That intervening decade has led me back to The Star at Harome on a few occasions, illustrating the flexibility of its offering. That flexibility is key to the Star’s broad appeal; it’s always been welcoming to those just wanting to slope in for a surreptitious pint as well as those wanting to bust the budget on an indulgent tasting menu, while not forgetting the imperative to feed locals for an accessible amount of money, though it should perhaps be noted that drinks service is restricted at the mo for obvious reasons. When the opportunity to relax into an extended lunch without the cute but distracting Baby Fork in attendance came up, it took a matter of seconds before we were winding our way to Harome.

Harome is a picturesque village just a couple of miles down the road from Helmsley that is lucky enough to not only be home to The Star Inn but also The Pheasant, which I was lucky enough to be invited along to only a few weeks ago, and it’s also possible to book packages that include meals across both of these superb restaurants through The Pheasant’s website. The Star is a strikingly quaint thatched building which seems to exude a welcoming atmosphere as you arrive and guided to a table, the masks and sanitisers failing to puncture the welcome. We opted for the a la carte menu rather than tasting menu, augmenting with a few extra treats to reinforce the sense of occasion a day without a nappy brings at the moment.

We kicked off with a few snacks, including Lindisfarne oysters with a sorrel and elderflower dressing, mini game kebabs and mini potato & onion pie with black garlic ketchup. Oysters don’t feature toward the top of too many of my to-do lists but when they’re as fresh and well accented as these I’ll happily live with them. The pie was artfully constructed and packed powerful overtones of black garlic and the cute mini game kebab brought aioli and fermented cabbage into the mix for a well developed mouthful to finish on before we began on starters, for which we’d chosen octopus and halibut.

Octopus was slow braised and coal roasted before being served with a “Goose Fat White Bean Whip”, black cabbage and studs of bold chorizo. Well cooked octopus is a joy, as was this dish which was a luxuriant start to the meal proper with the fatty “whip” balancing with the chorizo heat perfectly and the octopus given plenty of space to breath. Halibut tartare was inevitable as soon as I realised there was something raw on the day’s specials menu and didn’t disappoint with a heady combination of black garlic, pommery mustard and cured egg yolk drawing every ounce of potential out of the fish. This came accompanied by a shot of red cabbage gazpacho delicately balanced with herbs and happily refreshing. Next up was a mid course of scallop with a deeply nuanced dashi that kept up the meal’s momentum beautifully.

For mains we went with locally shot Fallow Deer and Rievaulx Partridge, zeroing in on the sense of locality central to the Star’s offering. The partridge came with smoked beets and quince as well as spiced fruit and nuts for a delicately balanced plate of food featuring this relatively rare meat. The Deer pushed things up another notch too with perfectly cooked loin joined by parsnip and an elderberry topped “Pluck Tart”, which will ensure that this dish remains in my memory for a long time. While the meat had been treated with the utmost care and was beyond reproach, the tart paired a deeply flavoured earthy, gamey filling with huge flavour that never threatened the balance of the element, particularly being reigned in by the elderberries. The key question of this was the constituent of the tart’s filling, which perhaps is best left mysterious for those particularly squeamish, suffice to say it was “offal-y good”.

I lack much in the way of a sweet tooth so the presence of a savoury finale is the proverbial red rag for me, this time in the form of a Baron Bigod and caramelised onion quiche that called in truffle, marjoram and chive for heavy duty backup to the brie style main flavour. This was a predictably show stopping end to the meal which pulled off the impressive contradiction of being a refreshing, light cheese course.

I think by now it should be pretty clear that I’m a fan of The Star. It’s been a feature of the food scene around here for a long time and continues to be one of the finest in the region based on the evidence of this meal. That’s only half of the trick though, this meal gave the kitchen ample opportunity to show off but what’s most striking is how the sense of occasion is derived. I’ve had plenty of meals in starched restaurants in which you feel that the clientele wouldn’t be too bothered if the standard dropped off a bit as long as the staff continue suitable deference. Here though the surroundings are relaxed enough to facilitate a convincing role as a village pub while giving staff the platform to deliver the sense of occasion that a meal such as this deserves. The Star has had a starring role in my love of food and Yorkshire over the last decade or so and I don’t doubt will continue to play a key role, both for me, its locals and those that make it a destination.

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Harome is a picture-perfect Yorkshire village that is home to a shade over 250 lucky residents, who one presumes appreciate the relative quiet compared to nearby Helmsley which attracts many more passing visitors. Of those two restaurants, The Star Inn is very much a known quantity to me, having enjoyed dining there on several occasions along with its sibling establishments in York and Whitby, but The Pheasant total at Harome is one that’s hovered around the fringes of my mental to-do list for a while.

The Pheasant hotel at Harome is a predictably attractive collection of buildings that were previously been home to a blacksmith’s shop, village shop and some barns but now house 16 rooms, a restaurant and a heated swimming pool. The focus of this visit though was the restaurant, so we that’s where made a beeline for on arrival, finding ourselves in a glass roofed room with attractive metal-topped tables and a pleasant buzz of diners. As far as the dreaded C word, we had our temperatures checked on the way in along with giving up contact information before masking up while making the trip to the table.

The menu featured a sensible number of choices, a quartet each for starters and mains with a couple of extra options available for dessert. There’s also a “Bar & Grill” menu that expands the reach into a few other meat options such as a burger, pie or pork chop as well as sandwiches and kids options. The a la carte options, titled by headline ingredient, were where we’d always intended landing and obviously had noseyed through the choices in advance as standard practice.

With decisions made, we were served some olives and bread to keep things moving forward, the three bread rolls attracting enough interest to confirm they were as good as I hoped without indulging enough to compromise my appetite for the coming treats. We started with “Egg” and “Trout” and were soon underway with a touch of theatre thanks to smoke escaping the ceramic egg in which titular “Egg” was served. The most humble of ingredients can be the easiest to trip over but this egg truly achieved all it came into this world to do, having been taken to just the right texture then encased in a celeriac foam that also concealed a layer of ham hock. Chunks of apple finished off this one while our other starter of cured sea trout was served with cucumber, yoghurt and nasturtium. This was a touch more conventional but no less pretty for it, the trout mixing well with some light pickling and sharp yoghurt to set us up nicely for mains.

For the middle section of the meal we plumped for lamb and fish dishes, rump and stone bass to be specific. Stone bass was served with greens and crushed potato along with seasoned, herby butter for a bit of extra pop to bring out the fish which was cooked as competently as you’d expect in this esteemed environment. Lamb was the standout dish of the meal, hitting that happy combination of texture, flavour and presentation to score top marks. Super fresh tomatoes, labneh, green olive and lovage made up a quality podium for the lamb to take top step on thanks to its perfect cooking, plenty of flavour coming from the fat along with well judged seasoning and plenty of resting.

To finish we shared a warm chocolate tart served with blackberry leaf ice cream that was happily warm and gooey in the centre and used satisfyingly bitter chocolate. This didn’t let the standard slip one bit, serving as a visually arresting full stop to our time at the table before we retired to the lounge for coffee and petit fours, after which we enjoyed a stroll around the gardens.

Lunch at The Pheasant Hotel at Harome certainly had all the sense of occasion you’d, rightfully, demand of a meal that could comfortably top a hundred pounds a person depending on your appetite and choice of drinks. Each course was memorable, well balanced, beautifully presented and delicious while the service was as impeccable as the price point demands.

With The Pheasant and The Star to its name, Harome makes a strong case for itself as a destination for a truly indulgent foodie getaway. With the opportunity to spend money on overseas travel rather lessened at the moment, I’d absolutely endorse substituting a weekend based around Harome.

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

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