away, so the kitchen is being run by sous chef Olivier Thevin who Magdalena worked with years ago at Hotel du Vin. He’s doing a good job, and the diners seem relaxed and happy.
The decor is quirky. We’re sitting in a pair of matching Indian thrones with wooden lions for arms, facing a boar’s head hung on a wall above what looks like an old church pew. From our table we can look up into the orangery, a sort of glasshouse perched above the High Street.
The restaurant is fun, but it has a serious intent too. It’s an extension of the 650-acre Crowborough Warren estate between Crowborough and Upper Hartfield, and it’s a pioneer of local, sustainable dining.
And so the haunch of venison is from the estate just down the road. It sits squarely on a bread dumpling, which in turn rests on a clever mustard and carrot sauce and is decorated with what I think is red-veined sorrel. It’s a pretty dish (£24) and it tells a story.
Venison is the most ethical meat British meat-eaters can eat, because we are being overrun by herds of wild deer. There are around two million of them roaming free - more than there were when William the Conqueror landed in 1066. And the herd is growing in size because they have no predators other than man - and we’re not culling them fast enough. The herd is now so big that it’s causing serious damage to the countryside.
But to get back to the meal. We begin with sparkling wine, a rosé from the Busi-Jacobsohn estate just beyond the Deer Park Cafe outside Eridge. It’s a classic champagne mix: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier - it’s wonderful, and best of all it’s local.
There’s an amuse bouche: honey-tinged goat’s cheese on bruschetta, salty and sweet. Then we order our starters.
The Mrs B opts for Warren smoked duck breast, broad beans, garden peas and a pomegranate glaze (£11.50). I choose breakfast, or at least Warren’s hen egg (the estate tries to use eggs from rescue hens), Mangalista pork from Beal’s Farm in Eridge and mushrooms (£10).
It’s the Mangalista I’m really interested in. It’s an old Hungarian breed, woolly like a sheep. I have never tasted it, but I know that it’s held by some to be the finest pork available. The Spanish would contest that, of course. Their jamón ibérico from the pata negra pig (a cousin of the Mangalista) is also highly prized.
In fact, the Mangalista reminds me so much of the jamón ibérico, I’d be hard pushed to tell the difference. But, once again, it is local: there’s a lot happening around Eridge.
The Crowborough Warren smoked duck is tender and subtly smoked, and it comes with sweet and sour slices of pickled onion as well as broad beans and peas.
Mrs B’s main is harissa-marinated chicken supreme, creamy hummus and summer salad (£19.50). She’s a little particular about her chicken, the Mrs B - she likes it to taste of chicken (unlike many of the supermarket varieties). This one passes the test, and the harissa coating is only mildly spicy.
With the venison - a lean and rich meat - I have a single glass of Love by Léoube an organic wine from Côtes de Provence, which is fresh and acidic, and a tiny pan of Dauphinoise potatoes with Godminster cheddar (£6), which is pure indulgence.
By this time, we had really eaten enough and when Finn offers dessert I tell him I can’t have any because of a condition I suffer from called fattus bastardicus. He has the good grace to smile.
In truth, I don’t have a sweet tooth but I might have tried the lemon and raspberry bavaroise with white chocolate at £9. The bavaroise (or Bavarian cream) is an egg based custard into which whipped cream is folded. I think the citric acid in the lemon would have helped.
I liked The Warren and the local-where-possible ethic of the Crowborough Warren’s owner, Martin Haymes. And I might just pop back for the two-course £22.95 set menu one lunchtime - it looks great value.
The Warren
5A High Street, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent TN1 1UL
01892 328 191
