Wet on Micklegate has landed in the space previously home to Notes which took over from Fish & Forest when that moved onto larger premises. It’s an intimate little space that’s fairly minimalist but still feels welcoming and cosy. Service is friendly and personal to such a degree that I never even set eyes on a wine list before a couple of bottles for me to sample have been selected, both white and refreshing as a precursor to a later switch to Beaujolais in honour of the day of our visit being Beaujolais Day!

Getting into the serious business of food, I decided to abandon any pretext of choice and leave the decision to our server, taking into consideration my dining companion’s vegetarian status. From the eight savoury dishes we ended up with five plates which arrived as one would expect, at a leisurely pace but without dragging on unnecessarily. That said, I enforced a wait until everything was on the table ready to be photographed… the camera eats first obv. A good rarebit balances just on the line between stodge and sharp relief thanks to the combination of beer and mustard but this one brought another of my favourite things to the party – Hendo’s. When a dish arrives with a bottle of Henderson’s Relish just for your table it’s a sign that things will progress well, as indeed they did. The rarebit hit the spot and we were soon in the swing of things tucking into Jerusalem artichoke that had been confited then served with ricotta whose delicate sharpness complemented the soft and earthy artichokes, a vegetable not seen nearly enough.

Beetroot is another favourite of mine but I tried to show restraint in the face of my vegetarian friend who didn’t share my recourse to the meat based dishes, with limited success. Simply presented with a zesty gremolata to help it live its best life, another tremendous showcase of one of my favourite vegetables. Meat dishes came next with lamb sausage coming accompanied by beetroot that, this time, had been given a touch of charring. The lamb was tender and well seasoned while benefitting from a generous spice too but my favourite plate matched one of my favourite vegetables to an unusual meat. Celeriac is a much more flexible vegetable than some give it credit for and presented as a mash here it made a superb backdrop for gamey chunks of ox heart with crispy shallots thrown in for good measure. All this food only attracted a debt of £45 which was superb value, the quantities certainly weren’t skimped on and we even had a few bits leftover to take home for snacking on. Wet is a great addition to a street which is hopefully on the up again now, the wine was memorable and clearly chosen with great care while the food represented superb value and some originality.

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Fish & Forest came to my attention when owner Stephen Andrews opened in Spark back in 2019, doing a great job of working around the inherent limitations of working from the confines of a shipping container. The sort of restaurant style dishes that Stephen clearly wanted to deliver would always be a tough one in that environment but it was a great way to test the concept and build a reputation, exactly as a stint in Spark should, and so he started looking to the future. In the shorter term this manifested itself in a stint occupying the kitchen at The Gillygate during which the offering could be refined to better suit a restaurant environment before moving to the permanent Fish & Forest site on Micklegate in April 2020, a rather bold move given the prevailing sense of doom at that time!

Risk can bring reward though and that very much seems the case here as Fish & Forest has steadily worked its way up people’s lists of preferred restaurants and has even been featured in the Michelin guide this early in its life. This permanent home on Micklegate is a little understated with a glass frontage that, from memory, was previously an Army recruitment office. On display is a sample menu to give one an idea of what to expect, with the menu potentially changing daily to reflect what produce is available. On entering there was a friendly buzz and the server who met us immediately struck the positive, upbeat tone that was maintained all evening.

With the menu changing on almost a daily basis, the team here have made the sensible decision to dispense with the annoyance of printing menus, instead relying on a large blackboard that the server brings to your table to talk you through. A set up like this relies on the server both knowing their stuff and being confident enough to engage with the whole table, something at which they proved adept while we were taken through our options. As an aside, I quite enjoyed having to make a decision on the spot given my usual tendency to read through menus in advance as much as possible. We settled in with some fresh bread and butter topped with a seaweed powder to wait for our first courses.

I can never resist a tartare so the venison on offer here was always going to end up coming to the table, with skate wing getting the nod to partner it over other options of onion tartlette or scallops. Tartare is heavily reliant on the use of texture to break up the meat with that task being taken on in this case by a slightly bitter shard that broke up to provide some crunch. Some more seaweed powder seasoned the dish well and taste, texture and presentation all hit the mark. The skate wing meat peeled easily from the bones and was a delight to soak into the well balanced Teriyaki style sauce, with a few springs of lightly pickled onion to counter the sweet touch of the sauce; a confident and beautifully put together pair of dishes to start.

Sole and venison were the focal points of our mains, which we augmented with a side of roasted cauliflower to make sure there was absolutely no chance of going hungry. Generous amounts of venison were soon on the table with a green peppercorn-studded, glossy sauce for a bold, but not overwhelming, hit of spice, balanced by a light slaw and fresh leaves with beetroot also coming to the fore. The sole needed its bones removing at the table, producing a perfect fish skeleton reminiscent of the sort of things seen fed to cats in cartoons and leaving the rest of the dish perfectly bone-free and ready to get stuck into along with a zingy Romesco sauce (made without almonds it was noted). With a crumb for crunch and an oil to break up the colour of the sauce as well as a few more bits of that lightly pickled onion, this was another well developed combination of presentation and flavour, all the more impressive with such a frequently changing menu. We finished off with chocolate, strawberry and ice cream dessert that was served as a sensibly restrained portion and was just the right note on which to finish.

It’s been such a pleasure watching the journey as Fish & Forest has taken sensible steps at appropriate intervals before making the big leap to permanent premises in the midst of a global pandemic. To find the offering so well resolved and with such a strong link evident between kitchen and front of house at this stage is an extremely impressive achievement that speaks volumes about everyone involved and is a great asset to the York food scene.

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I seem to have been on more than my fair share of afternoon teas recently, so I was intrigued to see how this one differentiated itself by employing the use of silver service to convey treats to the lucky few. This is a bit of a departure for afternoon tea, forcing you to engage in more active participation with your server than the usual practice of tiered deliveries to the table that can be grazed over at leisure.

Hudsons at the Grand is a fine dining restaurant which lends itself well to this sort of indulgence. Your first serious decision is presented by a hinged cabinet full of tea samples that your server presents with plenty of knowledge and encouragement to take in the smells. From the broad range of teas available we chose Milk Oolong and Hudsons Breakfast Blend to check out the most obvious choice and a more adventurous one. With that challenge met, we were presented with a small mug of Chilled Tomato Tea to enjoy while our tea was prepared. This left us suitably refreshed and with palates appropriately cleansed just in time to enjoy the more traditional tea. These were served with customised egg timers to ensure the perfect infusion before sampling and starting on the food.

The sandwich offering was suitably refined with pickled cucumber and smoked sea trout featuring well, but not quite eclipsing the egg mayonnaise sandwiches. These benefited from an additional bread layer that offered an object lesson in the benefits of texture to food. The light toasting of the extra layer set these apart from other egg mayo’ sandwiches with a neat crunch to go with our teas (no milk, lest we ruin the taste). The breakfast blend was satisfying and subtle, but the milk oolong set itself apart with its understated sweetness.

Next up, we removed scones from the linen shroud in which they were served and lathered them with jam and cream in whichever order took our fancy. These were impressively light, going down well with Baby Fork. and set us up well for the final barrage of sweet treats.

The cake selection featured banana bread, pistachio cake and a choux bun. The latter of these was the real show off, being topped with edible gold leaf for real afternoon tea prestige. The banana bread and pistachio cake were topped with impressively uniform slices of banana and strawberry but neither topped the choux bun that, gold or not, caught my fancy.

The silver service element to this certainly sets it apart from other afternoon teas, turning it into a curated experience with guidance from a knowledgeable server. This was a luxurious experience at home in a location such as Hudsons at the Grand and a satisfying departure from most afternoon teas without making it feel rushed. It’s definitely one to book when you feel like treating yourself.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this visit, opinions are impartial

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Tartare, brioche

The Rattle Owl has spent the last couple of years establishing itself as one of the best fine dining restaurants in York and has recently extended its lunch offering into the bang on trend market for small plates with a deal that offers 3 small plates for £12.50. In all honesty, that’s a very small amount of money to eat in a dining space as relaxed as one finds in The Rattle Owl, so you’d accept a few compromises in the food, but everything is up to the impressive standards one would expect from somewhere with this reputation. The small plate menu runs to six savoury dishes so, with two of us dining, it was simple enough to order one of each and check them all out.

Service was friendly and brisk enough to satisfy the need to arrive and leave within a precious lunch hour, first delivering trout tartare and ham and leek terrine. The next pair to arrive were celeriac veloute and stone bass before a final pairing of tofu croquette and poussin breast competed the sextet. It was a relief to see the kitchen’s muscles flexing across these dishes and find them all good representations of the standard you can expect from an evening meal here, regardless of the bargain price. The highlights were the celeriac veloute, that found further depths of flavour from French blue cheese, and the beautifully cooked stone bass that would have been even better had it come with the beetroot which instead came with the tofu croquette. 

As my years advance, I find myself retreating into surprise at just how pricey things are these days, but £12.50 for a light lunch in a restaurant as good as this doesn’t trigger any of those curmudgeonly instincts. It might be a few quid more than the work canteen (should you be lucky enough to have one) but even if you need to redress the spending balance elsewhere, you won’t need to cut out many indulgences to enjoy this periodically and encourage yourself to return for an evening meal at a more leisurely pace.

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Having previously checked out the menu, I felt some uncertainty as we arrived. The starter was described as (deep breath) “A taste of York. Twice baked olde York cheese soufflé, donut of slow braised ox cheek in Minster ale served with horseradish cream, ‘Green eggs and York ham’ great play on a classic, goodness vegetable root crisps with homemade hummus, cured Yorkshire trout and lemon thyme”. Surely we weren’t going to attempt to eat all of those elements? Was I meant to have previously selected a dish? Deciding to ignore my concerns and feign ignorance should it become apparent I’d somehow cocked up my order, we relaxed into the evening, helped no end by the presence of local food scene heroes including Gilly Robinson from Malton Cookery School and master chocolatier Andrew Thwaite.

It didn’t take long for starters to arrive and lay to rest my curiosity, the lack of delay impressive in itself given how popular the event had turned out to be. We were indeed expected to eat all of the elements listed! Fortunately a deftness of touch on Steph’s part had judged the quantities perfectly and ensured that everything on the plate was light and not going to dent our appetites fatally before main courses. The soufflé and ‘donut’ hit the mark particularly well while nothing on the plate disappointed or felt out of place.

The main course presented pork in a variety of ways with fillet, braised and pressed pork and crispy pork hash being backed up by apple compote, anise flavoured butternut, cider sauce and roasted roots. With the number of bits and pieces on the plates, the presentation was remarkably restrained without excessive garnishes or unnecessary flourishes; another wonderfully rounded plate of food!

To round off the meal, we were presented with a Toblerone parfait accompanied by poached rhubarb. Scattered around the plate were a shard of meringue, wafer and shreds of curd to give range to the dish. Chocolate owls spiked a fun, decorative and tasty touch on the edge of the plate. The dessert even offered a touch of showbiz as, I’m reliably informed, that helping out backstage was the talented Debbie who appeared on Further Back in Time for Dinner (well worth a watch, all hail the Robshaw family!)

The Steph Moon pop up was a resounding success that required two sittings to fit in all the enthusiastic guests, with whom it coped admirably. Priced at £35 a head with a £15 wine pairing on offer there was absolutely nothing to fault in the value proposition, especially when factoring in the Roman remains in the basement of the Rattle Owl. Whenever you make it to this venue, it’s worth asking if there’s anyone with time to show you round, though bear in mind that this is a restaurant first and it would be rather arrogant to expect a personal tour from a server at the expense of other guests being served.

We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on Steph’s future activities and will be signed up the moment she’s back in York to cook.

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Since Micklegate started to get its house in order and cast off the shadow of stag dos, cheap suits and mid-afternoon alcopop excess, it’s really starting to find its feet. The Rattle Owl led the charge and then the baton was picked up by the Falcon Tap and Sociale before Skosh asserted its yellow-tiled interior into the midst of the change, with Partisan most recently making their home. I’ve got to confess to being uncharacteristically late to the party at Skosh after having heard positives pile up from several sources I trust. With a week of chest infected purgatory adding to my whinges, this review is very late, but that’s the best excuse I have for delivering it so long after it became patently obvious that Skosh was going to be a wonderful addition to both Micklegate and York. Sorry ’bout that.

We already have the rather lovely Mr P’s Curious Tavern serving small plates in York and the ethos is similar here, with the menu comprising a variety of dishes that can be ordered to complement one another for a full meal, or ordered as one’s appetite demands while grazing throughout an evening. Chef Proprietor Neil Bentinck has clearly got a handle on this style of service and has put together a menu with an inviting and manageable number of dishes displaying both examples of classic flavour combinations and more thought provoking combinations that show inventiveness without resorting to gratuitous gimmicks.

We started the meal with a modicum of indecision that we tackled by taking our server’s suggestion to start with a ‘hens egg’ each and some bread. This was possibly the best value thing I’ve ever been served in a restaurant: at £2.80, the contrasting textures of potato and leek with accents of truffle all came together in wondrous harmony while we chose more dishes to be nicely surprised by. First to arrive was sourdough with acorn butter and ‘gunpowder’ spice, perhaps not a headline dish, but there’s always something comforting about slathering butter onto nice bread and, in this case, the peppery seasoning gave extra depth of flavour.

The next dish to arrive was venison tartare. I’m a complete sucker for raw meat and can’t resist it whenever it’s on a menu in front of me. In this instance it was complemented by oyster and yuzu cream and pakora scraps and completely blew us away. The combination of good old Yorkshire ‘scraps’, indian flavour and perfectly prepared meat was flawless with an enthralling mix of textures and perfectly balanced flavours. The next dish swung back toward vegetables, comprising beetroot, leek and apple with basil and ricotta. No single flavour dominated and the presentation tantalised without going over the top, and another dish arrived in short order. This time we headed toward seafood with bbq octopus presented under olives of pear under which black bean sauce was unusually subtle, not dominating the dish as one might fear from a less accomplished chef. While still gently chuckling to ourselves at the standard we were enjoying and the wonderfully tight working practices in the kitchen, chefs barely needing to exchange a word when preparing and plating to understand each other’s actions.

We were then presented with another superstar. Molasses cured sea trout with lemon marshmallow was utterly beyond reproach and, while I wouldn’t normally be so crass as to draw comparisons, it was easily comparable to a similar dish I’d enjoyed earlier in the week from a chef of great repute. Served on small skewers each small portion gave up a perfect mouthful of complementing flavour and melting texture. The last savoury dish we enjoyed was tandoor style half roast partridge, perhaps not screaming its own wonder in the same way as a couple of other dishes, but that’s not to understate the quality of dishes preparation. All this took its toll on me, so I passed on sweet duties and received predictably glowing reports on victoria plums with star anise cream from my dining comparison.

It’s not overstating things to say that Skosh is immediately one of the most desirable places to eat in York. It should be clear from this review that the food is of a uniformly wonderful standard, but while seated at the kitchen table it was mesmerising watching the guys cook. There was barely a word needed for the chefs to communicate their actions to one another and the sense of calm was stunning; any fears of soap opera style breakdowns in the kitchen were so unfounded as to be comical. Service lived up to the same high standard with knowledge of the menu uniformly impressive and depth of knowledge surprisingly broad. We even found out where the crockery was sourced without a moment’s hesitation!

After a bottle of wine and a moderately generous tip, the penalty for all this came to a hundred pounds for two people. For this standard of food and service, that’s an enormously fair price, our commitment further highlighted by Skosh being our first choice for lunch just three days later that represented even better value at eighty pounds for three, including drinks, as we controlled our gluttony with a firmer hand. I’d be happy to pay just to watch these guys cook, let alone eat the results.

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Skosh will be opening it’s doors next week on Wednesday 22^nd June 2016

Skosh (noun) – from the Japanese word Sukoshi, meaning a small amount or a little

Be one of the first to step into the contemporary dining room in their recently renovated, Grade II listed building at 98 Micklegate, York.

Two years in the making, Skosh will offer a grazing style menu of contemporary and internationally influenced dishes served from an open kitchen, providing York with a dining experience that is casual, personable, intriguing and exciting.

All about Skosh…

Skosh will open its doors for the first time this spring, offering a grazing style of dining with a contemporary British menu with an international influence.

Neil Bentinck embarked on a journey to open his first restaurant a little over two years ago with one fundamental idea – to create a space that he himself would enjoy dining in. Great tasting, interesting and creative food served in a modest and modern environment with an unfussy drinks list and friendly, informed service.

This independent restaurant is not about reinventing the wheel, but rather bringing together all the best aspects of the emerging casual fine dining culture.

The urban, modern dining room with an open kitchen is a reflection of Neil’s cooking which is contemporary, fun and honest; food best enjoyed in a comfortable and engaging environment. Snacks, small plates and sharing platters offer informality and variety. Signature dishes, such as SFC (Skosh Fried Chicken), baked hake with dukkah, and goats curd marshmallow, show a refined but playful style of contemporary cooking.

The sourcing of ingredients and service ware has been meticulous and consciously so. To create a great restaurant, Neil is aware it takes more than one chef, but rather a network of incredible suppliers, producers and craftspeople.

Neil Bentinck – The Chef and Owner

Just under three years ago, Neil made the decision to leave his head chef position at the award-winning fine dining restaurant Van Zeller in Harrogate, with the view to pursuing his dream of opening his own place. While trying to come to terms with the startling complexities of setting up his first restaurant, Neil undertook some fantastic opportunities to work in some of the best kitchens in the country. In London, Neil worked with Sophie Mitchell in Knightsbridge as well as starring as guest chef in a string of sell-out popups at East London-based urban holding Stepney City Farm. Back up North, Neil took on several rewarding contracts with Michelin-starred restaurants, including Northcote and The Star Inn. And, if his plate wasn’t full enough, in November 2014, Neil and partner Chelsey welcomed the birth of their first son, Henry.

Neil’s boyish enthusiasm for food, as well as his eclectic cooking style, can be largely credited to his late father’s Indian heritage. Born and raised in India, Neil’s dad Mike moved to England in the early 70s. An avid gastronome, Mike was always cooking traditional Indian dishes alongside Jackie, Neil’s mum, and her more classic British recipes. The memories of these familiar smells, spices and flavours of home have heavily impacted on Neil’s career and style of cooking.

Neil’s CV reflects his ambitious and inquisitive nature. He has honed his skills in some of Yorkshires’ finest culinary institutions – The Sun Inn (Colton), Blue Bicycle (Fossgate), Churchill Hotel (Bootham) and the Michelin-starred Pipe and Glass (South Dalton) – while interspersing these lessons with trips and work abroad in Australia, Thailand, America, New Zealand and Japan.

Skosh is the natural culmination of family influences, worldwide travels and professional growth.

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Based in the former Blake Head bookshop and cafe building which has been simply restored to a comfortable dining room, the Rattle Owl is finding its own identity. The restaurant provides an area that is comfortably lit, doesn’t suffer from invasive reflected noise and doesn’t pack in too many tables.

While the Blake Head was undoubtedly a loss to Micklegate, the Rattle Owl is making amends for that in spades. Now that the Falcon Tap no longer occupies the bottom rung of the antisocial behaviour ladder and instead provides civilised drinks on Micklegate, things are starting to really look up for the area. In fact, we didn’t have to dodge a single hen/stag party on our way, come to think of it!

The Rattle Owl’s attractive frontage features a small wine shop in addition to the tempting entrance adorned with the lovely owl logo. My previous visit for a preview meal found the place brimming with enthusiasm and a food offering that felt well developed. While there were a few rough edges such as mis-matched furniture, these have all been smoothed off now and the interior is befitting the food on offer.

After a few tedious expenses knocked a hole in YoaF finances, we noted a shockingly good value set menu offering two courses for £14. Justifying our skinflintedness as an opportunity to appraise the establishment on the merits of budgetary accessibility, we plumped for pig’s head terrine and beetroot mascarpone mousse to start.

The terrine came with a black pudding bon bon and bags of flavour. The confidence to bill pig’s head honestly is a breath of fresh air. I know at least one other restaurant in York that is a touch more surreptitious about it. Neatly presented, rich and fragrant, this was a cracking place to start.

The beetroot mousse could perhaps have pulled in a couple of contrasting flavours, but was well-balanced between richness and earthy beetroot. The two dark toasts contrasted well with the beetroot, and one of them also had a kick of cheese dressing.

Moving onto mains, we plumped for rabbit pie and seafood chowder. We pause at this point to remember this is only £14 for two courses, seriously good value. The pie is simply presented, with a sprig of green on the side, and doesn’t shy from its flavourful filling, well judged sauce neither overpowering the animal or falling into anonymity.

Seafood chowder made a huge asset of the sauce it was presented on. At the other end of the dish, the chunk of bread presented with it served well to prevent wastage of that sauce. The fish was perfectly cooked and mussels provided variety. It’s all I can do to stop shouting “fourteen pounds!” even now a few weeks later.

We didn’t have space for a third course so chose to call it quits and stroll home. The choice of wine was excellent, with a good selection available by the glass. Our only regret was in having been too financially cautious in sticking to the set menu. Still, that represents the perfect excuse to abuse a credit card at the next visit. See you there.

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