The Tilbury

If you are looking for simple, great tasting food, then book a table at The Tilbury! We came for a late lunch on Sunday and were impressed with the strong presentation and great tasting food we had here. My roast salt marsh lamb is worth a specific mention! Gastro pub food at its finest! Well done to Paul and his team! Whilst the service was a little slow at times – the staff were friendly and engaging – we really enjoyed it – thank you!

I am writing this review based NOT upon a single visitation, but in relation to a number of visist me and my wife have made to the Tilbury since moving to the area around 6 years ago.
Moreover I feel compelled to write this on the basis that at time of going to press, the Tilbury was scoring 5.70 which is frankly ludicrous.
This gastro pub is in my opinion the most consistent performer within a 10 mile radius for sure.
Not only are signature dishes like the “plate of pork” tirned out to a consistenetly high standard but new ideas and cuts of meat and game appear all the time.
On my last visit – one of the waitresses recommended a “special” which was a cut of meat I had never had before. She told me her dad liked it and “he's very fussy”. Think it was called ingelott?!?!? Bottom line was it was THE best tasting piece of meat I have had this century.
Anyway, if you are in the area, in my opinion, this offers the second best value in this part of Hertfordshire.
Game excellent, beef cuts very good, local produce used across much of the menu. Deserts also do not disappoint which is sometimes easily done in this type of establishment.
Consistently high standard – and is our “default” place to eat when we have nothing in. Only once did i have a poor meal here – and that was a battered fish option.
Stick with local products, lovingly handled, and you cannot go far wrong.

we enjoyed an excellent sunday lunch recently at the tilbury.excellent food well presented from a very good value set lunch menu(its cheaper on weekdays!) attentive and prompt service and whats more comfortable seating, a factor which many pub restaurants in their rush to cut costs appear to disregard, somehow believing that its ok for customers to sit on uncomfortable secondhand chairs rescued from a builders skip.we have re-booked for dinner as the a la carte menu and daily specials look enticing.

Just been back to the Tilbury with some friends and having been luke warm about the place following a lunch a couple of months ago, wow it's back on form! Best meal I've had in a while. Paul Bloxham bases the menu on local and British produce which changes according to what's in season. There's usually a good choice of specials in addition to the relatively short menu.

We'd previously loved the place (the wife and I) which is why we'd been so disappointed last time but the menu on Saturday was fantastic – great choice for all tastes. Specials ranged from a whole Scottish lobster thermador for £26, a choice of locally produced beef (28 day hung beef rib for £22 and fillet for £24), while included on the menu were high quality bangers and mash, crab salad and a plate of pig. I'm sure there was stuff for vegetarians but I'm not particularly interested in that!

My starter was mutton prosciutto from the lake district with rocket and goats cheese mouse which was absolutely stunning – simple but unbelievably tasty and more than a sum of its parts. Main course was the plate of pig, which I'd had before but they've changed it slightly and again a triumph. A piece of tender fillet with some crackling and a piece of pork belly, accompanied by lovely mustard mash, a tartlet of green vegetable (I think it was spinnach) which was slightly spicy (lovely flavour) and some apple sauce. A wonderful dish. I don't normally go for dessert but the sticky toffee pudding looked too good to miss and it was!

My friends had a starter of norfolk asparagus – reported to be fantastic, cooked beautifully in a lovely sauce (that's one for the veggies!) and fillet of beef, also reported to be excellent. It certainly looked perfectly cooked to order. One more went for the pig and also loved it.

We took Paul Bloxham's recommendations for the wine – started with a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon, which he said he was now buying instead of Cloudy Bay as he thinks it's better. Not sure about that but equally as good and an excellent choice. For red we were recommended a South African blend (even the bottle keeps it secret) by Paul. We would never choose South African red usually but this was really good – so much so that we had a second bottle!

Service was very attentive but not in your face. Atmosphere good – maybe a little loud but better than too quiet!

Overall cost for 4 (including 3 bottles of wine) was £65 per head inlcuding tip. Not cheap but excellent value for the quality of the food and wine. Go and see for yourself but do book in advance at the weekend.