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vampyresheepA few months back, Cecile tipped me off about a Mexican Supper Club that was being held at Talliston House, an incredible work of art that she went to visit earlier in the year. Seemed a good enough excuse to check out this place for ourselves, whilst experiencing a feast of authentic Mexican food - something that's a bit of a challenge to find in this country, as its mostly Tex-mex - in advance of our big trip planned for later this year. (I really should do a post about that too!)
Touted as "Britain's Most Extraordinary Home" (the paper which made this claim has not been to Cecile and Simon's place!), it is the result of 25 years of work by the owner John, who transformed a bland semi-detached ex-council house into a global-themed paradise. Each room has its own theme, recreated from actual spaces discovered by the owners - a 1920's office, a Victorian Haunted Bedroom, a Japanese Teahouse, a New Orleans Kitchen - you enter another world, which you are made to feel welcome to explore. Combining this with a dining experience did make us feel we were in an episode of Come Dine with Me!
We arrived fairly early and were greeted by one of the hosts, who took us through the ground floor of the flat to the Fountain Courtyard at the back where the diners would be gathering for a welcome drink and aperitifs.
In the corner of the courtyard was a little shed, the Cabin, which is let out through AirBnB for overnight stays. One of our fellow diners was staying there that night and we were allowed in to take a look .... I want to come back to stay here!
We got chatting to the other guests as they arrived, which included a lovely, lively group of Mexican ladies who came dressed appropriately for the evening. As it turned out, they were seated on our table (not sure if that was intentional or coincidence) so we had an entire evening of fascinating chatter about Mexico, food, Spanish etc.
After aperetifs,we were led into the dining areas, one group in the Japanese Tea House and our group in the Victorian Watchtower.
unfortunately rather difficult to photograph properly due to the dim lighting!
I attempted to photograph the beautiful food, but as you can see, didn't come out very well on my camera!
so instead, here is the menu
The Tortilla Soup was absolutely divine! Although according to our Mexican companions, not very authentic - although the chef did say that everyone has their own recipe and this was the one she got from her housekeeper when she lived in Mexico City. A spicy, rich, tomato soup, with onion, avocado, strips of crispy tortilla and a big dollop of creamy rich cheese on top.
Next was Ceviche, the dish I was most looking forward to - fresh cod "cooked" by marinating in lime juice. It turned out to be the least exciting dish of the day, nice enough but not sushi-like as I was expecting but instead a cold cooked fish in green sauce. The blue corn tortillas served with it were so more-ish though!
Third course was a citrus salad (not a pork stew as erroneously described in the menu) - light and simple, but delicious - rocket, apple, grapefruit and orange, with a limey, salty dressing.
We then had a break, as they were running behind with the main course, so we all explored the incredible house.
The Norwegian bathroom
The hall of mirrors - just incredible, the photos can't capture this space
the landing area
the Haunted Bedroom - there was a torch left by the door so you could see the incredible detail of this place, designed on the premise that a small boy died here and his spirit remained to haunt the room. You can book to stay here the night too!
The loo! Literally a working throne
The Room of Dreams, apparently based on a guest room at the Alhambra Palace, Granada.
The Office - based on a 1920's New York office
The Cambodian Treehouse Sanctuary. Alas I couldn't get up here, as it neccesitated climbing up a rope ladder and hoisting yourself up through the hatch, so these blurry pics are courtesy of Rob. Better photo on their website here!
We were then called back to resume our meal. The main couse being chicken baked in tamarind and chipotle, with mexican rice and beans. The chef kindly kept the spicy chipotle aside for us to serve ourselves, after I'd mentioned that Rob wasn't fond of spicy food. It was delicious! I love tamarind anyway but this combination was wonderful.
One of the Mexican guests had also brought along a home made chicken mole dish, so that was passed around for us to try too - wow, if I get anything even half as good as that in Mexico, I will be impressed!
Stuffed to bursting by now, we managed to find room for the dessert. Described as lime mousse, it was more a tangy condensed milk creme, with ginger biscuit base and bitter dark chocolate sprinkled on top. Delicious but very sweet indeed!
The whole experience overran somewhat, so we didnt manage to get a coffee, nor a formal tour, as it was midnight by the time we finished eating. After dessert, people started to say their goodbyes. We had a chance for a bit of a chat to the owners about their stunning home, and to the chef about Mexico, then it was time for us to set off home too - with an early start the next day for the Alternative Bring & Buy Sale! Needless to say, I was somewhat broken the next day.
It was an amazing experience. I would like to return sometime for a proper tour and maybe stay the night - not in the Haunted Room though! For those brave enough, they actually do an Interactive overnight experience - Midnight at Ravnsbrae, which includes dinner, breakfast, a mystery to solve and sleep in the Haunted Bedroom - which one of my friends has decided to book up after I posted it on Facebook, will be interested to learn how it goes!
Touted as "Britain's Most Extraordinary Home" (the paper which made this claim has not been to Cecile and Simon's place!), it is the result of 25 years of work by the owner John, who transformed a bland semi-detached ex-council house into a global-themed paradise. Each room has its own theme, recreated from actual spaces discovered by the owners - a 1920's office, a Victorian Haunted Bedroom, a Japanese Teahouse, a New Orleans Kitchen - you enter another world, which you are made to feel welcome to explore. Combining this with a dining experience did make us feel we were in an episode of Come Dine with Me!
We arrived fairly early and were greeted by one of the hosts, who took us through the ground floor of the flat to the Fountain Courtyard at the back where the diners would be gathering for a welcome drink and aperitifs.
In the corner of the courtyard was a little shed, the Cabin, which is let out through AirBnB for overnight stays. One of our fellow diners was staying there that night and we were allowed in to take a look .... I want to come back to stay here!
We got chatting to the other guests as they arrived, which included a lovely, lively group of Mexican ladies who came dressed appropriately for the evening. As it turned out, they were seated on our table (not sure if that was intentional or coincidence) so we had an entire evening of fascinating chatter about Mexico, food, Spanish etc.
After aperetifs,we were led into the dining areas, one group in the Japanese Tea House and our group in the Victorian Watchtower.
unfortunately rather difficult to photograph properly due to the dim lighting!
I attempted to photograph the beautiful food, but as you can see, didn't come out very well on my camera!
so instead, here is the menu
The Tortilla Soup was absolutely divine! Although according to our Mexican companions, not very authentic - although the chef did say that everyone has their own recipe and this was the one she got from her housekeeper when she lived in Mexico City. A spicy, rich, tomato soup, with onion, avocado, strips of crispy tortilla and a big dollop of creamy rich cheese on top.
Next was Ceviche, the dish I was most looking forward to - fresh cod "cooked" by marinating in lime juice. It turned out to be the least exciting dish of the day, nice enough but not sushi-like as I was expecting but instead a cold cooked fish in green sauce. The blue corn tortillas served with it were so more-ish though!
Third course was a citrus salad (not a pork stew as erroneously described in the menu) - light and simple, but delicious - rocket, apple, grapefruit and orange, with a limey, salty dressing.
We then had a break, as they were running behind with the main course, so we all explored the incredible house.
The Norwegian bathroom
The hall of mirrors - just incredible, the photos can't capture this space
the landing area
the Haunted Bedroom - there was a torch left by the door so you could see the incredible detail of this place, designed on the premise that a small boy died here and his spirit remained to haunt the room. You can book to stay here the night too!
The loo! Literally a working throne
The Room of Dreams, apparently based on a guest room at the Alhambra Palace, Granada.
The Office - based on a 1920's New York office
The Cambodian Treehouse Sanctuary. Alas I couldn't get up here, as it neccesitated climbing up a rope ladder and hoisting yourself up through the hatch, so these blurry pics are courtesy of Rob. Better photo on their website here!
We were then called back to resume our meal. The main couse being chicken baked in tamarind and chipotle, with mexican rice and beans. The chef kindly kept the spicy chipotle aside for us to serve ourselves, after I'd mentioned that Rob wasn't fond of spicy food. It was delicious! I love tamarind anyway but this combination was wonderful.
One of the Mexican guests had also brought along a home made chicken mole dish, so that was passed around for us to try too - wow, if I get anything even half as good as that in Mexico, I will be impressed!
Stuffed to bursting by now, we managed to find room for the dessert. Described as lime mousse, it was more a tangy condensed milk creme, with ginger biscuit base and bitter dark chocolate sprinkled on top. Delicious but very sweet indeed!
The whole experience overran somewhat, so we didnt manage to get a coffee, nor a formal tour, as it was midnight by the time we finished eating. After dessert, people started to say their goodbyes. We had a chance for a bit of a chat to the owners about their stunning home, and to the chef about Mexico, then it was time for us to set off home too - with an early start the next day for the Alternative Bring & Buy Sale! Needless to say, I was somewhat broken the next day.
It was an amazing experience. I would like to return sometime for a proper tour and maybe stay the night - not in the Haunted Room though! For those brave enough, they actually do an Interactive overnight experience - Midnight at Ravnsbrae, which includes dinner, breakfast, a mystery to solve and sleep in the Haunted Bedroom - which one of my friends has decided to book up after I posted it on Facebook, will be interested to learn how it goes!