North Yorkshire Restaurant Guide

“What a surprise! Not normally a hotel restaurant fan but this broke the mold” – so says one Surrey-based fan of this appropriately, er, grand dining room: the culinary centre-piece of the city’s only five-star hotel (complete with 207 rooms and spa), whose building was constructed in 1906 as the HQ for the North Eastern Railway. Fans applaud the “warm service and beautifully prepared food from three tasting menus for £100, £115 and £130 per person with optional wine flights” (dubbed ‘Stone’, ‘Water’ and ‘Steel’) – more reports please!

James Close with wife Maria closed his acclaimed Co Durham restaurant the Raby Hunt (a regular on our UK Top 100 list) after 14 years and relaunched in the Orangery of nearby Rockliffe Hall in mid 2024, after our annual diners’ poll had ended. Initially billed as ‘A modern bistro by James Close’, from October 2024 the site has launched new tasting menus – ‘Expresssion’ (£105 per person) and ‘Experience’ (£170 per person) – that aim to take the diner on a ‘global culinary journey’. The ultimate aim is clearly to establish the dining room as one of the best in the UK.

2024 Review: Leafy views over glorious Dales countryside and the river Wharfe add to the occasion at this attractive hotel, convenient for Bolton Abbey. The cooking – Hardwick lamb, market fish, steaks – is not particularly ‘gastro’ in style but contributes to a comfortable and affordable experience, and one that comes at a reasonable price.

A brand new country Inn, opened its doors for the first time in September 2020.The Lime Tree Inn is a family run country Inn made of seriously good food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.Our menu is seasonal with everything made in house from quali...

2024 Review: “They always go the extra mile” according to fans of this city-centre outpost of Yorkshire’s nine-strong chain of well-regarded curry houses – a family-run business established in 1977.

“Glad to see Fish and Forest settled into its new, larger home in a more central York location” – Steven Andrews’s descriptively-named bistro shifted to this “new Grape Lane location” in August 2024 (a site previously owned by his parents and run as the 1331 Bar & Grill). He serves an “excellent, inventive and short menu” (four starters, four mains, two puds) which changes frequently based on the availability of produce. One reporter complained that there was “not enough of the forest on the menu”, but there is mostly all-round praise in feedback for the “comfortable environment, knowledgeable staff” and “some outstanding flavours coupled to impeccable ingredients that make for a lovely experience”.

“A great pub with rooms in a lovely village just outside York” which makes “a good meeting place in a village just off the A1” and whose contemporary style is very pleasing and slick (“dare one say it, very unlike the North of England....” says a Bradford-based diner). Service is “professional yet friendly” and “the varied menu remains consistent making it always a pleasure to go there”.

“Just fabulous on every level” hail fans – particularly of the cuisine at this restaurant with rooms in a Jacobean mansion facing Ripon Cathedral. “Chef Adam Jackson never fails to impress” with his “exceptional tasting menu” – eight courses for £95 per person in the evening – which enables you to discover the building, with different parts of the meal served in different places. (There are other options for lunch and afternoon tea). Top Menu Tip – “sea bass with a very delicate jalapeno sauce that just elevated the dish… and the drink paired with it was a sparkling Japanese sake....amazing”.

“Very enjoyable tasty food and friendly service” underpin a formula that’s won enduring success for this stalwart cellar in the lower ground floor of a solid Victorian mansion which celebrates its 40th year in 2025. The traditional-ish cuisine aims for ‘Yorkshire on a plate’ and the sensibly priced and focused menu covers all bases, including a selection of steaks.

Award-winning Master Chef Finalist, Great British Menu-famed chef Bobby Geetha and Team provides a stunning contemporary British cuisine inspired by world flavours.Fléur Restaurant was the finalist for best Brunch in Leeds. Reviewed as Top 3 best Bottomless...

2022 Review: Feedback remains limited but remains very positive for this Chapel Allerton Thai (part of a local group), which hits twenty years old in 2022.

“Don’t just dine… stay… walk the deer park before dinner, take a G&T on the lawn, dine… retire to the billiards room… go to the spa in the morning” – that say fans is how you get the most out of a trip to this “romantic” location: a large country house hotel whose flagship dining room and its ‘Estate to Plate ethos’ is looked after by chef Struan Macintyre. The dining room itself is “interesting and intimate" but it’s the “tasty cuisine that’s its point of difference”. Gone are the multi-course offerings of the past here: the menu now is in a luxe brasserie style, with mains such as Swinton Estate Venison, Line Caught Sea Bass or sharing options for two such as Côte de Boeuf or Lobster.

“Take a pre-dinner drink in the amazing garden to enjoy the full experience” if you visit this grand five-star hotel, which has a “superb location” in one of the city’s oldest and finest houses, near the minster. It also wins praise for its “very friendly” staff, and high ratings for chef Ian Doyle’s accomplished cuisine. There is a relatively affordable à la carte option, with main dishes such as saddle of lamb or pan-roasted fish for £30-£40; or a more ambitious eight-course tasting menu for £130 per person.

“Love Skosh!” – “Sceptics of fusion food need have no fear of pretentious, jarring combinations” at Neil Bentinck’s “always busy” open-kitchen hotspot: yet again the most commented-on destination in town in our annual diners’ poll. Few restaurants nationally attract reports that are so overflowing with praise and enthusiasm, making this “a must-visit when in York” for “a memorable meal” and allowing him to expand in 2024 into the adjoining property (and it’s “still full, even with the addition of the new bar and walk-in seats”). “The range of tasty small plates keeps you coming back” – the selection is eclectic and “often internationally inspired” served “in a stylish yet relaxed setting”. Plus “it’s rare to go somewhere that treats its staff so well that you see the same faces every time you visit”. Top Menu Tip – “Hen’s egg, katsu mussels, beef dumpling, Whitby crab tostados, hogget sausage miso onions, spiced cod and hogget shawarma – all perfectly cooked and top value – this place deserves a Michelin star!”.

“Thai cooking of the same standard as the country’s best”, all served in a “busy and friendly” environment wins consistently all-round praise for this popular outpost of Ben Kaewkraikhot’s small Yorkshire group (which started in Chapel Allerton in 2002).

“For a consistently great night out” fans still tip the flagship city-centre branch of Ban Kaewkraikhot’s local Thai group, which started in Chapel Allerton and which also has a branch in Harrogate. It’s a lavishly furnished two-floor venue with a huge, 200+ item menu.

This comfortable gastropub with rooms is well-known to some who travel the northerly reaches of the A1 (off which it is to be found) and was in days long gone by a sibling to the Angel at Hetton. After an up-and-down performance in recent years, it’s now been relaunched since August 2025 as part of Tommy Banks’s expanding northern empire and provides superior pub classics and more ambitious fare at restaurant-level prices. Reports please!

“A breath of fresh air for Northallerton” – this casual, modern bar/bistro brings with it a contemporary formula of small plates cooked over a coal-fired grill. “It’s great food from a menu that changes regularly, the staff are always really friendly and attentive and there’s a great drinks selection”.