Roganic is a medium sized place with a modern style decor that opened last January.  Their test kitchen restaurant, Allus, opened in the last of 2017.   The dining room is set with white table cloths and napkins and chairs are fairly comfortable. Modern wood features supply the low level of lighting and no music is in the background. The noise level is a bit high making conversation and hearing soft spoken servers difficult at times. Service staff are friendly and nice.  They offer two tasting menus only, with good pacing and portion control.  We chose the longer menu, started with a cocktail and then ordered our own wine.  The surprise menu is available in written form at the end of the meal (or you can cheat and look early).

 

A preserved raspberry tart was seasoned with pickled rose and beetroot.  It was lightly caramelized yielding a sweet aftertaste.  The fermented beetroot and apple was a fruity, sweet drink to follow.  Both were good.

 

A native oyster and trout roe was tart with a fishy flavor. It was nicely crisp.

 

Seaweed custard with caviar was a jellied seaweed on a nice custard that was all topped with the caviar. The tartness of the jelly worked well with the other flavors.

 

 

Chicken and squid was topped with a dot of vinegar mustard.  The really tender chicken was a great nibble and surrounded with crispy tapioca that was colored with squid ink. This was different and pretty good.

 

Asparagus, bone marrow and leek ash were accompanied by hollandaise sauce.  The great sauce was dusted with the ash and the asparagus was brushed with bone marrow.  A great combination of flavors here.

 

The asparagus water was used to cook the peas for Peas, ox tongue and mint.   The mint oil went in the sauce and there was combined with tart tomato pieces.  It all blended into a very nice dish.

 

Hot crispy sour dough bread was doughy and dense on the inside and really crunchy on the outside.  It was good.

 

Onion broth and westcombe was served soupy and filled with kale, pickled onions, and cheese dumpling.  It had a terrific aroma but the taste was fairly mild except for the pickled flavor.

 

Radishes, mackerel and sorrel were salad like and additionally flavored with green apple, green strawberry and sheeps milk yogurt. The skin had been removed from the mackerel making it much less strong tasting, in fact it was quite pleasant. All the ingredients mixed well for a good dish.

 

Cabbage, crab, horseradish and chicken skin were further enhanced with garlic oil. The cabbage had been charred and the chicken skin was perfectly crisp.  The horseradish really set this one off and amped up the flavor. It was incredible.

 

Scallops and cauliflower were topped with a dot of black garlic emulsion and sitting in an amazing scallop sauce. The scallop was cooked perfectly but the dish didn’t gel for me. Maybe is was the black garlic, but somehow it just didn’t work.

 

21 day dry aged Cumbrian pork was presented in both loin and belly pieces.  It was accompanied by white broccoli and carrot purée. The loin was roasted and the belly was topped with a crispy layer of crackling. Pickled peas and elderberry made the sauce.  The loin portion was too lean to be juicy or particularly flavorful.  However the carrot purée was excellent as were the other vegetables.

 

Yorkshire rhubarb and buttermilk was shaved rhubarb on top of a custard accented with more rhubarb pieces. It was served cool and had a wonderful flavor and consistency. Sweet and creamy, this one made my tongue tingle.

 

Burnt milk, chamomile and whey was whey ice cream with flower honey accented with lemon. The burnt milk crispy bits were a good addition but the whole thing was quite tasty.

 

Caramelized apple and Douglas fir is one of the chef’s signature dishes. The pine was in the ice cream which was along side the buttery pastry and apple “cake”.  It was delicious, sweet and nicely moderated with the resinous ice cream. It was served with woodruff donuts that were cakey and nicely sugared.  They were great too.  Smoked juniper fudge was in stick form and fairly creamy.  Not too aromatic though.   They were good but the others far better.