North Yorkshire Restaurant Guide

“A magnificent addition to York’s burgeoning food scene” – “Tommy Banks does amazing things with the most simple of ingredients” (“how can anyone make a humble brassica such as kale so bloody tasty that we were all fighting over it?!”), at his family’s “converted pub, close to York city-centre”, which – in one short year – has become the survey’s most-mentioned destination in this increasingly foodie town. “The intense flavours and imaginative combination of sometimes-unlikely ingredients are a delight” and “the wine to match is excellent, and very well thought out”. “Young, friendly, helpful and enthusiastic service” contributes to a highly impressive debut. “Get in quick, before the prices match those at his Black Swan in Oldstead!”. Top Menu Tip – “his best-known dish is the epic crapaudine beetroot, the beetroot cooked in beef fat”.

Giorgio Alessio’s “fantastic” outfit has long been a “beacon of light” in these parts (“excellent since our first visit… in 1975!”) – the fish is “as fresh as you can get it, collected from the harbour at dawn” and it’s well worth going in season for “some dishes with truffles they bring back from visits home to Italy”. “We go every year while on holiday and I dream about the zabaglione!”

“Still the most civilised place on Earth” – these archetypal tea rooms have been a “Yorkshire institution” for a century now, founded as they were in 1919. There’s “no point wasting calories elsewhere” when here you can enjoy “afternoon tea, exactly as it should be”: “surrounded by starched white tablecloths and napkins, plus silver teapots, with a great selection of sandwiches (extra if you want them!) and cakes, plus unlimited tea or coffee served in grand surroundings by lovely staff”. “Every town should have one. Why don’t they?”

Passed from Northcote’s Ribble Valley Inns group to Brunning & Price in 2018 (and promptly refurbed), this poshified gastroboozer is a “lovely place to visit” for its “agreeable surroundings with nooks and crannies” and “excellent food and service”.

A “fabulous and ancient inn run by Paul Jackson and his wife Liz”, overlooking the North York Moors. Paul is a “a self-taught chef who produces some of the most spectacular food, in highly imaginative tasting menus” (the only option, and running at either six or eight courses, with “veggie options very good”). Once again, all who report can’t rate the service highly enough.