Jon comes with a strong pedigree having been previously at the well-regarded Blue Lion at East Witton as well Rockliffe Hall. His emphasis at The Feversham Arms Helmsley is, perhaps unsurprisingly, on local sourcing and sustainability with it being important to him to make partnerships locally for the benefit of both producers and his restaurant. Arriving into the restaurant triggers a relaxed feeling of familiarity after our previous visits with the large glass feature in the roof that, in spirit, joins the room attractively to adjacent the swimming pool and terrace. The day that we attended was gloriously sunny and really let the space show itself off in the best possible light, literally and figuratively. With it being a lunch time, we weren’t able to get into the broader evening menu, rather choosing from a lunch menu of sensible ambition that mixed small plates which would function as starters or snacks along with larger mains and some open sandwiches for good measure.

With little else to do that day and a characteristic desire to try as much of the menu as possible, we selected a pair of small plates to function as starters as well as a pair of mains and a smaller dish for Little Fork to occupy herself with. A prawn cocktail is always a easy thing to throw out of balance and can easily show up a disinterested chef but everything I wanted from this one was present and correct; crisp lettuce underlining fresh prawns with a punchy Marie Rose sauce to bring it all together and a generous pop of avocado for a point of difference. A blue cheese and leek tartlet was the other starter/small plate to get the nod and arrived on a bed of salad made memorable by a fine apple dice that added texture, taste and interest. The tart itself was neatly constructed and had enough of the promised ingredients to give a nice salty blue cheese hit, relieved by that refreshing salad.

Beef formed the foundation of both main dishes, with steak and koftas both drawing the eye away from the temptations of moules frites or a crayfish & chorizo risotto while Little Fork happily worked over her fish and chips which were stretched across both of our courses. The steak was cooked, seasoned and rested well before being paired with equally well executed fries, drenched in herby butter and augmented with a handful of salad. Ordering steak in restaurants for whom it isn’t a specialty makes me nervous for fear of comparing the product to my own strong efforts when I put my mind to it, but this stacked up just marvellously. Next, the koftas landed on the other side of the table supported by a flatbread and a potato salad as well as another hit of salad to relieve the pleasingly heavily seasoned and spiced beef. A drizzle of yoghurt and some fresh herbs also lightened the plate and allowed the beef to find its voice without overwhelming anything of its companions.

The Feversham is always a nice spot to visit which pulls off that neat trick of relaxing you purely by virtue of turning up. This lunch menu strikes a nice balance, with hearty dishes that are refined enough to suit the environment but don’t get too deep into fine dining style touches, which look to be notably more prominent on the evening a la carte menu. The lunch menu is also notably fair value I thought, with the steak frites in particular looking like a great way to spend a sunny lunch time with a glass of wine for about £20. With Bantam opening recently around the corner and The Star at Harome set to make its return from its terribly unfortunate fire, it’s fair to say that there are many good reasons to come to this corner of the county to eat and it’s nice to see The Feversham playing its part in that.

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Lunchtime is precious in the world of office work. It’s an opportunity to stamp your authority on a small element of the days you spend earning a living in return for a precious slice of that remuneration. While you may or may not be lucky enough to have a subsidised work canteen (and “lucky” is very much subjective in this context given the variable quality of these institutions) it’s often beneficial to get some distance from the desk and eat out, potentially under a euphemistic “working lunch”. The Whippet is the latest restaurant in town to recognise the possibilities of this market and offer an appropriately priced menu of Whippet Inn Pies that can be enjoyed in a suitably brief timeframe.

The Whippet are now offering a pie menu for lunch that can be pre-ordered for maximum efficiency and offers a satisfyingly hearty lunch for under a tenner. The pies on offer here are proudly described as “proper pies, none of this tin with a pastry lid!” and are indeed fully encased in pastry with the, justifiable, exception of the fish pie. There are five fillings on offer, including a vegetarian pie alongside that fish offering, and seven sides to go at before a couple of dessert options to finish the menu. Pricing is certainly keen with pies all weighing in under £6 and sides only £2.50; decide you’d like a dessert too and it’ll only need another £2.25.

I was just about able to stretch my appetite to try all of the Whippet Inn Pies on offer, enjoying them all without finding a clear winner. On balance my favourite was probably the most traditional filling of braised beef that came further alive with a touch of blue cheese. The smoked fish pie showed pleasant restraint and didn’t allow strong smoky flavours to dominate, while the balance of chorizo and chicken was happy to play amongst itself with peppers. Mac and cheese filled pie disappointed a little, needing a stronger flavour to allow the slow cooked brisket to make a proper showing, but cheese, beef and pastry can only ever be the slightest disappointment when on the same plate. I’ve tried vegan options at the Whippet before so it was thankfully predictable to find the vegetarian pie just as satisfying as the meat-based options with subtle satay sauce bringing the best out of cauliflower, chickpea and aubergine.

After trying the full range of pies, I felt it still my duty to check out at least one of the desserts, so worked happily through a few mouthfuls of sticky toffee pudding. The toffee sauce this came with was a felt like a suitable indulgence with which to finish the meal and the sticky toffee pudding that it drenched was happily light enough to not send one to sleep upon returning to the desk. Some years ago I had a desk very close to The Whippet and would regularly lose depressing amounts of money on very average sandwiches. Had the option existed to indulge myself like this for only a few more pounds, I’d have definitely done so.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. 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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I’m always a little reticent to order a starter when enjoying a Sunday lunch out for fear of it distracting from the serious business of eating roast potatoes,​ but the restaurant setting makes that more appropriate, so we quickly settled on smoked trout with fennel and passion fruit and a confit duck terrine. Thankfully both dishes were appropriately light to leave space for further indulgence, the trout taking winner’s honours in the pairing thanks to the smears of passion fruit underpinning the fish and the well dressed salad providing a series of satisfying mouthfuls. The confit duck terrine used pink peppercorn and pistachio for depth along with some homemade chutney, the toasted sourdough crunching happily underneath it all.

The main event followed quickly along with a couple of confidently recommended glasses of wine from the servers whose presence never tipped from friendliness toward invasion. The meat that headlined our dishes was (physically) dwarfed by the enormous Yorkshire pudding that threatened to dominate the plate, not that there’s anything wrong with a domineering Yorkie! All the vegetables you’d hope for were present and correct, though (as with most things in life) I’d have preferred to see a couple more roast potatoes present. The plating had also fallen victim to the epidemic of pea shoots making its way through our restaurants these days whose fate is to be abandoned to ignominy on the side of otherwise cleared plates. Cauliflower, broccoli, parsnip and carrot were all prepared well and delicious with a good rich gravy that would have benefitted from being present in greater quantity.

We finished Sunday lunch at The Refectory with desserts of creme brûlée and lemon and blueberry cheesecake. These were well balanced and attractively presented, the cheesecake in particular throwing an entertaining few flourishes at the plate. I’ve heard uniformly positive reviews of the cakes that come with the Refectory afternoon tea and can only assume that the same diligent chef is able to exert influence here.

The Refectory is a calm and comfortable place to eat which benefits from being located in a beautiful building that now lives up to its potential after that refurbishment a few years ago​​. It’s a great place to linger over a multi course Sunday lunch, so I’d thoroughly encourage you to make the most of both the building and your day by bookending your lunch with coffee in the garden first and drinks in the bar afterwards.

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

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I checked out breakfast there a little while ago and was pretty impressed but only finally got back yesterday to try the lunch menu. Improbably perky servers had us seated in a jiffy and almost bisected by menus in their enthusiasm as we started to choose some dishes. My dining companion went for a middle of the road burger while I plumped for the duck pie only to be warned of an oddly specific 18 minute wait for the duck pie and directed toward ordering something to stave off our hunger pangs so went for some mixed marinated olives. The olives may have felt a touch more purpose in life if they’d arrived in time to fulfil their stated aim rather than a couple of minutes before the mains. Perhaps they were chilling in the kitchen with the offered jug of water that never appeared.

The burger was largely unremarkable. Slightly inconsistently cooked with a few pink spats across it’s section but offered of good ingredients, paired with well presented chips it was a pretty serviceable dish. My duck pie was topped with mashed potato and packed with pearl barley that leant a slightly gelatinous presence. Chunks of duck breast were generously in quantity but the dish lacked subtlety. Sprigs of thyme were unwelcome and required extrication from my mouth on a couple of occasions but largely a decently hearty meal. Braised red cabbage was an acceptably sharp accompaniment.

We were only going for a quick single course lunch so maybe didn’t give too much of a chance to shine, but one can only base judgement on what’s presented. Surely half the point of a relaxed spot like Bills York is an ability to cater for multi course blow outs as well as a rushed but decent lunch? I might have come across a little negative so far but in reality everything was entirely acceptable… just a bit too expensive. A course each, a small bowl of olives and a small glass of wine each topped £20 a head. When we’re into that bracket there’re plenty of other options I’d recommend first.

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