Masham, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This “handsome old house” makes a “brilliant” showcase for Yorkshire-born chef Shaun Rankin’s talents, honed by decades in Jersey and London. Valeria Sykes spent £70 million converting the country pile into a hotel, and given its almost “intimidating” level of luxury naturally “you may need a second mortgage before booking” (“from the iron gates policed by a uniformed guard, along a coiffed drive, we found a forecourt occupied by four Rolls-Royces, a Lamborghini and assorted top-model Range Rovers!”). On all accounts, though, it’s “quite outstanding in all respects”, not least results from the ten-course ‘Taste at Home’ menu for £145 per person.

“A true gem” – chef-patron Mitch Mitchell’s utterly unlikely venture, located within a factory unit on an industrial estate that manufactures sauces and stocks. The 14-course tasting menu (Fri/Sat night only) caused Giles Coren to invoke Noma no less, and reporters this year all concurred that it is “an experience not to be missed”. The “only tiny issue is who you sit next to, as your neighbour could be totally loud and full of self-importance – but this place deserves a star at least!”

Jonathan & Janine Harrison’s eighteenth-century inn in a Wensleydale market town continues to attract solid ratings all-round for its well-priced, modern bistro fare.

This quirky fish specialist, with exotically styled bedrooms in the 18th century Crab Manor, certainly has an “original ambience” (“if Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques ran a restaurant”, it might look like this, replete with assorted “sea-fishing paraphernalia”); there was the odd blip on the service front this year, but also continued praise for some of the “best seafood around”.

In a “superb setting in the Dales”, father-and-son team Lewis & David Moss are behind this quintessential gastropub-with-rooms (including one room with a James Bond theme). “The team is superb, and the food (including seafood) speaks for itself as getting a table at short notice is extremely difficult”. NB – canines will love it (“the most dog-friendly pub I’ve ever visited!”), down to getting their very own sausages for brekko.

This ultra-opulent seventeenth-century country house was reborn as a hotel in 2019 replete with pool, snow room and altitude training chamber. Its many eateries include a haute operation by former Ormer chef Shaun Rankin – and this tartan-clad, baronial-style brasserie, praised this year for its “amazing welcome and lovely food” (especially patisserie, if you put your trust in Jay Rayner’s otherwise slightly mixed 2022 review).

“The new venture from the old Yorke Arms team is absolutely perfect in every way” – “to see Frances Atkins preparing your lunch in the open kitchen is a wonderful experience”. Following the sad ending of her long tenure at the famous moorland inn, the first woman to earn a Michelin star in the UK is now wowing guests at a garden centre near Harrogate, alongside her trusted lieutenants chef Roger Oliver and manager John Tullett. There’s “a high-quality menu available throughout the day, while dinner is only on Fridays” (twice a month) – and it’s all “Michelin-quality food without the pretensions of a star”.