We tried MasterChef star’s taster menu at Dante’s Brasserie

But that is exactly what I was able to enjoy when highly-acclaimed Arbinder Dugal offered up a special taster menu in Essex.

Dugal reached the semi-finals of MasterChef: The Professionals, and is a Roux Scholarship semi-finalist.

Dante’s Brasserie, in Maldon, was the location for the limited edition taster dining experience.

As it was a taster menu the portions are small but there are many portions and, for that matter, many flavours.

And at £105 it does set you back a pretty penny. So was it worth the outlay?

The ambience

I arrived just at just after 6pm on a Saturday evening; outside it is cold and dark, but the owner, Mario, exudes a warm presence.

There is a retro feel to the place – it is tastefully decorated.

The music, which features Antonio Carlos Jobim’s famous song, Águas de Março, makes for a charming accompaniment.

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The food

Now on to the food.

The first dish is oven-baked escargot with a parsley and garlic butter, and there is Maldon oyster alongside it for good measure.

Immediately I am posed with a dilemma – how am I supposed to describe how escargot tastes, when it is unlike anything I have tasted before?

The best way I can do it justice it to say it is richly flavoursome.

The Maldon oyster – which is more familiar to the palate – is an excellent translation into taste of the pleasant sights and scents of the seaside.

There are only two other diners in the restaurant for the first 20 minutes or so, and conveniently for me, they arrived slightly before I did – meaning I get a sneak peak of my next dish of foie gras, with honey and orange braised chicory and a ginger and honey crisp bread.

Again, this is not something anybody – at least, nobody I know – really attempts at home.

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The ginger and honey crisp bread providing a curious counterpoint to the slippery chicory and the richness of the foie gras.

The third course of salt-grilled cod comes with an artichoke purée and a sauce of saffron and curry powder which work excellently as a complement to the cod.

The dish is served with muscles too.

Next up was a lychee sorbet with mint moss, but this wasn’t quite to my taste.

Then it was time for the slow-cooked braised ox cheek.

The owner, the softly-spoken Mario Nargi, is waiting the tables all evening, and he tells this is his favourite dish in the menu – and I have to say it was my favourite too.

It is a ludicrously luxurious version of the hearty beef casserole with mash veg – the braised ox cheek is drowning in a rich veal stock that one imagines has been reducing for hours on end.

The pomme fondant, shallots, and wild mushroom conspire to concoct an immaculate accompaniment – it really is a course to savour.

As for desserts – these are not courses I require to be sophisticated by any means, though this one definitely is.

The dark chocolate mousse, cherry sorbet, and chocolate wafer were certainly well put together.

Verdict

As I finish, many of the other diners are on their third or fourth course and are sharing a few good words with the owner.

One states assertively that they will be coming back the following evening, and Mario jokingly offers them the key.

The majority, Mario tells me, are regulars – and it’s no surprise they keep coming back.

Dugal is very much given free reign over this taster menu and he more than repays the owner’s faith in him here, producing a set of courses which quite predictably fill out the restaurant all evening.

There are no empty chairs when I leave, except mine – curse the 30-minute drive that meant I couldn’t enjoy the wine to top off an excellent night.

• Dugal will be back with a new Italian taster menu at Dantes in April.