Thomas Carr at The Coast is twenty something covers across two small rooms with view out across the hills and, thanks to the weather when we visited, large opening doors that bring nature just far enough inside to be part of the experience, making a delightfully calming space in which to dine. Our server was quickly at our side with menus and water, and wine for the passenger in short order while we settled in and contemplated the dishes that would make this Friday lunch rather special. The Tasting Menu that we were being treated to came in at £65 a head and had some real star ingredients to easily justify that price. Bread came to the table first with a trio of flavoured butters comprising tomato and basil and beetroot as well as a rather more unusual mussel butter that reflected the seafood theme nicely. With that to pick at, we had a treat from the chef arrive to kick things off. Sweet and buttery scallops with a hazelnut crust alongside brown shrimp with a watercress sauce and sweet hints of white onion and a little kick of wild garlic resolved into an light, well balanced and beautifully executed dish that set the tone very well.

Rhubarb-cured salmon came next, a dish that could easily fade into contemptuous familiarity but here accented by sharp hits of lemon with pickled rhubarb and salmon pate to serve as points of difference and crispy salmon skin for textural interest. This pushed the boundary of a familiar concept just enough to make it memorable without straying too far from what makes it such a rightfully common combo. Next up was a chunky piece of stone bass with crab and fennel, an easy combination to elevate into something truly special that’s done so here with panache. The fish was beautifully cooked with the flesh flaking and skin crisped and all the other elements were as confidently put together. Fennel with an aniseed tang lifted the adjacent portion of white crab while richer brown crab flavoured a rolled centrepiece to the dish and a bit of samphire gave it more of a touch of the sea.

Monkfish was next up in this parade of seafood greatest hits with a bacon sauce underpinning it in lieu of the more common pancetta or similar wrap treatment. Asparagus and baby leek gave a freshness and a splash of green to the place while texture was taken care of by a generous shard of crisped chicken skin. What really pushed this one to new heights was a lightly spiced piece of chicken sausage that livened up the plate even further, with a gentle Coronation chicken spicing that was in perfect harmony with the other elements on the plate. Dessert was anchored by passion fruit with textures of meringue and a crunchy base, a light and zingy finish to the meal.

Thomas Carr at The Coast is offering something quite distinctive, a seafood heavy set menu that doesn’t make heavy weather of being a “Seafood Restaurant”, with all the constraints implied there. Every dish showed off the quality produce to its greatest impact with original twists that added to the experience without starting to feel forced or contrived. It must also be said that £65 for a menu executed this well featuring such a broad spread of high end seafood is great value too, with service up to par too. This really deserves to find a broad audience and is well worth the drive from York!

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Grays Court has become well established as one of the best small hotels in Yorkshire since being taken over by the Heraty family just under a decade ago, who have painstakingly worked to restore it to the standard this historic building deserves. Central to any prestigious hotel should be an appropriate food offering which, at Grays Court, is fulfilled with characteristic competence by Adam Jackson at The Bow Room restaurant. Now, though, they’re ready to add a slightly more casual string to their bow with a menu that’s perfect to enjoy in their stunning garden, bounded in part by York City Walls. This may be more casual than a multi-course tasting menu but that’s not to say it isn’t suitably indulgent, with a theme that picks the best of French and British caviar and sparkling wines to compare.

Caviar from either Exmoor or Pettrosian is served with blinis, sour cream and pickled cucumbers and starts from £90 for a tin; pairing that with a bottle of champagne or Nyetimber sparkling wine would make a suitably indulgent afternoon and a memorable experience. Also on the menu are a beautifully dressed steak tartare and potted shrimp with crab meat as well as fish platters and plenty of oysters of course. It’s fair to say that this is priced as a premium experience, and it really does deliver on that. Top quality seafood and a high end drinks offering in the grounds of one of York’s most spectacular buildings really is a thing to savour and serve as the foundation of great memories. What could compare to sipping the finest English sparkling wine in a garden abutting York city walls while trying to decide if English or French caviar is superior?

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I’ve come across a few different spins on afternoon tea over the years such as “Gentlemens Afternoon Tea” comprised of pork pies, meats, beer and so on but the idea of an entirely seafood focussed is a new one on me that sounded infinitely more appealing than a few finger sandwiches and cakes. The business behind this ingenious idea is Guesthouse Hotels who last year launched Guesthouse York on Bootham, beautifully restoring the building which had become a little tired under its previous occupant. While they have a full food and drink offering as you would expect of a hotel they’re also periodically running events such as this Bottomless Afternoon Sea which sounded like a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon for just £35 – though that seems overly generous to me, so I would expect it to creep up for future iterations.

We were quickly stationed at a table with views into the street and our preference for white or rosé as swiftly delivered as it was established before the showstopping Afternoon Sea arrived. Consisting of three tiers of quality seafood and a side plate of scones, this looked every bit the indulgent treat I hoped it would be. We descended the tiers from the top, starting with the oysters that we dressed with shallot and vinegar before finishing off a few mussels, after which moving onto tempura and regular prawns that appreciated being dipped in a roasted red pepper sauce with a decent bite of spice. Anchovy with a sliver of cheese and a crouton for texture was wrapped in lettuce to serve as a salad before we hit the bottom, so to speak. Baked scallops with cheese is seldom a disappointment and a brace of bread fingers topped with mackerel and clam were well rounded and satisfying. The scone element showcased smoked salmon and featured a really good punch of the salty fish, which in a more penny pinching environment would have tasted of austerity rather than indulgence.

Having established my lack of sweet tooth, affection for seafood and curiosity for something new, this was always going to be something of an own goal for Guesthouse York. While plans for later in the day meant we weren’t taking full advantage of the 90 minutes of bottomless wine, that really does make this something of a bargain when considered in tandem with the original and luxurious food offering. Judging by the reaction on social media, I’m not the only one that thinks this way too. Make sure you get booked onto the next one asap if you want a place!

(Disclaimer – PR meal)

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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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The Rockfish fresh seafood range varies week to week and is made up of a limited number of portions of whatever has been landed, with the remaining number of portions of each listed on the website as they sell. It should be noted that pricing is going to make a few of the cuts difficult to justify for some with the most expensive cuts topping £18 for a single portion, which makes it all the more important that the accompanying guidance hits the spot and lets you make the most of your investment. Irrespective of price though, it’s hard to argue with the freshness here as the fish is portioned immediately after landing before being shipped for next day delivery.

Your Rockfish fresh seafood delivery, which arrives in recyclable or returnable packaging, also comes with an engaging booklet that lays out what cooking techniques best suit each cut of fish, all presented simply and with handy tips for flavour pairings and which of the range’s flavoured butters to use. It’s also worth checking out the recently launched range of tinned fish, in particular the mussels are as unique as they are irresistible – I would definitely be sneaking those into any subsequent orders. Everything is neatly packaged and easy to store in the fridge ready for you to start meal planning. 

I opted to get stuck into some Gurnard first that I pan fried and finished with some of the Rockfish béarnaise butter to serve with asparagus and roasted baby potatoes. These fillets were just the right size for a light meal and were slightly oily, reminiscent of mackerel but much more subtle, to make a positive first impression of the Rockfish offering. Next up some smoked haddock that I oven roasted with some kedgeree butter for a really memorable breakfast when sandwiched between a slice of sourdough toast from a local baker and a fresh poached egg from next door’s chickens. It’s not hyperbolic to say that this was one of the best brunches ever eaten in this house, and the kedgeree butter has been depleted quickly in the aftermath too!

Scallops require a bit more thought in their presentation, with my efforts throwing into sharp relief the skills that chefs put on the plate, but regardless of the slightly amateurish plating, the end result hit its mark perfectly. These were some of the sweetest scallops I’ve yet had the pleasure of and set the scene for a real headliner in the form of a turbot t-bone. Cut from the centre part of the fish and with the bone remaining in situ, this was my first time eating this cut, and indeed cooking it though by now I was confident in the guidance that accompanied it – indispensable when tackling an £18 cut of fish for the first time! Simply oven roasted and well seasoned this was a memorable bit of food, the meat remaining succulent and flaking apart beautifully to work well with sauté spinach and a roasted then seared cauliflower steak. Last up were some hake fillets that I cooked en papillote (using parchment to create a tight parcel in which to roast them) to great effect and served with more of the well judged kedgeree butter.

The Rockfish fresh seafood service is a cohesive and well thought out way to experiment with seafood cookery at home, making sure that you get the best out of the produce you order and giving transferable instruction on how to cook seafood consistently. It would be perfect for the friend I mentioned earlier who was unsure of how to approach regular seafood cookery at home. It must be said that this is a premium product and is priced to reflect that, with most single portions around £7-£10 but there’s no doubting the quality of the seafood, the accompanying flavoured butters and sauces or the guidance surrounding it. It’s also a great way to try different cuts of fish as the range changes. I’ll be keeping an eye on what’s available and putting in a repeat order when something catches my eye.

(Disclaimer, PR product supplied at no cost)

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I’ve been lucky enough to eat and rest at The Dev‘ before and was confident that it would justify the drive to the Dales so we earmarked a day to make the most of its delights, also planning a stroll up to the Abbey and nearby stepping stones. Evidently when we arrived I still had my blinkers on, needing a bit of a pointer to the Devonshire Arms Champagne and Seafood Terrace that was just the other side of the building from my parking spot. The structure in which you dine here feels very far from those traps of anonymity some less imaginative venues have fallen into, the surrounding view, the terrace and the hotel itself all complementing one another to produce a striking and memorable place to dine.

The menu hits all the notes you’d expect of a seafood restaurant with a broad selection of dishes that strayed notably from the sample menu on the website, indicating the dishes reflecting the availability of different seafoods and evolving to accommodate. Unsurprisingly Laurent-Perrier Champagne is also available by the glass, something we were more than happy to indulge ourselves in while getting into the detail of our choices. We started on some whitebait with garlic aioli that came to life under a good squeeze of fresh lemon before moving onto a more substantial crab rarebit served on brioche. Alternating mouthfuls of whitebait and crab meat with sips of champagne proved as enjoyable an occupation as you’d imagine, the crispy whitebait pairing particularly well with the fizz. Crab rarebit can be a bit of a tightrope but the delicate meat wasn’t overwhelmed by the well judged cheese sauce and the sweet brioche underpinned the lot admirably. Mackerel pate was also served on slices of brioche and delightfully executed, really letting the meat make itself heard along with some pickles to provide sharp relief. We also took down a large bowl of crayfish tails and rounded off the selection with a baby potato salad dressed with miso mayonnaise and a subtle dash of oyster powder. To finish off we shared a selection of cheese, that had come from the superbly consistent Courtyard Dairy and represented their high standards very well along with some chutney and fruit breads. We also grabbed some seashell chocolates to nibble on with coffee.

In the midst of challenging times, The Devonshire has done a fantastic job of maintaining its sense of prestige and occasion, with the Devonshire Arms Champagne and Seafood Terrace instantly marking itself out as a desirable destination. We thoroughly enjoyed the food, which was given the best possible platform by the environment and represented greater value than I expected with hearty portions a little at odds with the fine dining backdrop, though none the worse for that generosity! Hopefully next summer we’ll have the option to eat inside, but options to enjoy the Yorkshire outdoors in surroundings such as this will always be appreciated.

Disclaimer: PR visit supplied for purposes of review.

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When I finally got round to visiting Ashfields Restaurant York College, there was a “Land & Sea Banquet” evening scheduled which looked to offer a good mix of dishes and techniques for the young chefs to show off, sounding like a good bet. I’d never been to this College before, so instinctively popped to reception on arrival for guidance on where to head next, but with a greater sense of adventure, I’d have spotted the large Ashfields sign 30 feet away. I’d worried that the room would rob the meal of any sense of occasion, being shoehorned into the corner of a dining hall or some such. Those fears were quickly dispelled though, the restaurant feels just that and features a discreet but perfectly functional bar with a range of drinks to complete the restaurant experience.

The Land & Sea Banquet took the form of three platters to share between the two of us, seafood first followed by meat and vegetables before a dessert to finish. The seafood platter featured smoked salmon from Bleikers along with mussels, mackerel, crab, prawn and dill bread. The dill bread sat happily underneath smoked mackerel pate while pickled beetroot gave breadth to the fish elements. Bleikers salmon was as good as one would expect and it didn’t show up any of the elements prepped by the guys in the kitchen. Baked mussels were subtle as was prawn escabeche and the crab Scotch eggs were generous with the star ingredient.

The headliner on the ‘Land’ platter was porchetta which was carved by the students in the dining room as the centrepiece of the evening. It was served with roast potatoes, stuffing, root vegetables, red cabbage and a particularly luxuriant cauliflower cheese. The porchetta wore a beautifully judged layer of crackling around its succulent meat and paired delightfully with those roast vegetables.

The meal finished with a dark chocolate maple pecan pie with a white chocolate truffle and milk chocolate ice cream. I’ve had some unusual ice creams in recent years that have been of varying attractiveness, but this was a refreshing, light example that tempered the rich tart well.

I’d thoroughly recommend getting a little out of town to try out a meal here. If I was being picky, I could mention a couple of rough edges in the food, for example it would have been nice to have a runny yolk in the Scotch egg, but I’ve seen far worse things happen for a great deal more money in well reputed restaurants. Similarly the service, while entirely efficient and friendly, betrayed a touch the age and experience of those delivering it. That should be taken as an observation rather than a criticism though, to treat it as anything else would be to forget the purpose of the meal. Yes you’re paying for a nice experience but don’t forget that comes as a by-product of these guys gaining the experience they need to take up careers in the industry. Why not treat yourself to a bargain of an evening that gives you the chance to enjoy hospitality from the future of York’s food scene?

Disclaimer: No charge was made for attendance, opinions are impartial.

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Fish & Forest made its name in Spark selling well realised fish dishes that showed a level of refinement greater than one would expect of a street food offering. It was always clear that this ambition would need a venue that would allow for niceties such as plates and waiters, so it’s not a surprise to see them form an alliance with The Gillygate to shift the offering up a gear by putting a roof over it. I was a fan of the dishes served at Spark so more than eager to sample a tasting menu that would showcase the sort of experience F&F would be aiming for at The Gillygate.

The one disagreement I have with the people behind F&F regards oysters. I’ve tried my best and have enjoyed them as tempura and ice cream but never managed to appreciate them raw in all their slimy, salty glory. Still, allowing for my preference, the examples that started the meal were well presented and those at the table with a finer understanding of these things than me certainly looked to be enjoying pairing them with Guinness.

Next I waited for a mackerel kiev to arrive for my first course. This dish was a refinement of one of those popularised at Spark, presented here looking like a whole fish but filleted to allow us to just get stuck into the aioli it was served with. The transition to a covered venue has served only to enhance this one and the combination of the strong fish and garlicky dip remains as alluring as ever.

For the next course, we moved onto meat with a pigeon dish that relied on remoulade and berries to balance the weighty flavour of the meat, further depth coming from a few mushrooms. Overcooked pigeon is a terrible experience but the required delicacy of touch and technique was in evidence here, making this the rare treat of perfectly cooked pigeon – something not seen on menus often enough. Next up were scallops with caviar cream, shallot and a generous spicing of Nduja to tie everything together. The caviar cream was a subtle embellishment that could easily have been drowned out by the Nduja’s heat, but the centrepiece scallops stood up to the task in hand, though the presentation suffered a touch on this one as the small scallops looked a bit lost. I gather they’ve subsequently been replaced by larger examples.

We then moved on to a vegetarian dish, a risotto of squash, sweet potato and leeks that while justifying its place on the table wasn’t as memorable as what had come already or was to follow, a half duck with greens and an unctuous jus. This one really let the meat shout its advantages. I didn’t manage to pick up the details of the cooking process but “One Day Cured” is apparently just the right amount of curing to produce wonderfully tender duck that it’s a pleasure to pull off the bone and make a mess of oneself with. Hasselback potatoes are an indulgence I’ll chase any time, so I kept snacking on those as Skate wing appeared at the table served with a Veronique sauce. We finished up with a paper bag of sweet beignets and a sense of fulfilment after our meal.

Fish & Forest was always going to outgrow Spark and, truth be told, will likely outgrow The Gillygate at some point but it’s got a good home here now. Gillygate feels like it’s getting a bit of momentum around it at the moment and I absolutely expect the partnership between The Gillygate and Fish & Forest to be a key part of it for some time.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. Opinions are impartial

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I was looking for somewhere to go for lunch on my 40th that would serve good food without having to commit to a lengthy tasting menu and would also be easily accessible near Whitby, allowing us to drop off Baby Fork with her grandmother. That might sound like quite an ask but, remarkably, Bridge Cottage Bistro hit all those criteria while showing off a heavily seafood themed menu with plenty to excite.

I may have had to endure childhood in Milton Keynes, but places like Sandsend also featured throughout my childhood thanks to my grandparents’ residence being pretty local to it. It only took a couple of minutes of ferreting to establish the exact location of the restaurant, and we also found a lovely pub with a good looking menu. We didn’t eat there, but The Hart Inn had whole lobster with fries on the menu for £20…hard to argue with.

Bridge Cottage Bistro turned out to be exactly what I hoped for in terms of ambience: relaxed and informal without sacrificing a sense of occasion. The menu is displayed on a pair of chalkboards at one end of the room, making it easy to update on a frequent basis to account for the best product available that day.

Given the proximity to the coast, we decided to stick with seafood throughout, starting with cured halibut and grilled sardines. We enjoyed a few mouthfuls of bread dipped in oil to occupy our hands while we waited, but quickly found ourselves swapping plates halfway through our starters, as is our habit. First up were sardines. These deliciously oily little scoundrels were a world apart from the compressed, tinned version we’re most familiar with. Deep in flavour and presented simply with slivers of tomato, basil and a perfectly judged anchovy ketchup, they were absolutely beyond reproach.

Our other starter was halibut cured with rosemary, fennel and lime and served with yoghurt, cucumber and a ginger dressing. The combination of curing, flavour and texture balanced carefully the tightrope of those elements it needed to walk. With a flourish of puffed fish skin, this was a beautifully realised dish.

We couldn’t resist lobster, so we paired that with roast skate wing for mains. After a civilised interval, both dishes made their way over and were as beautifully presented as our starters suggested they would be. With chips, garlic butter and salad, this was a pretty conventional presentation of the dish but none the worse for that. Garlic leaves and mayonnaise rounded things out beautifully.

It’s surprising how much meat comes on a skate wing. With clams and seasonal greens adding flavour to the potatoes that rounded out the plate, this was unlikely to leave you wanting more. Sliding the meat from the bone took neither skill nor effort to be rewarded with an abundance of flavour. The texture of the meat was reminiscent of the best examples of slow cooked pork, loads of texture but not at the expense of moisture. It’s hard to find flaw with this one.

Mrs Fork can’t resist a rice pudding, so convinced me I’d fit in a few mouthfuls, a task I just about managed to live up to and certainly didn’t live to regret.

Bridge Cottage Bistro occupies perfectly the middle ground between premium “occasion” dining and the best of casual dining experiences that focus only on ingredients and flavour without worrying about dazzling service. Sharing a range of quality seafood, beautifully prepared and presented was a perfect birthday lunch and an experience I can’t recommend enough.

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Since striking out from his Harome-based mothership, Mr P has grown his “Pernshire” collection to include the urban Star Inn the City and Mr P’s Curious Tavern in York, but this most recent effort finds him moving back toward the countryside and his home town. The Star Inn the Harbour feels like a landmark development in Whitby which throws in an ice cream parlour along with the restaurant for added popular appeal.

The menu offers the obvious dishes to please those who descend on Whitby for the ubiquitous fish n’ chips, but when I arrived for a Saturday lunch I’d determined to run through the more intriguing notes on the menu. It goes without saying that Whitby in January is freezing cold so the welcome as we arrived was always going to be an open goal. Thankfully that goal was taken with enthusiasm as we made our way through the ice cream parlour to the restaurant. The interior of the building is kitted out by typical Pern zealousness with lobster pots, ropes and plenty of appropriately themed art and sculptures dotted about to break up the large, airy space that benefits from plenty of glass meeting the outside world. The glass expanse by which we sat let through appreciably more light than we’d guessed from scouting the exterior of the building when we’d noticed how tinted it seemed. The tinted glass afforded great people-watching opportunities as we dissected the menu and noticed how many people outside were surreptitiously sneaking chips to their dogs behind their partner’s backs.

As with much of the Star empire, there’s a lot going on with the menu. The Harbour offers plenty of meat dishes to complement the prominent seafood theme, though it must be said there could be more in the way of vegetarian options. To start with we went for calamari with squid ink aioli, also grabbing the chance to enjoy a lobster bisque from the specials menu. The preceding 24 hours had involved a sizeable amount of eating so the bread stayed pretty much unmolested, save for enough sampling to confirm it was up to standard. As we waited for starters we noted how spacious and accessible the building was, offering plenty of opportunity to stow pushchairs and step free access. When the starters were delivered after a suitable pause, we found the calamari thankfully not overcooked as is so often the case. The tower of calamari rings found a great home when dredged through the squid ink aioli, given just a hint of the ocean by the squid ink, which also lends its dramatic colour. The lobster bisque was absolutely outstanding, one of the best starters I can recall for some time. Inhabited by a generous amount of poached lobster meat, the flavour and seasoning of the bisque was utterly beyond criticism and only further enhanced by the saffron-infused cracker balanced across the plate. The punchy pickled fennel elevated the experience even more, making this a really memorable start to the meal.

To make sure we really got into the menu, we were then treated to a second starter of smoked and cured halibut that was served with samphire and egg mayonnaise along with capers and finely sliced shallot for assembly on squares of buttered bread. Each of the accompaniments gave an opportunity to vary the softness of the halibut, the sharpness of the shallot and luxuriant egg allowing us to tease out the flavours we fancied at each mouthful.

We’d made sure that the mains we ordered continued the seafood theme, with a tandoori fish curry and a sea bass fillet variously gracing the table. Both dishes were superbly realised and vied for our attention while neither emerged a clear winner. The curry was packed with a generous selection of cuts of fish, while the fillets were perfectly cooked with a suitably luxurious sauce that studded chestnuts through its variety. As I mentioned earlier, it’d been a testing 24 hours for my appetite so we opted for a light dessert option, just going for a few scoops of ice cream to round things off to make sure we also had a handle on the standard of the ice cream parlour too.

I’d been looking forward to checking out the Star Inn the Harbour for some time and unsure how high I should set my expectations. I’d expected good things but the standard exceeded those expectations at every turn. Each dish was well balanced and with complimentary elements while indulging Mr Pern’s desire to offer “Yorkshire Portions”. With pricing not too far off that which you’d expect from Loch Fyne, it’s hard to see many arguments against visiting next time you’re in Whitby. The next task I’ll lay at them is to convince me of how good fish and chips can be…

Disclaimer: While this meal was complimentary, opinions are impartial.

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