Penistone Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “A popular local staple for many years”, this posh and hugely successful pub has been run by the Truelove family since 1968 and – much extended over the years – is known for its “consistently good food and service, with a great atmosphere”. Supporters reckon it is currently “back on form and, though expensive, a great meal is guaranteed (potted shrimps and shellfish superb!)”. A contrary view is that “the dining room decor is in a time warp, with no hint of frivolity to brighten the dullness”, while the “surprisingly long menu could do with being edited”, and the dishes arrive in “generous portions, but lack finesse”.

“I have always thought that Joro was brilliant… but since the move they have gone up a level!” – “Sheffield’s favourite has moved from inner to outer city to an enormous converted mill building with accommodation, a dedicated bar and a dining room with very generous spacing around the stylish tables and open plan kitchen” that “finally does them justice”. Fans say that Luke & Stacey Sherwood’s bold venue is “quite simply a Michelin star restaurant with no stars yet!” whose “Tasting Menu Twö at £125 offers a plethora of wonderful flavours”. (There’s also a cheaper Tasting Menu Öne, for £55 per person, with limited timings and Tasting Menu Ö.5 for £75 per person available mid week and at lunchtimes). “If you want to experience the best food from an incredible team” all reports say that this place “can’t be recommended more”. Top Tip – “the soft drinks pairing is amongst the best in the country…” – “a rare thing – many such non-alcoholic matches are lazy but at Jorö… well they are masters who craft their dishes and soft drinks so that when taken together MAGIC happens”.

2022 Review: No feedback as yet on this brave September 2020 opening – a tiny, 8-seat chef's table restaurant (all seats are at the counter) with an ever-changing and affordable tasting menu (7 courses for £30 on opening) from chef Luke Reynolds. Reports please!

Now since early 2025 in the funky Krynkl unit that was vacated by its parent restaurant, Joro (see also), this funky Scandi/Japanese fusion venue has made its long-awaited move from indie food hall, The Cutlery Works, and its street-food style is now a tad more ‘restaurant-y’. Early reports, though still few, are a rave: “absolutely brilliant food from Konjö, now in new premises and free to do the cooking they want. Very umami, more-ish, stonking food – and great, friendly team – love it!”

“Up some stairs so a bit unassuming from the outside” – this fixture of Nether Green is a well-known Sheffield destination and once inside is “smartly-decorated with effective ambient lighting”. There was a changing of the guard in 2024, and it’s now wholly owned by co-founder and sommelier Alistair Myers with Dan Conlon as head chef. One local notes that “it’s recovered from the loss of one of the original partners and is back to its superb best” with a “very professional approach to food and service without being pretentious”. There’s a range of menus (of four, six and ten courses) – “the food is beautifully presented” and “of the highest order”.

In a Georgian townhouse, this Steel City staple (est. 2006) is ably helmed by Italian-born and -bred couple Ester (chef), and her partner Saverio, who oversees the “excellent wine list” – one of the best in the region, to give it its dues, and offering a fine accompaniment to the authentic pizzas, pastas and more.

Nisha Katona’s Liverpool-based operation has two branches in London (Charlotte Street and Westfield Stratford) offering her “very tasty” Indian street food – “with the occasional hint of raw spice”. The Lancashire-born former barrister launched the business in 2014 and now has 28 outlets around the country, whose “enjoyable, authentic food” is “really great for a chain”.

2024 Review: Chef-patron Eric Paxman trained under Marco Pierre White in London and Bill Granger in Australia, and has cooked for luminaries including Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vowed ‘I’ll be back’ – a sentiment shared by numerous guests at the venture he opened in his hometown 14 years ago. “Lunch and early-bird evening specials are an exceptional bargain”.

2023 Review: Richard & Abi Golland’s street-food operation wins high ratings for its tacos and other lively Latino dishes, available at its city-centre Burrito Bar or the fully licensed Mexican Canteen in Sharrow Vale Road.

2022 Review: “The best freshly ground and tasty coffee in the whole of South Yorkshire, can’t beat it” – insist fans of this Kiwi-style spot in the Cultural Industries Quarter – now in its 12th year, so a veteran in the fast-moving world of artisan coffee. It has an all-day menu of brunch-ish eats, and serves cocktails as early as 11am. The industrial-style interior is replicated at its second site, at Sellers Wheel.

2024 Review: “An airy space with unusual dishes and great cooking” – this comfortable independent opposite the civic hall scored highly in this year’s annual diners’ poll. The focus is on small plates, some of them very original: who’s for ‘honey, soy and gochujang roast carrots, toasted sesame, with tahini satay’?

2023 Review: Fooderati insider Thom Hetherington was amongst those sending out an SOS on behalf of this well-regarded neighbourhood restaurant in his hometown, which was gutted by fire in September 2022. By the end of the month it had crowdfunded the money to re-open and restore its mix of funky small plates (typically you would order 7-8 in a meal), plus gins, cocktails and a thoughtful small selection of wines.

2022 Review: A collaboration between Sheffield cook Richard Smith, his restaurateur wife Victoria and the award-winning craft brewers Thornbridge; “creative fish dishes” feature alongside meats – all well-singed on the fancy Bertha indoor charcoal oven – and the “great location” (skirting the Peak District) makes it particularly “good for outdoor eating”.

Run by the present regime since 2016, this proper community pub has had a couple of renovations since, and currently offers two dedicated dining areas: the ground-floor ‘Green Room’, with its garden theme, and the more upmarket ‘The View’ upstairs. Chef Darren Milner turns out “great” seasonal countryside classics, from hearty breakfasts to Sunday roasts and proper pies – and while, if you opt for fancier fare, it can be “expensive”, it’s “worth it and very good for a special occasion”.

“Just amazing!” – “service here is second to none” and “the food is just something else, with chefs who know how to mix good local ingredients to create really special dishes”. Oliver Roberts (ex-Shibden Mill FOH) opened this “little local bistro” in a village near Huddersfield in late 2023, and has gathered admirers ever since – among them Bruce Springsteen, who dropped in for dinner last May with Stephen Graham, the Lancashire-born actor who plays his father in the recent biopic ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’. Top Menu Tip – Isle of Wight tomatoes with wild garlic ice cream, invented by chef Louis Bamford and described by Stephen Graham as “mad Merlin stuff”.

“You won’t find better sushi in Yorkshire” according to fans of Tomo Hasegawa & Mark Simpson’s three-year-old Kelham Island outfit – a refinement of their long-running Edo Sushi. “The menu is kept small so the quality is exceptional, with weekly specials to keep it exciting”.

2023 Review: This “excellent seafood restaurant” was opened in 2021 by “top Sheffield fishmonger J H Mann” – an institution that opened a century earlier in Hillsborough. “Being run by a fishmonger means they have varieties way more exciting that the usual offerings, including lobster, oysters and scallops” – which means it’s “a wonderful place for fish lovers”. The retail part of the business is now based in Sharrow Vale, with a second shop in Bakewell.