The York Minster Refectory “23 Days of Christmas” offer throws three courses at you for £29 which is fabulous value, even more so in the context of the relative cost of the a la carte menu. The dishes on offer hit all the seasonal notes one would hope for at this time of year across a brace each of starters, mains and desserts. The building itself is littered with pointers toward the musical nature of the school previously resident here, such as sheet music and instruments, but your arrival is dominated by the beautiful frontage of the building and its gardens. Do take a beat to turn and look back at the Minster across the gardens which is yet another beautiful view of York’s most famous building.

Of course I habitually review menus well in advance of meals but with two options per course and two people dining, I was quick to impose my decisions on my companion for the evening to make sure we sampled each option. First up were cauliflower cheese soup and pine poached salmon fishcake served with a soft egg and buttery sauce with chestnut. The egg had enough rigidity left to make it to the table and quickly coated the fishcake, blending with the buttery sauce and gentle pine note in the fish for a satisfying and gently seasonal dish. Cauliflower cheese is something I’d welcome at pretty much any meal and it made for an intriguing starter given breadth by sweet sultanas and crisply almonds which gave well judged contrast to the earthy and cheesy notes.

Mains came down to a choice between the York Minster Refectory take on a turkey dinner, or bubble and squeak with mulled poached pear, roasted fig and Yorkshire Blue salad. This is the point at which I fall down slightly and have to confess to not being a fan of dried or poached fruit, which can make me look rather a spoilsport at this time of year. I can confirm though that the bubble and squeak cake was a well executed take on this much under-utilised dish and my companion reported strong feedback on the pear and fig. The turkey breast was perfectly tender and generously portioned with a few of my preferred Christmas dishes such as a meaty pig in blanket, sprouts and roasties with a strongly thyme accented jus. Dessert showed me up again but Christmas pudding received a warm welcome on the other side of the table while I enjoyed picking the marzipan off my fruit cake and nibbling a lovely bit of Fountains Gold Cheddar.

There’re many, many worthwhile options competing for the Christmas market and I have to admit it was a surprise to see York Minster Refectory offering a comfortingly traditional menu at such an accessible price. I need to get back and explore the full range of the menu here but this is a very decent introduction which certainly deserves a place on your Christmas party shortlist.

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Over fizz and samples of a Spanish beer brewed with seawater we met up with the ever lovely Nutmegs, seven and introduced ourselves to Yorkshire Pudd while our appetites built up nicely. It appears change is afoot at the Dean Court with a new general manager having taken the reigns not too long ago and Benji Thornton taking over as head chef in the restaurant after already serving a fair stint in the kitchen. We didn’t linger long over the delicious canapés, including ham hock and cones of goat cheese, before it was time to move through to the dining room and take stock of the menu.

A temporary cooking station had been set up between two tables that afforded all the attendees a good view of Benji prepping and cooking our food, the first course of which was pan-fried wood pigeon breast with beetroot and foraged mushrooms. It should be noted that the mushroom here is not necessarily as one would expect. The giant puffball mushroom we’d been shown earlier by our professional forager was, quite simply, monstrous. We’d never seen anything like it so alongside the ‘chicken of the forest mushroom’ we were eager to get tasting. Sadly there were no prizes for guessing what the latter mushroom tasted of; eerily like chicken to the point of confusion! The mushrooms drew out the earthy flavours of the pigeon alongside delightful beetroot. After being smoked with hay, I expected the beetroot to be a touch more unusually flavoured, but still a well-balanced dish that didn’t betray any nervousness on Benji’s behalf!

Having hit his stride now, Benji wasted no time in getting on with the main course of Gressingham duck breast, Yorkshire rhubarb, confit radish, toasted seeds and pickled blackberries. There were quite a few elements needing to come together, but the dish wasn’t too crowded. Benji again got the meat spot on and the sharp rhubarb cut nicely across the rich meat. A couple of us agreed that the only thing missing from the selection was a carbohydrate to mop up the sauce, quickly rectified with a requested basket of bread.

The final course was a dark chocolate torte with white chocolate mousse, salted caramel and sous vide strawberries. Thankfully it wasn’t too rich or too heavy after being a couple of courses to the good. It may be now so unfashionable as to be a major faux pas to serve unsalted caramel, but with good reason, this was a well-balanced end to a well-constructed menu.

Along with all this, we had a couple of drinks matched with our food: a very distinguished 2012 Crozes-Hermitage lifted the wood pigeon and a rosé prosecco made an interesting pairing with rhubarb and duck. A tawny port rounded things off well.

Before we left, we had a chat with Benji and congratulated him on the smooth running of the evening. Good food is an achievement in itself, but to turn it out from an unfamiliar environment using portable equipment exposes chefs to errors they wouldn’t usually make, so it’s a credit to Benji that he not only made things run to plan but also kept up a narrative and fielded questions throughout. He’s featured in the Relish North East recipe book so I insisted he embrace his evening’s celebrity and sign my copy before I left! The regular menu features some tempting looking dishes so I’ve little doubt a return visit will be on the cards at some point.

Disclaimer: we were invited to enjoy this complimentary evening with no editorial requests made

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