Forge, Middleton Tyas: We tried new Michelin star restaurant

This year, a restaurant located around a 15-minute drive from Darlington was added to the list of recipients of the respected star rating.

So, after hearing of Forge at Middleton Loge’s success, we drove down to the high-end restaurant in Middleton Tyas to try the 10-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairing, to see just what that Michelin-man liked about the cuisine.

The result has ruined bread for me forever…

(Image: Gasp Photo Co)The first thing that you notice when you walk in to a late sitting at Forge is the roaring firepits outside the venue, they represent the rustic, comforting feel of the venue and the menu itself perfectly. 

(Image: The Northern Echo) Attentive staff welcome and a seat at the bar awaits for the first part of the evening, which sees a more relaxed drink by a window overlooking the firepits and courtyard outside.

As a 10-course taster menu, there is a journey to go on with each piece of food that is presented. And this journey takes diners physically from the bar with the opening course and drinks into a more formal dining area to take in the more substantial courses.

And as a 10-course menu, there simply is no way to discuss in depth the merits of each course without being far too wordy, and this piece becoming well over 1,000 words long. So for the remainder of the review, I will try to paint a picture of the experience each course presented – because a Michelin star menu is more than the food, it is an experience in itself.

(Image: The Northern Echo) The first course, a block of a hash brown topped with goat’s curd and guanciale, was a great way to whet the appetite for what was to come. Subtly salty with an acidic streak thanks to some beetroot.

It set the pace. But it also set imaginations alight with what might be possible as the menu was scanned. If a hash brown could be bougie, what else was going to find its way to our forks?

(Image: The Northern Echo) Each course, delicately plated and expertly discussed with each table by top-quality chefs, was a window into the brain of head chef Jake Jones, who earned plaudits as young chef of the year with Michelin in recent years.

From the punchy mushroom ‘biscuit’, to the leek starter, each dish is a perfect encapsulation of the surroundings – a fresh and organic tasting experience.

But it is the bread that captures attention.

(Image: The Northern Echo) When I spoke to head chef Jake after he was awarded the star, he said it was among his ‘favourite’ dishes to make. 

And it was among the favourite dishes to eat on the night. In fact, it was the favourite.

And it continues to ruin bread for me. Nothing can match the gorgeous crisp of the sourdough crust infused with lemon thyme beer brewed on-site. 

Capped off with morish butters laced with roast chicken stock and wild garlic, the bread is a course I didn’t want to end – and a course I still regularly find myself drifting off daydreaming about.

(Image: The Northern Echo) Each course that followed was itself something special.

Before several desserts, the main courses of trout and then hogget went down beautifully. The hogget was a surprise hit – silky and smooth but also a hint of smokiness that is afforded to a more aged lamb. 

(Image: The Northern Echo)

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It was an honour to shake the hand of Jake at the experience’s end and discover that, like me, most diners turn around and effusively rate the bread course.

Forge at Middleton Lodge suggests that pre-booking is essential for the restaurant. A six-course tasting menu costs £65, with a wine pairing costing a £55 supplement.

The 10-course tasting menu is £105, with the wine pairing an extra £75.