Ripon Restaurant Guide

“A true gem” – chef-patron Mitch Mitchell’s utterly unlikely venture, located within a factory unit on an industrial estate that manufactures sauces and stocks. The 14-course tasting menu (Fri/Sat night only) caused Giles Coren to invoke Noma no less, and reporters this year all concurred that it is “an experience not to be missed”. The “only tiny issue is who you sit next to, as your neighbour could be totally loud and full of self-importance – but this place deserves a star at least!”

This “handsome old house” makes a “brilliant” showcase for Yorkshire-born chef Shaun Rankin’s talents, honed by decades in Jersey and London. Valeria Sykes spent £70 million converting the country pile into a hotel, and given its almost “intimidating” level of luxury naturally “you may need a second mortgage before booking” (“from the iron gates policed by a uniformed guard, along a coiffed drive, we found a forecourt occupied by four Rolls-Royces, a Lamborghini and assorted top-model Range Rovers!”). On all accounts, though, it’s “quite outstanding in all respects”, not least results from the ten-course ‘Taste at Home’ menu for £145 per person.

This quirky fish specialist, with exotically styled bedrooms in the 18th century Crab Manor, certainly has an “original ambience” (“if Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques ran a restaurant”, it might look like this, replete with assorted “sea-fishing paraphernalia”); there was the odd blip on the service front this year, but also continued praise for some of the “best seafood around”.

2021 Review: “A very traditional Yorkshire chippie” which doesn’t offer anything fancy but “just good fish ’n’ chips” (the former “huge and well-battered”, and “you can go for more exotic if you wish”); “a little tip – avoid early evening when the ‘pensioners’ special menu’ is served – it will be heaving!”

“Fantastic surroundings” – the owners spent an eye-watering £1.5 million transforming the Royal Baths into this upscale restaurant – and a “really nice feel and vibe at all times” set this two-year-old apart from the competition; the contemporary and trad Cantonese food is also worthwhile. “We still prefer Orchid, but this place has great decor!”

2023 Review: This “quirky café with wonderful cinnamon buns and waffles” offers a “real taste of Scandinavia in Harrogate”. It’s “very popular with yummy-mummies in the morning so can get a little loud, but you can buy all the baked goods from their shop just by the theatre”. Owner Paul Rawlinson’s Scandi restaurant Norse is still missed, five years after its closure.

Ignore the “dated surroundings”, this well-known local institution under the Studley Hotel “continues to deliver a first-class experience” after more than two decades, and “never lets you down” with its “amazing pan-Asian cooking”, “matched by high-quality service and a good wine selection”. “Whenever we visit Harrogate we make a bee-line for this restaurant”.

This “amazingly busy” Montpellier Quarter veteran (est. 1971) is “just as good as it’s always been” – credit to Ray & June Carter, who’ve overseen it for a decade (and have also run the Sportsman’s Arms, Wath-in-Nidderdale, for three). The “very interesting and delicious menu” spotlights “fish cooked absolutely right” – “try the queenies (aka queen scallops) followed by fish pie”.

A Yorkshire “legend” – “the epitome of an old-fashioned afternoon tea room, and with a great pianist too”. “You might have a long wait in the queue to get in, but it’s worth it” for the “delicious pastries and well-filled sandwiches” served at this flagship of a family-owned business founded in 1919, now with five venues across North Yorkshire. “Places that are described as an ‘institution’ are often a stuffy, stilted let-down – Betty’s is none of the above”: “even the fish ’n’ chips are stylish”.

2021 Review: A “bustling” ambiance that “gives a lift to the spirits” is the chief plus-point of this brasserie offshoot of the ever-expanding London luminary. Even fans concede it’s “expensive for what it is”, and “could be said to be a little formulaic”, while a couple of other reporters noted meals that were positively bad.

This ultra-opulent seventeenth-century country house was reborn as a hotel in 2019 replete with pool, snow room and altitude training chamber. Its many eateries include a haute operation by former Ormer chef Shaun Rankin – and this tartan-clad, baronial-style brasserie, praised this year for its “amazing welcome and lovely food” (especially patisserie, if you put your trust in Jay Rayner’s otherwise slightly mixed 2022 review).

“The new venture from the old Yorke Arms team is absolutely perfect in every way” – “to see Frances Atkins preparing your lunch in the open kitchen is a wonderful experience”. Following the sad ending of her long tenure at the famous moorland inn, the first woman to earn a Michelin star in the UK is now wowing guests at a garden centre near Harrogate, alongside her trusted lieutenants chef Roger Oliver and manager John Tullett. There’s “a high-quality menu available throughout the day, while dinner is only on Fridays” (twice a month) – and it’s all “Michelin-quality food without the pretensions of a star”.

“Increased in size” – this “dog friendly” bar/café/kitchen is “still best in class locally despite the new look and expansion” and makes “the perfect location for working, socialising and relaxing”. Expect “Darkwoods coffee, great value breakfasts and brunches, and the friendliest service” plus a selection of beers (10 craft keg taps and 6 cask hand pulls on the bar), pizzas and poutine (Quebec comfort food mixing chips, gravy and cheese) but with a Yorkshire twist.

Scheduled for an April opening in the Cedar Court, Harrogate’s oldest hotel (originally Queen’s Hotel, from 1687), a flagship fine dining restaurant promising a traditional British menu using the best of Yorkshire and UK produce. The £500,000 investment includes the Imaginarium private dining space, and takes its name from a distinguished former resident, the progressive thinker and scientist Lady Amber Fitzwilliam.