Helmsley Restaurant Guide

“Just radiating warmth and welcome” – Andrew Pern’s “thatched 14th-century inn” is “quietly knocking it out of the park again and again” and it’s hard to remember that the venue itself was knocked out of action for many months after a fire in 2021. One of the top-20 most commented on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll, it justifies a long trip for many of its diverse fanbase. As well as the “lively vibe” and “true Yorkshire hospitality” and “relaxed, calming and charming atmosphere”, it is the “food that does the talking” with “quality ingredients” prepared in a “superb” fashion. Chef Stephen Smith heads the kitchen, which offers an à la carte menu (mains are typically £30–£45) or a tasting menu for £150 per person, as well as various other options (including a cheaper lunchtime selection). It’s an “expensive but superb treat” and provided a good number of our reporters with their top gastronomic experience of the year.

“A beautifully located small hotel opposite the village pond with garden views, comfortable bedrooms” and “good food from a short menu” – Jacquie Pern’s former village smithy has been a North Yorkshire staple for more than 15 years. Ratings did not hit the heights here this year – with a couple of up-and-down reports – but change was afoot following our annual diners’ poll with the arrival of new head chef Adam Westgarth, whose appointment aims to herald a new direction in the kitchen, working closely with a local farm providing regenerative crops, heritage breed livestock and wild game.

From August 1 2025 it’s all change at this well-established country fixture, as Tom & Laurissa Heywood have transplanted ‘Pignut’ from nearby Helmsley into the premises of The Hare (which they have taken over from former owners Paul & Liz Jackson). The change was too late to capture feedback in our spring 2025 annual diners’ poll (hence it’s unrated), but both establishments have historically achieved very good ratings so the outlook is set fair. ‘While the original name has been retained as a respectful nod to the building’s heritage within the village’ the emphasis is on the sustainable features and local sourcing of Pignut championed by the Heywoods (the carpet is made from recycled bottle tops, and compost from the former Pignut has been mixed into the soil of the new one). The tasting menu is centre-stage, the number of courses might be 20, 15, or down to 12, depending on the season with menus that celebrate hyper-local, foraged ingredients, and a zero-waste philosophy to create an immersive experience. Customer engagement is to be centre stage and a Polaroid of the occasion to take away.

2024 Review: “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”.

“Abbey Inn occupies an idyllic spot opposite the ruins of Byland Abbey” – with “amazing views” thereof – and provides “a beautiful location, if a fair way off the beaten track”. Taken over by Tommy Banks and his family in 2023, it’s “not really into its swing” as one of the top-50 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll. Quibbles about the cooking last year have dissipated, and practically all accounts are of “excellent, fantastically tasty high-end pub food that outshines nearby rivals and comes thoroughly recommended”. Top Menu Tip – “Very much to-be-enjoyed fish pie, full of tasty fish; superb glazed lamb shoulder”.

“Amazing food and amazing service” inspires fans of the Banks family’s famous inn with rooms on the edge of the North York Moors, near their 160-acre farm, which won fame in 2012 when Tommy Banks became the UK’s youngest chef to win a Michelin star. Now their empire has grown, there is room for quite a hierarchy in the kitchen nowadays, with Tommy Banks working with Executive Chef Callum Leslie and Head Chef Alice Power to deliver their tasting menu at £175 per person (£135 per person at lunch). Despite the high level of expense, it’s a consistently well-rated formula. It’s one that’s being refined too – with fish, for example, no longer a feature (‘In our continued commitment to sustainability and hyper-local sourcing, our chefs have taken the decision to focus exclusively on land-based ingredients for our tasting menu… to bring together everything from our own farm and garden, foraged wild ingredients and preserved seasonal produce’).

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.

An “original ambience” contributes to the charm of this eccentrically decorated hotel-restaurant, bedecked in grandfather clocks, chandeliers, tubas and drums – and part of the 18th-century Crab Manor, where the quirky décor continues in five globe-trotting bedrooms. “Tasty” fish is the specialism, but there was also praise this year for the “nice game”. Service can still occasionally lag – “maybe short staffed”? In Summer 2024, they added a sun-trapped terrace, further amplifying the “nice surroundings”.

“The Plough has been providing weary travellers with refreshments since 1498” and “current owners Richard & Lindsey Johns are the latest publicans to proudly continue this time-honoured tradition” (having built quite a name in this area already via e.g., the Hovingham Inn, and Artisan, Hessle). “Richard lovingly transforms the best produce Yorkshire has to offer into hearty, carefully considered dishes, preparing and cooking everything from scratch”, while “Lindsey ably oversees the warmest of Yorkshire welcomes to their guests in a cosy and welcoming setting” that’s certainly worth wombling over to Wombleton to visit.

2023 Review: “A superb find” in North Yorkshire, the former Inn at Hawnby has been smartly refurbed by Coastal & Country Inns as a luxury pub/restaurant with rooms. Meals are “well presented and taste superb”, while “nothing is too much trouble” for the friendly staff.

“Simply sublime” cooking wins huge support for Josh & Victoria Ovington’s converted pub in a small village half an hour from York which opened in mid 2023 and which is now one of the top-50 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll; and with a very high proportion of diners reporting their best meal of the year here. It’s not a place to drop by – the main event by night is an eighteen course menu championing the Yorkshire ‘terroir’ for £165 per person; at lunch a mere fourteen courses for £115 per person. Many fans have approvingly followed the couple’s progress from their days in York: “I thought that when they were at Le Cochon Aveugle they couldn’t be surpassed but moving to Myse they’ve pulled out all the stops. Incredible”. It’s a “lovely” place too (“especially in winter next to a roaring fire”), with rooms available for dinner, bed and breakfast.