The crocuses are out, the birds are singing and even the daffodils are showing willing. Is it tempting fate then, to say that spring is on the way? Is it too soon to start dreaming of summer, of long walks in the evening sun, of icy cold glasses of rosé and fish suppers on the beach?
Well, the weather may not have got the memo just yet and I’m not quite ready to brave the windy sand dunes but this week I was very much in the mood for fish and chips and it just so happens that theTailend, St Andrews has opened a new branch in Dundee.
This popular take away and restaurant has taken over the building of the old ‘Deep Sea’ chippy and has completely transformed the interior. The smart new frontage gives way to a fresh take-away counter on the ground floor and stairs then lead down to the restaurant below.
Although in the basement, The Tailend have made use of the windows on one side of the building, filtering in natural light where they could. The layout is very clever as there seems to be pockets of tables around every corner giving the feeling of intimacy.
Now I know I said I was in the mood for fish and chips but I was so pleasantly surprised by the lunchtime menu that I was actually drawn away from tradition and sampled two different varieties of the tacos – the Cajun sea bass and the blackened salmon.
The base of each dish is a warm corn taco that actually has a lovely nutty flavor in itself and is a long way from the bland, anaemic varieties found in supermarkets.
The other similarities between the two are the garnishes of guacamole and red slaw. I am not a fussy person by any means but the one thing I don’t like is mayonnaise, because of this, I asked for the tacos without the slaw and explained my dislike of the horrid white stuff.
I fully expected to miss out on one of the components of the dish, what arrived though were the tacos with “naked slaw” – this was a great touch in my opinion as real effort had been made not only by the chef in taking extra time to complete the dish but also by the waitress for explaining to the kitchen and not simply noting down ‘hold the slaw’. It is little details of customer service like this that people remember and I was impressed.
The main event in each dish was, of course, the fish and both the sea bass and the salmon were fresh and cooked well with crispy skin. The combination of salmon and mango and sea bass with Cajun spices were lovely and I devoured both tacos with gusto. At £4 each and an offer of two with a portion of chips for £9.75 I think these are great value for real flavours.
My friend went old-school and chose the house fishcakes. They were golden and crunchy and deep, nothing remarkable about them but familiar and satisfying. This dish came with salad, tartare sauce and chips – as in proper chip shop, no messing, chunky potato chips, the kind I would drench in malt vinegar and eat despite the fact they are still too hot. It was a relief that the restaurant served the same chips as the take away as that could have caused major disappointment.
We ordered good old mushy peas as a side as well as a heritage tomato salad with balsamic reduction. Both were simple and as described with no surprises, not that we wanted any.
Tailend is a smart, modern take away and restaurant which offers quality food and great service with a few interesting twists along the way. Most importantly though, it served proper chips.
Info
Price: Small dishes from £3.50; mains: £7.25 – £11.50; desserts: £2 – £4.75
Value: 8/10
Menu: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Food: 8/10
Total: 38/50
Info: The Tailend
Address: 81 The Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4DH
Tel: 01382 229 990
