I’ve dined at Cafe 21 a few times and always found it to be fair value, excellent quality and a lovely environment in which to dine that brings strong bistro vibes into the department store setting. As an aside any fears that this is “just” a shop cafe that can’t stand on its own strengths should be cast aside; Cafe 21 York would be just as at home situated entirely separately to Fenwick, and is part of the well regarded 21 Hospitality group. After navigating through Fenwick to the first floor it’s easy to quickly become comfortable in the restaurant space which feels well segregated from the eager shoppers who would be wise to call in to sustain themselves for further adventures in consumerism.

We were seated in a booth near the open kitchen that allowed us to keep a watching brief on the chefs at work – always satisfying – while we extracted some decisions from the menu. One doesn’t expect masses in the way of choice from a fixed price menu and each course here is represented by a triplet of options that provides enough in the way of choice while remaining a known quality for the kitchen’s costings. We plumped for soup and cured salmon to start followed by cod fillet and pork chop. Service on each visit I’ve made to Cafe 21 York has always been the right balance of conviviality and formality that the average Fenwick customer might expect, something repeated here as our order was taken and we were quickly into our lunch.

Soup is a mainstay of specials and fixed price menus for good reason thanks to its handy ability to use up leftover produce in a satisfying manner. The celeriac version on this menu was lifted by a dollop of truffle cream for a satisfyingly luxurious finish and the whole dish was well seasoned and with a well judged texture, and enough body to feel filling without moving a spoon through it becoming a chore. A few slices of blackberry cured salmon paired with pickled beetroot and a sharp citrus dressing made another satisfying starter and was a surprisingly generous portion, all the more so when the side plates of bread were considered.

With starters away, we were soon admiring our main courses with the cod fillet arriving atop a bed of crushed peas interspersed with green beans then crowned with a few pea shoots. Pork was more simply presented with a fresh salsa drizzled across it and braised cabbage on the side. Buttered new potatoes accompanied the fish to flesh it out into a substantial dish while the pork came with a portion of fries. Regardless of the value, there’s no fear of going hungry here! Both of these dishes were well rounded and didn’t have the sense of being cooked to a budget, the cooking of the pork in particular was very satisfying with plenty of caramelisation which didn’t come at the expense of tenderness.

Twenty five quid for three courses might have been tempting but it couldn’t overcome the practicalities of my mid-week lunch time appetite so dessert was off the cards. That doesn’t mean I won’t be back for another stab at it though. Being honest, this winter is going to be (yet) another tough period for hospitality so the businesses that are able to find ways to offer great value while still retaining a margin will be best placed. Offers like this may well be key to continuing to enjoy dining out over this period for many and Cafe21 prove here that they need not feel miserly.

Disclaimer – PR meal.

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To start with, we stuck with vegetarian options, choosing asparagus with white bean hummus and a cashew & tomato pâté. The pâté came with a simple salad, which would have benefited from a stronger dressing, and some gluten free toasts. It’s only on double checking the menu now that I realise those toasts were gluten free, which speaks well of them. The pâté worked well, perhaps not as smokey as advertised, but light and delicious with no hint of compromise to become vegetarian. The asparagus was presented over a few crispy potatoes and roasted tomatoes which sat in that promised bed of white bean hummus. The tomatoes were in danger of over shadowing the rest of the plate, but the asparagus was still able to speak for itself and the hummus was well balanced. With the potatoes in the mix too this was a great start to the evening.

We’d not consciously avoided meat in the starters and similarly not sought it out for mains, with chicken and hake (£2 supplement) being our choices for the next course. The chicken was cooked with ginger and lemongrass then served with turmeric roast potatoes and broccoli with a saffron sauce. This dish attracted a bit of criticism in a recent review, so I was curious to try it myself for the sake of comparison. It’s fair to say the chicken was perhaps a touch dry, but there was plenty of flavour in the plate, arguably too much going on with the turmeric and saffron fighting it out. The saffron sauce really made the dish: rich but delicate and balanced well with the fresh broccoli.

The other main we chose was hake fillet baked in chermoula with spiced lentils and salsify. This really packed a punch, with a good amount of spice and a generous serving of the salsify that had been roasted in batons to present itself as an exciting alternative to chips. The fish flaked into chunks as it should and the chermoula made its presence felt with a good balance of coriander, lemon, garlic and so on. The lentils needed to be aggressively flavoured to face off against all this and were entirely up to the challenge. If anything we were over-faced by the quantity of fabulous lentils with which we were presented, making it a shame to leave some.

Despite failing to summit the mountain of lentils, we thought it appropriate we attempt a pudding too so made our best attempt at a vegan chocolate mousse. As with the gluten lacking from those toasts in the starter, I’d not have guessed this was missing dairy. Topped with mint, raspberry and pistachio, the mousse was made from an avocado base with almond milk which gave a lovely smooth texture and nutty undertone.

At a shade under fifteen quid for two courses or nineteen for three, this all represents great value. There’s a pleasing amount of invention in the dishes, using good ingredients, but not at the expense of flavour. Filmore & Union has been a reliable option in York since it opened, particularly for those following specific diets. We had a lovely evening with good food from the Filmore & Union summer menu and I heartily recommend it for a great value evening out.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for our visit. Opinions remain impartial

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