Ding Dong Merrily on High…

Ho Ho Ho… our Christmas 2017 Menu is now all decided and we are open for your bookings.

We felt we should be pretty traditional but at the same time in line with our “Quirky” status adopt some slightly more edgy festive ideas.

This year we will have decked our dining area with assorted festive bling. We will then kick the evenings off with a welcome drink and assorted nibbles.

The first course we will serve will be a classic smoked salmon rillettes – a homemade coarse pate that will be served with a horseradish cream and some classic melba toasts.

Main course will be turkey but this we will be done as a thin breast escalope studded with a fresh sage leaf and then a slice of cured ham served with a delicate sweet sherry sauce and then accompanied by a classic potato gratin and the veritable green beans.(Haricot Vert)

Next we will serve a selection of cheeses with our now infamous porridge oat biscuits and then to round the whole meal off we will make a Christmas Pudding Parfait that we will serve with a red berry compote laced with local Anno Sloe Gin – a perfect boozy and indulgent finish to our celebratory meal. 

So why not join us and book your spaces via the booking form below.

Dates: Friday 15th & Saturday 16th December

Arrival: 7:30pm 

Dinner: 8:00pm – Dinner Served

Suggested Donation: £35 per person.

A £5 Reservation Deposit by credit/debit card will be taken on confirmation of  your booking. We normally call you within 24/48 hours

We then request £30 cash per person on the night (N.B. service not included)

Menu

Festive Welcome Drink & Nibbles

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Smoked Salmon Rillettes, Horseradish Cream, Melba Toasts

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Turkey Escalopes “Saltimbocca”

Green Beans, Potato Gratin Dauphinoise

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Hari’s Selection of Festive Cheeses

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Iced Christmas Pudding Parfait,

Red berry & Anno Sloe Gin Compote

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Coffee or Tea served with Mini Stollen

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What makes a good meal?

Well this is a bit of a deep question to kick the year off and it is some time since I have blogged a post so why not start this New Year with something deep and meaningful!

We were fortunate to have spent the Xmas period in warmer climes on the Canary island of Tenerife.  We have fond memories of previous holidays and even a honeymoon on the Island and we certainly were looking forward to revisiting some old haunts and eating some of our favourite foods on the island.

Canarian Chicken & Potatoes

Tenerife towards Gomera

Rodeo

Pimentos Padron

El Medano – Playa Chicha

Gambas

One dish famous throughout the islands is Canarian Chicken served with Salt Crusted new potatoes. The chicken (thighs & drumsticks) is fried in oil till crisp served with Green (Coriander) and Red (Red Pepper) Mojo Sauces and accompanied by new potatoes that are simply boiled in very salty water until they develop a really white salty crust… simple, honest, and inexpensive food.

Our favourite for this dish was a place called Otello either in the village of Adeje or their more accessible place called imaginatively Otello 2 at the beach area of Playa Fanabe.  Well, we felt on this occasion the beach place failed to live up to expectations and lacked something… the chicken was a little dry and overcooked. The Mojo Sauces were good but lacked freshness, bread was stale and overall when compared to Pago Pago in St Margarida Nr Rosas on main land Spain (See review here) was positively substandard by comparison for roughly the same price!

Another favourite in the past had been an Argentinian Steak House called Rodeo in the area known as Torviscas.

This place is mammoth in every aspect,  a room of gargantuan proportions with a central buffet area laden with assorted salads. Waiting staff dressed in baggy Gaucho style trouser costumes circulated the room with assorted skewered meats or trolleys laden with roasted meats.  The concept is you can eat as much as you want for a one off price!

We have seen locals and tourists tucking in till they are so green with over indulgence they have literally passed out! This time we felt the place had lost its charm and again also lacked the quality of previous visits.  Meat a main constituent of the experience was often chewy and lacking in flavour. In fact overall the place ended up being the most expensive of our visit to the island and failed to deliver value or memories to cherish that it once had.

So what does make a good meal, for me first of all the food has to be memorable, the setting and ambience matched to this as well as service that is both professional and slick all help to add to the experience.

Our last meal on the island was in the village of Los Abrigos just south of the airport in a specialist fish restaurant.(One of many in the village) Grilled Prawns from the griddle plate and some Razor Clams with sunny views across the harbour with a waiter providing attentive, friendly and slick service at a fair price was the perfect finish.

Eating out relies on many factors to make it memorable… the food, the service and the setting are all contributing factors to the memory and I certainly hope we manage to deliver on all fronts with our pop up events. We put a great deal of effort into delivering good tasty food, friendly service and a relaxing ambience for a fair price.

I myself have experienced many a meal that lacked each of these factors and felt very frustrated that they often get the basics wrong.

So with this in mind we kick our 2017 events off with a “January Sale” where we are asking diners to pay a minimum of just £10 per person for three courses of freshly cooked food.  The twist to this is we are asking guests to contribute more if they feel it has been worth it…

We filled out these meals within thirty six hours of opening bookings and have even added an extra session (also sold out)…  Delivering the expectation is a challenge and one we cherish.

We do hope you will come and see what we have to offer during 2017, our raison d’etre has always been good food, good service and good value – simple you may think… come and see for yourself…

Booking for February Events – Game On – opens 9:00am Friday 20^th January

Now Booking for Covert on the Mountain – Crowborough Community Centre – Saturday March 25^th

Ho Ho Ho – our Christmas Menu now booking…

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As the weather has turned a bit more chilly we thought we would now reveal what will be in store for our Christmas menu.

We have decided to make it a “non Turkey” celebration this year but will however be serving up a crispy Confit Duck Leg as the main course, one of our favourites…

The starter will be a re-working of the potato and black pudding terrine that was served up by Chef Visen at the recent Anno Gin dinner.

We will serve up a warmed slab of a Potato and Chorizo Terrine which we will be served with a smoked paprika  mayonnaise and some toasted salted almonds.

Following the main course some Colston Basset Stilton cheese (a must for Christmas) will be our cheese course. To then finish our celebration  we will be serving a trio of miniature tarts which will include a mini mincemeat one laced with Anno Sloe Gin!!!

This will be a great way to get your Christmas celebrations underway… at the moment we have a private party on the Friday night so only the Saturday night will be available. Please do  book early to ensure you get your desired places.

Dates: Friday 16th  & Saturday 17th December 2016

Venue: Hari’s Secret Location

Time: 7:30pm Welcome 8:00pm Dinner Served

Suggested Donation: £40 per person (service not included)

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Ho Ho Ho Its Christmas…

Welcome Drink with Seasonal Nibbles

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Warm Potato & Chorizo Terrine, Smoked Paprika Mayonnaise, Salted Almonds.

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Crispy Confit Duck Leg, Braised Puy Lentils, Haricots Vert

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Colston Basset Stilton, Porridge Oat Biscuits, Banana Jam

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Trio of Mini Tarts

Glazed Lemon Curd
Mincemeat Crumble
Chocolate with Salted Peanut Brittle
all served with Clotted Cream

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Coffee or Tea with Petit Fours

Menu subject market purchases and ingredient availability

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Christmas is coming…

Well it is that time of year again when we will be celebrating the festive time at Hari Covert’s. It only seems like yesterday we started doing our secret suppers… This coming February we will enter our sixth year of operation!

We love the festive period and we hope we will see you at one of our events…

This years menu will encompass some of our favourites. To kick the meal off we will serve a selection of festive nibbles including a warming seasonal soup! The first course will be a smoked salmon rillettes a coarse like pate that we will serve with a delicate yoghurt and dill sauce and some toasts.

The main course will be a Turkey & Chicken Saute with spicy Chorizo & Peppers that we will serve on a bed of steamed Cous Cous with green beans. A bit different to the traditional roast!

For the dessert we will then serve a Mincemeat & Crumble Tart with a Cinnamon Cream and to then complete the meal we will serve a selection of assorted cheeses with our porridge oat biscuits and a snifter of local “Anno” Sloe Gin

Dates: Friday 18th & Saturday 19th December

Arrival: 7:30pm – Welcome Drink & Seasonal Nibbles

Dinner: 8:00pm

Suggested Donation: £35.00 per person (service not included)

Menu

Smoked Salmon Rillettes, Yoghurt & Dill Sauce, Toasts

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Saute of Turkey, Chicken, Chorizo & Peppers

Steamed Cous Cous & Green Beans

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Mincemeat & Crumble Tart with a Cinnamon Cream

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Hari’s selection of Cheeses,

Porridge Oat Biscuits, Snifter of Anno Sloe Gin

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Coffee or Tea, Petit Fours

To book your places please complete the form below and we will contact you within 24 to 48 hours to confirm the booking.

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Date Required(required) Friday 18th December - Fully Booked Saturday 19th December - Fully Booked

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The final “O come all ye Faithful”….

Cancelled – sorry for any inconvenience

Our final supperclub event of 2014 is something a bit special for us… We have always wanted to do a “Pop Up” in central Tunbridge Wells and we can now announce we are coming to the town on Saturday December 20th.

We will be located in a space in Chapel Place (8a to be precise) where for one night only we will serve a special dinner. It will be a big challenge for us as we will have to transport a kitchen into the site and all the associated equipment.

We hope you will come along and support us and get yourselves into the festive spirit…

We will kick the evening off with a welcome drink and some festive
nibbles then diners will sit down to a sumptuous four course dinner

Arrival:  7:30pm

Dinner:  Served 8:00pm Prompt

Suggested Donation £40.00 per person (service not included)

Bring your own Alcohol – we provided water and ice buckets

Menu

Homemade Pork, Apricot & Hazelnut Terrine

with a home-made Seasonal Relish

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Crispy Confit Duck Leg served on a

mixed bean & Spicy Chorizo Stew

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Hari’s Selection of Cheeses,

Porridge Oat Biscuits & Homemade Banana Jam

*****

Christmas Pudding Iced Parfait with a Red Berry compote and holly tuile biscuit served with a glass of Muscat de Rivesaltes

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Coffee or Hari’s Tea Blend with Festive Petit Fours

Menu subject to market purchases and ingredient availability

 

O Come, All ye faithful…

Well it will soon be that time of year again when we will all start getting festive and excited about the big celebrations of Christmas. As the title suggests we do hope to see some of our regulars and also welcome some new guests as well.

Here at “Covert Towers” we too will be trying to celebrate in style with our Hari Covert suppers on the following dates…

5th ,  12th , and 13th December 2014. This will give you plenty of choice to come and celebrate with us. We will be serving up the same menu at each dinner all you need to do is choose the preferred date and complete the booking form below!

We will be serving up a tasty and traditional four course menu that will reflect the festive season and we hope some imaginative combinations.

The evenings will kick off with a welcome drink along with some festive nibbles. We will then commence the dinner with a home-made terrine of pork studded with apricots and hazelnuts and served with a home-made seasonal relish  and simple salad garnish. We will also serve a vegetarian alternative of a warm Onion & Goats Cheese Tart.

For the main course we will go slightly traditional and serve turkey…
I have to admit not always my favourite meat but we will do a slight twist and serve an individual turkey roulade. A turkey escalope stuffed with a light forcemeat and chopped chorizo to provide a slight kick, each roulade will be wrapped in air dried ham and we will serve them with a light sage cream sauce and seasonal vegetable garnish, maybe even the odd Brussels sprout as well. We will serve a salmon steak as the veggie alternative as well with a similar garnish but a wild garlic pesto cream sauce….

In true Hari fashion we will then serve a selection of cheeses with our much admired Porridge Oat biscuits and home-made Banana Jam.

To finish the meal we will then serve a slightly different version of a Christmas Pudding, namely a Christmas Pudding Parfait, a home- made iced parfait that will come served with a tart red fruit compote and then a holly shaped tuile biscuit.

Coffee or our own blend of tea will be served along with some mini stollen and Christmas biscuits maybe even a mini mince pie will complete the dinners.

We ask guests to arrive at 7:30pm and dinner will start at 8:00pm

Suggested Donation is £35.00 per person (Service not included)

Menu

Homemade Pork, Apricot & Hazelnut Terrine with a home-made Seasonal Relish

Vegetarian Alternative:

Warm Onion & Goats Cheese Tart with Salad Leaves

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Turkey Roulade with a chorizo stuffing, Roasted Potato & Parsnip Rosti and a Sage Cream Sauce, Seasonal Vegetables

Vegetarian Alternative:

Roasted Salmon Fillet, Roasted Potato & Parsnip Rosti and a Wild Garlic Pesto Cream Sauce, Seasonal Vegetables

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Hari’s Selection of Cheeses, Porridge Oat Biscuits, Banana Jam

*****

Christmas Pudding Iced Parfait with a Red Berry compote and holly tuile biscuit served with a glass of Muscat de Rivesaltes

*****

Coffee or Hari’s Tea Blend with Festive Petit Fours

Menu subject to market purchases & ingredient availability

To Book your places please complete the Booking Form below. We will normally contact you within 24/48 Hours to confirm your booking with a Credit Card number.

Please also indicate how many of your party require the Vegetarian Alternative dishes.

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Date Required(required) Friday December 5th - Spaces Friday December 12th - Spaces Saturday December 13th - Wait List only

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Any Special Requirements/Info - Please indicate how many Vegetarian Alternatives Required Here(required)

Jingle Bells – ’tis the season to be jolly…

Well for our Christmas menu we felt we would not go too festive as I am sure you will all have had enough of the “Turkey and Tinsel” by the time the big day comes. We have only the one night this year on Saturday December 14th as the Friday 13th we have a private dinner.

So what can you expect this year…

We will kick the meal off with some seasonal nibbles and a welcome glass and then for the first course we will serve a home-made Pork Terrine studded with Apricots and served with a simple green bean and toasted hazelnut salad garnish. A home-made relish that will incorporate cranberries will complete the starter to this festive meal.

For the main course we have decided to serve a classic beef dish. We will use beef topside and make what are commonly known as Beef Olives. The thin slices of steak are served with a sausage meat stuffing that is laced with wild mushrooms, a smoked sausage, juniper berries and herbs. Slowly cooked in a rich red wine based sauce it means this is a heart warming and filling dish that will go perfectly with some creamy mashed potatoes and then some braised red cabbage as well.

We will then serve up a selection of cheeses with our porridge oat biscuits and our home-made banana  jam. Cheese selection is normally made up of a Hard, soft, blue and goats cheese – we will just have to see what we can find but will ensure it is a good interesting mix!

Finally to complete the meal it will be what we are terming a “Citric choice”… an unctuous lemon posset of double cream laced with Lemon juice, then a lime and Mascarpone Cheesecake that has a fresh zingy taste with a ginger nut biscuit base and finally some brandy soaked marinated oranges that we will serve with a small scoop of chocolate & wasabi sorbet from Taywells.

To complete the meal with coffee some festive stollen and iced schnapps will complete the meal.

So what better way to start your Christmas festivities. We will then be opening again after the Xmas break in January and we hope to publish a programme soon of what we are planning for 2014.

Beef Olives

Terrine

Lemon Posset

Porridge Oat Biscuits & Chutney

Nibbles

Ho Ho

Christmas 2013

Saturday 14th December

Arrival 7:30pm Welcome Drink & Nibbles

Dinner 8:00pm

Suggest Donation of £35 per person service not included

Menu

Pork Terrine with dried Apricots

Green Bean & Hazelnut Salad Cranberry Relish

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Braised Beef Olive

Creamed Potatoes

Braised Red Cabbage

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Hari’s Selection of Cheeses with Porridge Oat Biscuits

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“Citric Choice”

Lemon Posset, Lime & Mascarpone Cheesecake,

Brandied Oranges with Chocolate & Wasabi Sorbet

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Coffee, Iced Schnapps & Mini Stollen

Menu subject to Market Purchases and Ingredient Availability

FULLY BOOKED – WAITING LIST ONLY

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It’s Christmas….hohoho

For our Christmas themed menu I know many will be surprised to see I am going to provide some classic dishes… We will kick the evenings off with some seasonal and festive nibbles that will set the tone… we will then for our starter serve a classic prawn cocktail… we will be using some freshly poached prawns with our own home-made “Marie rose” sauce that will nestle atop classic shredded iceberg lettuce. A real retro start to festivities…

Next a thin turkey escalope will be wrapped in pancetta and stuffed with a sage,chestnut & forcemeat rolled and roasted but served atop a mix of roasted winter vegetables and a port redcurrant jus to finish it all off.

We will then serve a selection of seasonal cheeses with our porridge oat biscuits before completing the meal with a decadent chocolate torte that will be served with a red berry compote and a shot glass of Tia Maria that very retro coffee flavoured liqueur a great way to finish off our Christmas celebrations!!!

If you want to take part then please complete the booking form below and we will contact you normally within 24 hours to take a credit card number to confirm your places.

Cheers

Hari Covert

covert by name, covert by nature

Friday 14th December & Saturday 15th December 2012

Arrival 7:30pm     Dinner Served 8:00pm

Welcome Drink & Seasonal Nibbles

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Classic Prawn Cocktail

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Turkey Escalope with Sage & Chesnut Stuffing served with roasted Winter vegetables & Port Redcurrant Jus

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Hari’s Cheese Selection – Porridge Oat Biscuits

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Decadent Chocolate Torte with Red Fruit Compote

Shot Glass of Tia Maria

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Coffee & Petit Fours

Name:

Email:

Mobile Tel No:

Home Tel No:

Date Required: Friday 14th Dec

Date Required: Saturday 15th Dec

Any Other Info/Food Allergies:

Damian Allsop “Pop Up” shop for Christmas…

Well Tunbridge Wells is in for a treat and I’m glad to say Hari Covert has been playing his part….

We have been acting in a consultative capacity with a local developer to help a certain person open their first retail outlet in the town in the form of a “Pop Up” shop.

We can now announce that the amazingly talented chocolate maker Damian Allsop will be selling his amazing range of chocolates from a special outlet at 8 Chapel Place in the centre of Tundbridge Wells.

The shop will initially open with a glittering opening party (invitation only) and then from Thursday 22nd November the shop will be open every Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 11:00am to 7:00pm until December 20th when it will be open every day until 4pm on Christmas Eve.

The shop will be selling his complete range of chocolates as well as some little extras… namely you could pop in for a hot chocolate and a pipette shot that will warm those hectic  shopping forays on the run up to Christmas.

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Damian will also be on hand to answer those queries as to what makes his chocolates so special. His chocolates are ground breaking as he uses water in his ganache – this means they have a much cleaner flavour and perfectly suit those that have allergies to dairy products.

To check out his chocolate range then go to his web site here.

This will be a perfect place to pick up a very unique local Christmas gift and a great way to support a true local food hero as well… watch this space for more details.