Hessle Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: “Amazing breakfast” and “great coffee” keep the regulars coming back to this all-day café “with gorgeous views of Hull Marina”. “The chairs are a bit on the wonky side, but that definitely adds some quirky charm”. Top tip: “the chorizo ragu with fried eggs”.

2023 Review: “Good food overlooking the marina” is reported in all accounts of this swish contemporary Indian. Even someone who feels its expensive-looking styling is “all a bit too grand for its own good” says “the food is well cooked and comes in generous portions”.

This “super-friendly” gastroboozer-with-rooms is a “great place to meet and eat”, where “the views of the Humber are excellent”. On the food front, the zero-waste ethos rules, with sorrel and wild garlic foraged from Broughton Woods, and kelp from Robin Hood’s Bay (carnivorous ingredients are dry-aged then finished on the Josper grill). Add in “good prices”, and it’s an ongoing hit.

2022 Review: “Vaut le voyage!” – Julian & Rieko Ognio-Stamford's smart Japanese first-floor dining room is something of a rarity in these parts, turning out “exceptional fresh sushi” and sashimi, alongside “generous portions” of “cuisine with a Yorkshire twist” (think pork loin and beef).

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.

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…

“Always a quality visit” – this restaurant (est. 2007) in a dark-wood Georgian former courthouse is presided over by siblings Matt and Michele Barker, with a terrace for summer dining. The unfussy, locally sourced British cooking is full of delightful things to eat, with the meats ‘a la plancha’ a particular hit – and the “lovely” set lunch representing “exceptional value”.

In the Saxon village of Sancton, this revamped roadside boozer turns out some “fantastic” pub grub, from “excellent” steak and ale pies to more “high-end” options. By all accounts the Sunday lunches are the thing to go for, with the “very tasty Yorkshire pudding” a two-time winner in the Great Yorkshire Pudding awards.

“Excellent food, knowledgeable and friendly staff, and a lovely environment” make a visit to this former coaching inn in East Yorkshire a real treat. Chef James & FOH Kate Mackenzie have transformed it over two decades into a regional culinary powerhouse, wooing diners with the “inspiring combinations” on their à la carte menu (which, given that this is a pub, extends to sandwiches). “Have a lovely unrushed lunch, followed by a walk in their wonderful garden”. Top Menu Tip – “A fabulous roast pork loin followed by an unbelievable ginger burnt cream with poached garden rhubarb and amazing East Yorkshire sugar cakes”.

“Situated in the market square almost in the shadow of Holy Trinity Church, now called Hull Minster”, a charming spot in a charming part of town comprising a downstairs bakery (the setting for brunch) and upstairs dining room turning out a “good and imaginative range of small and large plates”. It’s run by a trio of “Northern hipsters with skilled palates, good attitude and a lot of soul”, as a delighted Giles Coren put it in his May 2024 review: chef Ryan Telford, manager Ian Pexton and baker Caitlin Ogden, who previously oversaw afternoon teas at The Ritz.

In a landmark 1930s building overlooking North Bridge on the edge of the city centre, this dining room with a cocktail bar and outdoor terrace with panoramic views has a menu focused on dry-aged grass-fed Yorkshire beef.