East Yorkshire Restaurant Guide

“Excellent” modern brasserie in a listed Georgian courthouse that’s prospered in its ten years under twins Michele & Matt Barker, who grew up in their parents’ gastropubs. “The menu changes seasonally so you don’t get bored” according to its strong local fan club, who feel it “always delivers”.

“It looks like a pretty country pub, but the quality of the cooking once inside is spot-on, putting many other Michelin starred restaurants to shame” – James & Kate Mackenzie’s “classy” destination “perfectly situated, off the beaten track, deep in the countryside” of East Yorkshire is still “a ‘proper’ inn, with open fire, real ale… but also superb food!”: “not quite as inventive as some similar level establishments with exciting tasting menus, but good value and very sound”.

2019 Review: Ex-Pétrus chef James Allcock’s ‘pint-sized bistro and charcuterie bar’ is strong on ingredient quality (marvellous breads, cheeses, salads), and serves funky small plates alongside sharing platters: “a perfect lunchtime stop with friendly and knowledgeable staff”.

For a decade, local boy John Robinson’s restaurant-with-rooms has bought a touch of gastronomic excellence to this market town, turning out “excellent” tasting menus (four- or nine-course only, depending on which day you visit). Reporters last year appreciated the “good atmosphere” and “very personal touch” Robinson provides.

“Authentic” cooking and presentation win consistent high ratings for Julian and Rieko Ogino-Stamford’s “fantastic Japanese restaurant, which are few and far between in this neck of the woods!”. The sushi, tempura and other dishes served in the first-floor dining room present “a value-for-money experience not to be missed”.

2019 Review: “Sweet and savoury baking to tempt and delight” is the order of the day at this diminutive cafe, whose “range is magnificent and requires stern self-control”. One niggle: “queuing can be frustrating” but by common consent “the wait is worthwhile”.

“Delicious breakfasts and coffee” are the standouts at this “quirky” (“dog-friendly, too”) Humber Street café, which also serves burgers until late at the weekend.

An “excellent” and rather classy Indian, with a superb setting on Hull marina, and offering fine dining dishes that are “way above your standard type” of subcontinental; a street-food branch opened in Trinity Market in 2018 and, as of May 2019, they’ve reinvented their out-of-town HQ on Beverley Road as another casual spin-off, Chowki.

2019 Review: Ben and Lindsey Cox’s well-known destination pub in the East Ridings attracted plentiful but uneven commentary this year. “Massively extended” a couple of years ago, “you can feel like a headcount rather than a welcome guest” nowadays and “some areas are better and more comfortable than others”. The food can be “first class”, but can also “fail to live up to the hype” or seem “good, but nothing like as special as it once was”.