The Chopping Block York is well known for serving up one of the best Sunday Roasts in the city, to the extent that it can somewhat overshadow the real breadth of its qualities. The menu reflects the experience of Chef-Proprieter Michael Hjort and features a range of anglo-French dishes that use quality Yorkshire produce to put a local twist on some French classics. Walmgate Ale House is a striking building to arrive at and the welcome is encouragement enough to stop for a pint downstairs but we were hungry so quickly made our way upstairs to the restaurant space and took our table.

The main menu has roughly half a dozen each of starters and mains with a few nibbles available too, and there’s also a set menu which represents cracking value at £20.90 for 2 courses. It goes without saying that I’d thoroughly inspected the menu prior to arrival but in the event it was a couple of the specials that caught my eye along with a pair from the usual menu. With bread on the table livened up by beetroot butter, we were quickly on our way with starters of scallops and a mushroom and asparagus tartlet. I’d resolved recently to order scallops less frequently but the addition of a scallop croquette here piqued my interest enough to pierce my resolve. The pair of scallops were simply presented on a pea and herb puree with a few pea shoots and the croquette tying things together visually. The cooking did the scallops justice and the croquette was a refreshing change from bacon or black pudding, making it a light and original dish with the fresh pea underpinning things. The starter from the specials board was a pastry tartlet of asparagus and morel mushrooms with a confit egg yolk. This was original and interesting texturally with the yolk adding a note of indulgence to the boldly earthy mushrooms and fresh asparagus, I’d happily order this one again.

Mains followed on quickly with lamb shoulder and rump paired with spring veg and an indulgent Dauphinoise on the side and sea trout supported by new potato and broccoli with a tomato and herb butter emulsion. Both dishes were eye catching without needing to resort to tweezer-fiddling levels of presentation and followed through on the visual promise. Bursts of fresh pea and fresh vegetables tempered the indulgence of the lamb, which was superbly cooked and tender. The side of potato Dauphinoise felt equally indulgent and rounded off a well conceived and executed dish that did justice to the excellent produce. The herb crust on the hefty piece of sea trout lifted it in just the manner intended, dialling up the fresh flavours and pairing with the potatoes well too. While a much lighter dish than the lamb, it still felt very much a treat and gave full voice to everything on the plate.

For dessert we went slightly off-piste from my intended French theme and picked up a sticky toffee pudding, which while slight veering from the brief was as unctuous and sticky as it’s reputed and was an entirely appropriate end to the meal. The Chopping Block York combines the great value that I recall from the Melton’s Too days with well resolved and satisfying dishes that combine the best of Yorkshire and France. Its momentum was perhaps unfairly interrupted by the pandemic but it really has found its groove now and both restaurant and Ale House are distinct from one another with quality offerings. The Chopping Block in particular offers an unusually good value set of dishes using produce from quality suppliers; it gets a firm recommendation from me.

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Little, or in all likelihood nothing, about the setting has changed in the few weeks since I was last here. Hotel du Vin York is still a handsome building in a convenient location just beyond Micklegate bar from the city centre with various spaces to enjoy. There’s a light and airy atrium style room as well as a more expansive restaurant and informal bar, the purpose built wine tasting room is enormously well appointed and worth seeking out a tour of too. The new menu has a bunch of new dishes that I wanted to concentrate on rather than repeating dishes from our previous visit, which sadly ruled out another turn of the onion soup that I really enjoyed last time! Cod brandade and an intriguing sounding black pudding and Waldorf salad got the nod to kick things off as a precursor to mains of lamb navarin and sole meunière, with a side of chips to make sure we had plenty to go at.

Service was just as professional and swift as on previous visits and before we knew it we were enjoying our starters. My brandade was well seasoned and had a pleasing crunch to bite through, with a well judged harissa mayo dropping a bit of heat to liven up the relatively subtle flavours of the brandade. Diced tomato put some freshness onto the plate as did a light green salad which made this a lovely start to a meal. The black pudding Waldorf salad chosen by my friend mixed together apples, grapes, walnuts and celery with mayonnaise underneath a pair of slices of black pudding – a successful twist on this classic that she enjoyed very much.

Mains followed on quickly and made a strong visual impression, the muslin-wrapped lemon with the sole being a nice touch which let us season it without risking unwanted seeds on the plate. The sole was generously scattered with sharp capers as well as plenty of butter and parsley that complemented the fish with aplomb which was a pleasure to eat with the meat easily slid from the bone. This is a dish that should feel like a luxury, something achieved comfortably here. The lamb was served with a yellow rice and plenty of root vegetables, making it the centre of a truly hearty meal and with a comforting gravy to tie it all together. We finished things off with a chocolate pot and a creme brûlée to put sugary full stop to things, both of which were perfectly well put together and tasty.

This meal continued the themes from that previous visit for Sunday lunch: good food and service in a relaxed and memorable setting. The beautiful gardens are only going to make it more appealing as we come into spring and summer; a lovely addition to the York dining scene.

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My visits here have been limited in the past to one afternoon tea and occasionally nipping into the bar when living in Holgate for a brief period that meant it appeared on my commute. Hotel du Vin York is a smart conversion of what was once an orphanage into an airy, multi room space that houses a bar and restaurant as well as meeting spaces and a rather impressive purpose built wine tasting room. For this visit we were seated in the restaurant which isn’t over crowded by too many tables and is tended to by plentiful and calm servers who were quick to provide us with glasses of wine and menus as well as juice for the four year old. From the Sunday Lunch menu we picked out a smoked salmon starter along with a French onion soup to reflect the venue before settling on sirloin of beef and chicken as the centrepieces of our roast dinners. From the “Enfants” menu, melon and berries were chosen to start before steak and chips to challenge my daughter’s constantly unpredictable fussiness.

A plate of smoked salmon encircled by grated boiled egg, and parsley with sharp capers and cornichon for a punch of flavour started things on a delicate note but the onion soup was truly memorable. Overflowing with melted cheese under which there were indulgent croutons soaking up the tangy soup this was a really great execution of a classic, and all too rarely seen, dish. The melon and berries from the kids menu was appropriately unfussy and kept her busy while we set about the more adult dishes.

Roast carrots and parsnips, green beans, Yorkshire puddings and pea shoots accompanied the meat along with plenty of roast potatoes and a stuffing ball to go with the chicken. The beef sirloin was perfectly rare as I’d requested and chicken not overcooked while the stuffing had a good bit of texture externally which wasn’t at the expense of tenderness. A decent whack of horseradish for the beef and generous amounts of gravy completed the picture for the adults while the child’s steak was, in all honesty, of a higher standard than the recipient would have demanded and all the more gratefully received for that. After thoroughly enjoying that lot, there wasn’t a great deal of appetite left around the table but we managed to share a chocolate pot with cream to end the experience before a potter around the lovely gardens.

Hotel du Vin York have succeeded in turning Sunday roast into an occasion without losing the feeling of homely indulgence that should characterise the event. Each element was well executed, generous in quantity and combined into a really satisfying experience. The addition of starters that tilt toward the venue’s French leanings only served to heighten our enjoyment, that French onion soup in particular being top notch. Thanks for having us!

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With the market for delivered food being where it’s at right now and precious few options to enjoy French food in York, this seems like a sensibly pragmatic decision as long as consideration is given to constructing a menu that travels well. Rather than ask for specific dishes from the menu, I suggested the guys send a selection of those that they thought best represented the new offering, which features a range of French salads along side the usual starters, mains and desserts. As far as getting your hands on the food there’re delivery and collection options available, with the latter being something I’d encourage due to the significant chunk of a restaurant’s profit taken by popular delivery services.

Our starters were classic Moules Marinière and a hearty black budding, apple and bacon dish cooked with cider and onions. We split the cute miniature loaves of homemade bread that came with the mussels to mop up the sauce that the black pudding came in and enjoyed getting stuck into both dishes, realising that it’s a surprising amount of time since I’ve eaten mussels…possibly over a year! That prolonged separation might explain my delight in these, resulting in slightly over enthusiastic consumption and making a mess of my shirt. Black pudding and apple was an indulgent feeling dish with great depth of flavour that didn’t lack delicacy or balance.

Rather than dive straight into main courses, we then took a soujourn to the garden with a salad Nicoise to enjoy in the sun. Seldom has my garden enjoyed such a happy confluence of food, weather and mood as this dish was able to contribute to. Tuna carpaccio and a perfectly poached egg topped well dressed potato, green beans and tomato that, combined with a nice crisp white wine, made a nice pause in proceedings to relax into.

Mains delivered on the hearty reputation of French cuisine with confit duck and Boeuf Bourguignon throwing out a real sense of comfort. The duck came with finely sliced Boulangère potatoes, green cabbage and Toulouse sausage with Dijon creme fraiche and apple gel breaking up the richness with sharp and sweet flavours. Boeuf Bourguignon runs the risk of feeling a little ordinary and coming across as basic home cooking but this example betrays a wealth of flavour greater than one would expect in a domestic setting, buttery mash and green beans both making significant contributions to another comforting plate. We finished up on a sweet note with creme brûlée and an apple and berry compote, both continuing the run of satisfyingly well executed versions of the staples we expect from a French focussed menu.

Surprisingly enough, this was the first “restaurant” meal we’d had during Lockdown (how did that happen?) that was served hot so I’d been eager to see how it made the journey home. Thankfully any concerns were unfounded and the packaging kept everything toasty until we were ready to tuck in. This new menu of French classics cooked to a restaurant standard was uniformly well executed makes for a compelling proposition.

The Chopping Block and Walmgate Ale House have been, through a couple of incarnations, a key part of the hospitality scene in York for nearly two decades now and this new push for France feels like a comfortable fit for them to move forward. This current situation makes it a somewhat strange market to launch a new menu into but The Chopping Block has succeeded in pushing its identity forward and setting its stall out for reopening in whatever form is practical in the coming weeks and months.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal, opinions remain impartial.

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Mademoiselle’s Whitby is tucked on Skinner Street with an unobtrusive frontage that, while perfectly compelling, belies the comfort waiting within. The furnishings are ornate and engaging without becoming fussy or distracting, a description that could just as easily be applied to the menu. This wasn’t to be a lingering multi-course blow out in the time we had available, so we chose to share a starter before a couple of mains, skipping dessert.

In a French restaurant with a good reputation, it would be foolish to start with anything other than French onion soup and the example here didn’t disappoint. Served as improbably hot as is for some reason usual, this one was comfortably one of the best I’ve ever had. Rich, packed with flavour with a crouton nestling on top and an indulgent quantity of cheese through it.

At this point I regretted slightly our decision not to engage with the broad and varied wine list, though that can be rectified at a later date. Main courses quickly arrived to distract from those thoughts, taking the form of Croque Madame and local game Pot au Feu. I’ve had a few miserably dry croques in recent months whose disappointments were brought into sharp relief by this one which was presented with a delicately dressed salad, with a well judged spike of vinegaryness to give refuge from the cheese, should that ever be desired. The crowning egg being fried to perfection was further evidence of the attention lavished on the dish.

Pot au Feu brought everything to the table I hoped it would, both literally and figuratively. Chunks of slowly cooked meat with herby dumplings conspiring into a comforting bowl to warm through the most miserable of winter’s days.

This was a superb and modestly priced lunch from an independent who clearly cares about their output. Tremendous traditional dishes, delivered with care and delicacy where required. I very much want to find the opportunity to enjoy it again at greater leisure.

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Admittedly, not all of these issues have easy solutions (specifically our cats), but if you want to guarantee the food hits the mark, you could always hire a private chef! We were contacted recently by La Belle Assiette who suggested they send round a chef to cook for us and see what we thought. The chef in question was Yves Quemerais who is now based in Harrogate after spending 25 years cooking in his native France. With training from Alain Ducasse and having cooked for luminaries such as Richard Branson we were fairly confident he’d be able to pull off something pretty special for our group of eight.

A potential stumbling point when booking someone to come and cook in your own home is a lack of facilities, so a quick conversation in advance helped make sure that Yves was able to construct a menu that could be prepared in an average domestic kitchen.

As the evening arrived, Yves also did at exactly the time agreed and set about getting everything prepared. Our guests arrived over the next hour or so to friendly warnings not to eat too many of the root veg crisps I’d left out in an attempt at hospitality. After shepherding the group through to the dining table the amuse bouche arrived exactly on schedule. Scallop had been finely diced and perfectly seasoned before the cubes were sat on a delightful watercress veloute. I wasn’t totally convinced by the crockery here – a small bowl balanced on a second small ceramic – but this does neatly highlight another advantage of the service: Yves brings all the crockery for the service, so there’s no mountain of washing up left to tackle! I’ll take that over a style of bowl I’m not 100% on board with any day.

The starter was a cylinder formed of vertical vegetable slices, each exactly the same width, containing a mixture of Whitby crab and celeriac alongside a mildly tandoori flavoured king prawn. Even if I had somehow hidden Yves’ presence, there’s no way my guests would have believed I could have replicated the delicate care and attention lavished on this plate.

Moving onto the main course, with appetites whetted at the prospect of pan fried partridge breast, our expectations were met with ease. The meat was joined on the plate by a stuffed tomato, carefully sliced and layered potato and an incredibly densely flavoured sauce. The only thing that struck me as slightly jarring on the plate was the placement of the (delicious) parsnip that I can only describe as needlessly erect.

Dessert was the real show stopper of the evening. Plates were distributed that appeared to feature a large, extremely shiny, Christmas bauble along with a jug of caramel sauce. Upon pouring the hot caramel over the bauble, the two melted together to fall to the sides of the plate and reveal a Chantilly centre. Now full of superb food we were left to our own devices while Yves retired to the kitchen and set about clearing down, even going as far as filling our dishwasher and leaving the room cleaner than it had been provided to him.

Our guests all said how much they had enjoyed the evening and that this had been a unique experience. As a host, I found the event stress free and well-organised and Yves was extremely personable to have in my house. Yves’s menus currently start at £59 a head and other La Belle Assiette menus are available from just £39 a head which, while more than an average restaurant meal, I felt represented good value for the convenience, quality and theatricality of the evening.

Disclaimer: We were asked to review the experience and offered it on a complimentary basis. All opinions remain impartial.

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I seem to recall the site being an antiques centre some years ago that had fallen into a bit of disrepair, the effort and investment required to bring the site up to its current splendour are well apparent to anyone who previously frequented this building. The surrounding was clearly up to scratch, so if the price didn’t contradict the Castlegate location’s reputation for quality, everything looks rosy.

Arriving for an early dinner, we were seated with only a minimum of fuss that seemed redundant until I popped downstairs and saw just how busy the place was. Still, a table was available so we were furnished with menus and ready to go. Starters were chosen to be garlic mushrooms and a goat’s cheese salad… not the most adventurous options, but closest to the French theme as we could manage. The garlic mushrooms were not as consistently sliced as one might have hoped (fingers crossed the washing was more attentive), but adequately flavoured and generous. The goat’s cheese salad was unobtrusively dressed and with a decent lump of cheese that was rewarded with a well-balanced cook, crusted but not ruined. Notably the salad was dressed with Spanish balsamic rather than a classic french dressing – hardly nitpicking when the menu is overtly French.

Mains were confit duck with Dauphinoise potato and a Basque egg dish with chorizo and sausage. Confit duck melted away from the bone to give the right texture, but the Dauphinoise, while well prepared, had an oddly overpowering taste of raw garlic. The Basque eggs gave a good basis of tomato and Toulouse sausage with chorizo tang, but the dropped-in eggs were very overdone. Another dish with a good core, but a lack of attention to detail.

We had a malbec with the meal that was acceptable and a side of green beans that were perfectly complimentary. All in all everything befitted the large parties trooping into the restaurant. Good enough when something distracted from the detail of things, but not up to the reputed standards of Rustique’s Castlegate restaurant. I need to get myself in gear and try that out, even if this isn’t the greatest advertisement.

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