Driffield, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Village pub constantly striving for distinction” under “welcoming owners” Russell Jeffery & his wife Sarah, who celebrated 30 years at the helm last year – she runs the kitchen, and meals in the smart restaurant are the prime focus (“you’ll never be disappointed”), although you can still get “a good pint in the bar”.

James & Kate Mackenzie have kept up the standards at this glorious 15th-century coaching inn (one diner for whom it is a “home from home”, has been coming “twelve years on the trot”). Whether you indulge in the sandwiches, “fab” mains built on “exceptional local produce”, or “a perfect pork Sunday lunch”, it’s “probably the cheapest Michelin star dining” to be had these days – and certainly in these parts, being East Yorkshire’s only starred restaurant, which it has held for aeons now.

Matt & (twin sister) Michele Barker rule over this stalwart British restaurant in the wing of a Georgian courthouse (with a glamorous cocktail bar upstairs, plus a heated, covered terrace). By unanimous verdict, it’s the “really good value set lunch” which is the highlight of the “wide-ranging” yet “sharp” British offering, whose focus is on meats ‘a la plancha’.

2022 Review: John Robinson’s restaurant-with-rooms again wins very consistent support, especially from local fans of its “amazing and fresh-tasting menus”: a four-course menu for £35, or a nine- course taster for £65. He took the opportunity of lockdown to give the place a significant refurb – new kitchen, new dining room, new garden…

2023 Review: This “very good fish restaurant backing on Beverley railway station” (it occupies the old waiting room) was opened by chef-owner Tina Cerutti in 1989; she still runs it with her brother Tony, who closed the Hull branch in 2019. With roots in southern Italy, the family have been a fixture of the Yorkshire dining scene for 65 years.

Ben & Lindsey Cox took over this village pub in the Yorkshire Wolds in 2003 and it is acclaimed by a loyal fanclub drawn from across the county for its “excellent gastropub” fare, good cask ales and wines and “great staff”. Top Menu Tip – “fantastic steak pie ’n’ chips”.