Walnut Tree

High quality cooking

For a venue with a towering culinary heritage, the Walnut Tree wears its reputation modestly. It's a low-slung, two-storey village inn a couple of miles to the east of Abergavenny, known to ambitious diners since the 1960s, when it was run by Franco Taruschio. Shaun Hill, in residence here since 2008, brings his own vast experience – a half-century of it – to the party. A firm believer in the culinary principle of feeding others with what you like to eat yourself, his taste and discernment are well-nigh flawless, while the gastronomic fireworks on display here – and there are plenty – are achieved with great panache. Amid a regularly refreshed display of quality artworks, the mood is as serene as the tranquil location demands, with all the action happening on the plate. Rooted in classical technique, such dishes as a starter of venison faggot with Roscoff onion purée or richly appointed main-course brodetto (from the Adriatic fish casserole tradition) achieve astonishing depth and resonance. There are more contemporary modes in evidence too (vivid beetroot-cured salmon furnished with pickled cucumber and horseradish cream, for example), but a commitment to forthright, readily comprehensible flavours results in dishes such as the double-act of veal sweetbread and lamb's kidneys with mash in grain mustard sauce. A plant-based main course, meanwhile, gives cauliflower steak a run for its money, aided and abetted by pine nuts, golden raisins and romesco. The dessert menu will leave you spoilt for choice, dithering between the likes of chocolate Paris-Brest with praline ice cream, and an orange and almond cake with mascarpone and bergamot ice cream. Starting with house selections in just about every measure you might command, the wine list is an immaculate, far-reaching roll call of outstanding small growers and original flavours. A good showing of half-bottles invites exploration.