Haxby, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

Just round the corner from the Minster, this “delightful bistro” on indie-shop-lined Gillygate is an “enjoyable and lively” sort of spot that parlays top-quality Yorkshire ingredients into its “interesting and well-executed menu” (and is open evenings-only or for Sunday lunch). NB – it’s very wee inside (“do book!”), but in summer months there’s a lovely garden backing onto the city walls.

“A great find” in a “quiet enclave tucked away from the bustle of touristy York” – Adam & Lovaine Humphrey’s “friendly” modern venue offers “very high-quality food” that is “attractively plated, generous, neither over-fussy or daunting – and there’s no upselling of sides”. The “light and airy, minimalistic” dining room owes much to their previous restaurant in Australia, and divides opinion: some “love the dramatic stripe artwork relocated from Sydney”, while others find it “smart but slightly bland”. There is also a Little Arras bakery and café (hence the “yummy sourdough”).

“Such imaginatively constructed cooking” (“truly outstanding and innovative, and no duds which is unusual on a tasting menu!”) continues to generate high enthusiasm for the Banks family’s converted pub in the city centre, which is nowadays rivalled locally only by Skosh in terms of the number of reports it generates in our annual diners’ poll and is among our top-50 most commented-on venues in the country. “A very well constructed wine list to match the food” is also a feature that inspires praise. Even fans, though, can find it “overpriced”: “great food… but you have to pay for it”.

This deli-café in a former grocer’s shop is “worth the queue” for a coffee and a treat, while the “surf ’n’ turf lunch is also very good”. Success has led to spinoffs in Helmsley and, last year, in Easingwold (where it’s called OPC after the old police cells on the premises).

High-profile North Yorkshire chef Andrew Pern opened this city spinoff from his famous Star at Harome a dozen years ago, on an attractive site beside the River Ouse. These days, it attracts limited feedback and such as there is remains rather up-and-down.

This “deservedly venerable institution” is “a must for afternoon tea (lunch is good too) when you’re in York”, with “excellent cakes and pastries, extra sandwiches if your need them”, and “great old-fashioned service” – “we had to wait for a table on a Sunday afternoon in February, but it was well worth it”. Opened in 1936 as a spin-off from the 1919 Harrogate original, its classic interior was modelled on the ocean liner Queen Mary. Top Tip – “go for the full works in the upstairs room: wow, it’s in a class of its own”.

2022 Review: The York branch of Richard Caring’s glossy Ivy chain generates most enthusiasm for its attractive interior, which makes it a pleasant spot to while away an hour or two – including over afternoon tea – especially if you can nab a table by the full-length windows (difficult to guarantee, since tables are allocated on arrival).

Launched back in 1990 by Roux-trained Michael Hjort, who directs the York Food Festival, and wife Lucy, who takes care of FOH and wines, this British bistro is, say fans, “still the best place to eat in York for a sensibly priced meal”. As well as the à la carte menu (at three courses for £80 per person), there is also a “superb tasting menu with well thought-out wine flight expertly and amusingly described” if you want to push the boat out.

2022 Review: “A great place for a civilised lunch” – so long as you don’t expect culinary fireworks. This impressive William & Mary country house on the outskirts of York is owned by the National Trust (and was once the residence of traveller and writer Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who introduced the practice of smallpox inoculation to Britain after witnessing it in Turkey).

“The views are stunning of the ruins of Byland abbey across the road” at this “delightful location” and Tommy Banks and family are “to be congratulated for rescuing the Abbey Inn and transforming it into a cosy thriving pub and restaurant”: after one short year, it is one of the top-20 most commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll. “It may serve pub classics, but they are done very well, with quality ingredients and presentation” and most reports acclaim “a fantastic renovation and a great reinvention”. Where disappointments occur, it’s “perhaps because expectations were too high” – at the end of the day this is a “popular and crowded” gastropub, and the odd foodie finds the menu a little “limited”. Most reports, though, are upbeat: “staff are very personable and knowledgeable” and the general reaction is that “from all the PR we just expected to encounter pub grub to a very high standard. And we did… but with a subtle Tommy Banks twist”. Top Menu Tip – “The Sunday Roast is very good, the addition of tasty pulled beef in the Yorkshire Pudding (or pulled pork for my partner) was a great idea”; “the Herdwick lamb shoulder main and artichoke sticky toffee pudding are highlights”.

“Great pub food and proper Yorkshire hospitality” are the defining features of Rob & Gill Thompson’s whitewashed inn, a fixture in the village for almost four centuries. “Everything is a big cut above the average – highly recommended”.

“Rock on Tommy” say fans of the Banks family’s famous destination out on the edge of the North York Moors near their 160-acre farm, which came to prominence in 2012 when Tommy Banks became the youngest chef in the UK ever to have won a Michelin star. Nowadays the kitchen is under the immediate stewardship of Alice Power, who has been in the kitchen since 2021 and took over in February 2024 as head chef here. At £175 per person in the evenings, it serves a “superb tasting menu” that’s “plate-lickingly good”: “full of flavour and creativity and beautifully plated”. That’s the majority view in any case, including a number of regulars who “adore eating here” and some of whom declare it their best meal of the year. But ratings were nearly dragged down by a minority for whom the experience is “over-engineered and overpriced” (“we had been looking forward to this and we are no strangers to tasting menus having eaten this year at Gravetye, Lympstone, Gidleigh, Whitebrook and Morston Hall; but, to our surprise many dishes were unbalanced with too many ingredients either overpowering a dish or leading to a clash of flavours. Service was, however, friendly and informal from delightful and knowledgeable staff”).

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”.

Andrew Pern, longtime owner of the acclaimed Star Inn at Harome, is the mastermind behind this superbly set restaurant, which was opened amid popping flashbulbs in April 2023 by King Charles III (as he’d shortly become) and then Queen-in-waiting Camilla. While the rangy outdoor terrace is an undoubted draw – offering the best views of the Minster in town – the inside (a former 1830s school turned upscale dining room) is also a delightful location in which to sample the old-fashioned British-style cooking, within reach of mortals thanks to regular deals including the current two-course Sunday lunch for £30 (or three courses for £35). Given the venue’s obvious tourist appeal and the glut of reports it spawned after opening, there was mystifyingly little feedback from reporters this year, but what there was remained positive.

2023 Review: One of the North’s better wine bars – this small venue hosts an “amazing selection of wines,” backed up by a “short menu full of really good ingredients and tasty non-standard pizzas”. It’s a spin-off from Le Cochon Aveugle just up the street, whose closure announced last year came at the height of its renown and came as a shock to many. Owner Josh Overington said the Cave would carry on as usual.

“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”.