North Yorkshire, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: Leafy views over glorious Dales countryside and the river Wharfe add to the occasion at this attractive hotel, convenient for Bolton Abbey. The cooking – Hardwick lamb, market fish, steaks – is not particularly ‘gastro’ in style but contributes to a comfortable and affordable experience, and one that comes at a reasonable price.

A brand new country Inn, opened its doors for the first time in September 2020.The Lime Tree Inn is a family run country Inn made of seriously good food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.Our menu is seasonal with everything made in house from quali...

Yorkshire reporters are very enthusiastic about the late 2023 reformatting of this property owned by Layton Hill Hotels, now pitching itself more as a ‘restaurant with rooms’, with chef Adam Jackson – formerly at the Black Swan in Oldstead – at the stoves. Nearly all accounts on its tasting menu are of “incredible cooking”: “we first sampled Adam’s food when in Oldstead, and this was our first visit here with food just as good as we have come to expect from chef Jackson, with a well-matched wine flight. Service was attentive, and the pacing of the tasting menu was just right. The building is lovely too with superb views over the garden”.

Struan Macintyre now presides over the stoves in the flagship dining room of this stately country retreat. It has seen a number of head chefs come and go in recent times, but still inspires good all-round feedback following its significant refurb concluding earlier in the year. The menu format nowadays is that of an upscale brasserie (including grilled steak, fish and lobster) rather than the more ‘haute’ tasting formats of yesteryear. Elsewhere in the property, its plush lounges also win the thumbs up as a place to “live the high life in the afternoon” – “served in the traditional way in the drawing room, there is no better place in the area for afternoon tea”.

Michael Wignall is fully re-establishing this beacon of the North as one of the country’s best dining destinations. It was one of the top-10 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll this year, and one or two local cognoscenti “go so far as to say that Michael’s food is now almost the equal of Simon Rogan’s”. The pub was long famous (for example, featuring in ‘The Trip’ in 2010) but has really re-established itself since Wignall’s 2018 purchase and his ongoing improvements. “It has a fabulous setting in the national park” and has received a “Scandi-interior make-over” which is “taking it further upmarket”. “When he first took it over it was really very, very good. Four years on, it is much, much better” although prices are on the march too, with the evening à la carte at £105 per person and the evening tasting menu at £160 per person. This is “faultless cooking with intense flavours that takes your breath away”, sometimes with “stunning Japanese influences” and with “strong British ingredients”. “Superb!” Top Menu Tips – “how can you get so many textures and flavour from little carrots” – “lots of utterly delicious components, and a real tour de force of kitchen technique”; “noteworthy Japanese-style milk bread served with lardo, local butter and the smoothest smoky taramasalata”; “not often these days that the main course is a real star (as the main lump of protein in a meal, the starters are often more exciting, I find), but this pigeon really was cracking stuff”.

James Close with wife Maria closed his acclaimed Co Durham restaurant the Raby Hunt (a regular on our UK Top 100 list) after 14 years and relaunched in the Orangery of nearby Rockliffe Hall in mid 2024, after our annual diners’ poll had ended. Initially billed as ‘A modern bistro by James Close’, from October 2024 the site has launched new tasting menus – ‘Expresssion’ (£105 per person) and ‘Experience’ (£170 per person) – that aim to take the diner on a ‘global culinary journey’. The ultimate aim is clearly to establish the dining room as one of the best in the UK.

This multi-tasking country inn “ticks all the boxes”: award-winning bedrooms, a pretty setting on the village green, and a “really well thought-out menu” now including summer pizzas al fresco (extra points for hosting the country’s tallest maypole). “All too rare these days, it works equally well as a village pub and as a very good restaurant”, and service is highly “personable” too – particularly if you get “a personal welcome and tour round on arrival from Claire Topham”, who made the name of the General Tartleton at Ferrensby alongside husband John, before the duo launched this venue.

“Continuing to excel on every level” – Neil Bentinck’s city-centre destination just beyond the ‘Micklegate bar’ is our survey’s top-rated venue in this foodie city and one of the top-25 most commented destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll. It’s “a small-plates restaurant where every dish on the eclectic menu is carefully crafted and tastes stunning” and “you don’t have to spend a fortune” either. (“Such a rare thing to find a restaurant where you could stick a pin in the menu any day and guarantee what you landed on would be absolutely superb”). “So many dishes are provided for veggies and all dietary requirements, with total flair”. “The only minus point is that the tables are very close together and it’s noisy”, but many diners “love the counter-top tables where you can watch the chefs perform their magic”. In early 2024, Neil expanded into the adjoining property adding a bar with walk-in tables; a private dining room with bar (seating up to 12); and a second dining area overlooking the open kitchen.

“Exceptional creativity from head chef Ian Doyle from Waterford” delivered “overall the best dinner this year” for one reporter in our annual diners’ poll at this accomplished address, which inhabits one of the oldest houses in the city, near the Minster. Although another diner didn’t think it was “quite worth the astronomical prices”, they nevertheless praised its “fabulous location and mostly excellent food”, awarding the cuisine full marks! In the evening the main event is an eight-course tasting menu for £125 per person although there is also a (slightly) less expensive à la carte option.