We try The Cross Keys, Dinner by Uovo, restaurant in Malton

The Cross Keys, Dinner by Uovo, is the latest addition to Malton’s food scene. When you walk through the door in Wheelgate it feels like a traditional town pub. But there’s no pool table or darts board. It is, after all, fine dining and the restaurant is gunning for a Michelin star.

I often feel that with fine dining comes pretentiousness. That isn’t the case here. Wax seals keep the menu closed until you choose to browse, but even that doesn’t feel over the top. There’s still a sense that you can walk up to the bar and ask for a drink. It’s nice inside don’t get me wrong, but there’s just something comforting about an old pub that even fine dining can’t take away. 

Inside The Cross Keys, Dinner by Uovo (Image: Abbie Hudson Photography)

I was invited to try the menu’s five course tasting menu. At £60 per head, it’s not cheap. The restaurant’s target market is people out for an occasion - there’re not many that visit twice a week.

The restaurant’s owner and chef, David Tait, knows this. It’s why he opened a fine dining restaurant in the first place.

“We’re trying to focus on locality and quality rather than trying to make a quick buck off people,” he told me before I sat down.

Restaurant manager Matt Stanley and chef/owner David Tait (Image: Dylan Connell)

Once sat, I was given a helpful walkthrough of the menu by restaurant manager Matt Stanley, who knows each dish inside and out. He also has an extensive knowledge of wines, which he's happy to share with those joining for dinner.

After Matt poured me a glass of sparking Langlois Cremant De Loire, my first dish was up - sweet corn panna cotta (£13). This was a sweet corn salsa type dish. The dish usually comes with a brown crab croquette, but this was left in the kitchen since I’m a vegetarian (sorry). Nevertheless, the salsa and sweetcorn blended perfectly together and was the perfect start to the many tastes that were to come.

Sweet corn panna cotta as it usually comes with brown crab croquette (Image: Abbie Hudson Photography)

Next was a fire roasted carrot (£10). This dish showed that David could turn even a carrot into a work of art. It sat alongside a tartelette pastry filled with Yellison goat’s cheese from Bradley, near Skipton, and some of David’s homemade pesto. The goat’s cheese was a perfect addition, and I devoured the dish in no time at all.

It was now time for mains, which meant a new glass of wine from Matt. This time a glass of Taranis Alvarino from Spain.

The fire roasted carrot (Image: Abbie Hudson Photography)

First up was roasted celeriac, champagne velouté and salt and vinegar scraps. The dish usually comes with pan roasted stone bass and mussels (£27), but these were left in the kitchen with the crab from earlier. The vinegar gave a familiar taste – think fish and chips but lighter. It was gone in no time.

Next was pan roasted squash gnocchi (£27). It’s made of honey roasted squash, cavolo nero, whipped goat’s feta and hazelnut pesto. I can sometimes find gnocchi a bit heavy, but the feta brought a light and fresh element to the mix to conteract that. With the dish polished off, I was full but still had room for dessert.

• Read the story behind the restaurant

To finish David prepared his 54 per cent chocolate delice (£11). The chocolate was topped with gold (a nice touch) and came alongside banana sponge, buttered popcorn custard, salted caramel and burnt banana. I thought it was an odd pairing of ingredients initially, but they blended perfectly together. The dish was washed down with a glass of dessert wine from Uruguay and was the perfect end to my evening.

David's 54 per cent chocolate delice (Image: Abbie Hudson Photography)

If you’re planning to celebrate a special occasion, The Cross Keys, Dinner by Uovo, is a great place to do so. Go in with an open mind and you’ll come out with a smile on your face.

The Cross Keys, Dinner by Uovo, can be found at 47 Wheelgate, Malton. It's open Wednesday-Saturday 5pm-10pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.