Pickering Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Assured cooking from an interesting menu means you could do a lot worse in the area” than this seventeenth-century village pub. Young chef-patron Ali Moran, who took over a year ago, grew up in the neighbouring hamlet of Hartoft, and serves game from his parents’ farm.

“Glad to see this back. Was there a fire?” – Andrew Pern’s “simply stunning” 14th-century thatched pub is going from strength to strength – “as good or even better than it was before the terrible blaze” that struck it in 2021. “The wonderful ambience in the bar miraculously seems exactly the same as before: relaxed, calming and overseen by experienced, personable staff” who “make you feel instantly at home” and for whom “nothing is too much trouble”. “You can choose from several menus which are all imaginative and really special”: some reporters‘ best meals of the year, and for one fan: “one of the best meals I have ever had!”

Jacquie Pern’s North Yorks village hotel is “just lovely in every way” according to fans – an old blacksmith’s, village shop and barn that once stood here having made way for very “comfortable bedrooms and lounges, gardens and a village duck pond”. Now under chef Vincenzo Raffone, the venue produces “professionally presented cooking using many local ingredients”; it’s also a great spot for a “supremely relaxing and enjoyable afternoon tea”.

“We were sad when the Rattle Owl closed in York, but delighted when the chef and front-of-house team opened this venue in Helmsley” – Tom Heywood & Laurissa Cook opened this small venue with just six tables fed by an open kitchen with a strong emphasis on “using as much local produce as possible and minimal wastage”. There’s a four-course tasting menu for £55 per person or an eight-course option for £95 per person, both providing cooking that’s somewhat “different from the usual”. In particular “the drinks pairings are superb”, and incorporate some “lovely, well-chosen wines”.

2021 Review: This extended fifteenth-century inn (nowadays with nearly fifty bedrooms) sits at the heart of this very attractive market town. Its Gallery Restaurant (named for its dual purpose during the day as an art gallery) has quite a reputation, and – despite sustained gripes over the years that it’s rather pricey – all reports rate it good or better.

2021 Review: “Splendid cafe/restaurant in a charming building overlooking Helmsley's picturesque stream that’s on another plane altogether from Helmsley’s other establishments”. Sibling to the York original it serves “delicious, wholesome café food”: “the selection, especially from the specials board, is always interesting, and uses lots of local seasonal ingredients”.

“Have followed these guys from Le Cochon Aveugle – this is better!”, according to fans of Josh (chef) & Victoria (sommelier) Overington’s year-old restaurant with rooms, which they opened in mid 2023 in a picturesque converted pub in a small village about half an hour from their previous venture (in York). Fans say it’s “an extraordinary meal and stunning location, and absolutely no surprise to see them awarded a Michelin star in short five months”. Here they again serve an “excellent tasting menu” at £145 per person for 12-13 courses that’s “full of variety” and seasonality, and which delighted the majority in our annual diners’ poll who have made the trip thus far. It’s matched with an “excellent wine list, with mostly European and old-world wines, but fantastic variety and price variations”. On the downside, there have been a couple of reporters who found it either “overpriced (even if exceptional)”; or “good (but not as good as it‘s reputed to be)”. More commonly, though, reports suggest you “get there soon before they have a longer waiting list!” and interestingly, the property’s picturesque village location, rooms to stay over and characterful interior make this a romantic recommendation almost as often as it is a gastronomic one. Top Menu Tip – “Highlights were Charcoal Pie, filled with roe deer tartare topped with caviar, Scallop with sea urchin butter, a delicious almost treacley black pudding sauce with the pork, and the goats’ yogurt sorbet with rhubarb and treacle curd”.

“Beautifully located in a sparse part of the North York Moors”, this farmhouse restaurant (plus holiday cottage) is a real “gem” set up three years ago by Peter Neville, co-owner of The Pheasant in Harome, and partner Cecily Fearnley, who grew up in the village where it sits. By many (if not quite all) accounts, the cooking can be “exceptional”, with “very cleverly designed courses featuring much local sourcing and foraging”. Top Tip – “get a table in the conservatory…the views (even on a miserable day) are memorable”.