That might sound counter-intuitive but actually there are plenty of benefits, offering further incentives to extend one’s stay and the opportunity to offer different reasons for the local community to visit. One of these restaurants is EightyEight at Grantley Hall, described as a Pan-Asian bar and restaurant blending Yorkshire produce with “far Eastern flavours”. I recently made my way toward Ripon for a look at their take on Sunday lunch.

While it might be an important part of the wider Grantley offering, EightyEight very much has its own identity, it may be on the same site but it feels as unique as any restaurant I’ve visited. The branding and welcome are as slick and well resolved as you’d expect from anything associated with Grantley, though a step removed from the main hotel to strengthen that sense of identity. The group I was with were greeted by striking cocktails and mocktails on arrival, though I somewhat churlishly felt the need to top up the morning’s caffeine ration with a coffee. After getting to know the surroundings, we descended to a strikingly subterranean dining room to take our table, at which we would discover just how this fusion of produce and flavour would be presented.

Sunday lunches are all about spending time together to share the previous week’s successes and the following week’s concerns and opportunities; to reflect this, EightyEight has themed their Sunday offering as Sharers which are intended to bring people together in just that manner. The menu offers a selection of duck, beef and pork dishes that all come with a selection of sides for a table to assemble as they see fit into pancakes or bao buns.

It didn’t take long for the table to be heavily populated with food. Shanghai Style Goosnargh duckling, Pork Belly “Sui Yuk” (slow roasted) and Bulgogi Beef all featured along with ample sides. Pickled vegetables, compressed tomato, kimchi and a range of soups featured along with the usual range of cucumber, spring onions and so on to pack out our buns. A generous bowl of well seasoned, sticky rice completed the scene along with dipping sauces and soups that merrily broke up the textures and flavours of the meal.

That aspiration to pair quality Yorkshire produce with Eastern flavours was well realised across all of these dishes but the real star was a menu option that took it a step further, presenting the table with a whole cornfed Goosnargh duck to enjoy. This was a real show stopper that would definitely be the focus of a return visit for me. It presented a real sense of occasion and the kind of visual focus that carving a roast at home allows. It should be noted that the lack of a vegetarian option on the menu feels a little jarring given the contenting popularity of veggie and vegan diets that show no sign of slowing down.

We finished with a sharing dessert that sat in the centre of the table giving us the chance to show competitive levels of politeness in not overstepping each other’s boundaries. This heap of meringue, banana, caramel and chocolate carried on encouraging us to interact with one another while we evenly divided the spoils.

EightyEight makes a great contribution to the wider Grantley Hall estate on the evidence of this meal. The cooking evidenced a deft touch with strong flavours and the concept delivered on the promise of encouraging sharing through food. The care and attention lavished on every element of Grantley Hall is brightly reflected here and leaves little chance of it falling into anonymity as a “restaurant hotel”.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this press meal. Opinions are impartial.

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Rumours of the location for The Black Swan’s sister restaurant circulated for some time and the location remained a closely guarded secret until a few people put two and two together to figure out that the recently closed Bay Horse on Marygate would eventually be the home of Roots. This is a building that has been under-utilised for too long so it’s a great pleasure to see it given the renovation it deserves. I was keen to get in and try the food as quickly as possible so more than happy to attend the Roots York launch and see what all the fuss was about.

It’s fair to say that in the early days after any restaurant opening, one always sees a few loose ends that the pressures of time have left hanging. There were a few minor details lacking on the night I attended, but nothing worth getting excited about. These guys know that the hard work involved in running a restaurant certainly doesn’t end with the doors opening so these will be taken care of by now. The upstairs of the building is a bar area now offering cocktails and drinks to enjoy before dinner which make use of herbs from the wonderfully well stocked garden in Oldstead. This is exactly what I did before heading downstairs to the dining room for the main event at the Roots York launch.

Tommy’s cookbook, Roots, redefines the seasons into three (The Hunger Gap, Time of Abundance and Preserving Season) and that approach will inform the menu at Roots throughout the year. The menu offers small plates which, while divisive amongst critics, still remain popular with the public. I can happily see my way through a small plate menu as much as a la carte but if you’d rather skip the decision making there’s also a “Roots Feast Menu” available for £55 a head which is intended to allow the whole table to get a curated cross section of the current season’s experience.

The food started, rather unsurprisingly, with bread and butter that came with seed crackers to give textural variety before the main event began. Regardless of the restaurant, I’m always wary of filling upon bread and butter while wanting to enjoy a multi-course meal so after double checking expectations were met, I throttled back and waited for the next course, which turned out to be kale in sheep’s yoghurt with pickled walnuts and cured egg yolk. It was a pleasure to start the small plates with such a light and refreshing few mouthfuls, the sharpness of the yoghurt never threatening the flavour of the leaves. Things got more substantial with the next course of fermented turnip bao buns with lamb. Delightfully soft bao buns wrapped themselves around finger sized morsels of lamb to give a well rounded few mouthfuls before the next dish arrived.

Garden pea falafels with carrots and pork fat were one of the stars of the evening. The shavings of melting pork fat struck upon a winning combination with the fresh carrots that also graced the plate. By this point, the table was well into the swing of things and ready for more so after a short pause we gratefully accepted cured trout with Oldstead piccalilli. The contrast between the fish and piccalilli, presented as a sauce underpinning the dish, worked beautifully and continued the accurate balancing act of flavours we’d enjoyed so far. Next to arrive was a headliner: craupaudine beetroot cooked in beef fat. This has become a signature at The Black Swan so it’s a real treat to find on the menu here. The beetroot spends upwards of five hours being slowly cooked in beef fat then is served with linseed crackers, smoked cod’s roe and beetroot discs. The texture and flavour that this cooking process imbues this variety of beetroot with is distinctive, rewarding and compelling, even more so with the cod’s roe. It’d be a brave move to ever strike this one from the menu.

With the “meatroot” done it was time for another famous dish, this time the Great British Menu winning “Turbot, Strawberries & Cream”. This is the second time I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy this dish and my happy memories were validated by the relaxed pleasure it gave to the group. By this point, we were drawing to the end of the savoury courses with only two to go. The penultimate was one that I’ve actually made a decent fist of myself with help from the Roots recipe book. That said, I think it’s reasonable to say the Roots team pulled it off better than I did! Ox cheek is always a delight when cooked correctly, as here, and it marries to cauliflower wonderfully well. Last up was a relatively conventional plate of skirt steak with what was described as “hash brown chips”. The char on the steak was satisfying and did the meat justice while the “chips” felt suitably indulgent.

Our two dessert courses were white chocolate, Douglas fir & lemon verbena and Mary Banks’ apple cake with creme fraiche and Oldstead honey. A few mouthfuls of these ended the feast entirely appropriately, feeling indulgent and well balanced. My preference was for the Douglas fir and lemon verbena thanks to the deft lightness of touch applied to it.

Roots has made a successful entrance to the York food scene judging by the amount of social media engagement I’ve seen and reports I’ve heard about the reservations already taken. There are a few risks associated with this venture: I worry that people will come expecting the full Black Swan experience and be disappointed. That’s not a criticism of the offering here, but there’s no denying that the Feast menu at Roots comes in around half the price of the Black Swan tasting menu. To be frank, both offer good value for the experience you get in but the guys perhaps run the risk of being a victim of their own success, having set the bar so, so high at Oldstead. Fifty odd pounds a head is very reasonable for a meal as enjoyable and broad as this and the emphasis on seasonality only offers more reasons to return. I’ve already booked my next visit and I’m confident it won’t be my last. It’s safe to say the Roots York launch was a success.

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

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Having a good crowd meant that we could be sure to get through as many of the new dishes as possible, though this meant a relatively involved discussion to choose our strategy. Something that was eased by a few mouthfuls of Bhel Puri, a tangy vegetable and puffed rice snack that seemed to have gained a significant amount of spice since I last tried it. Further help arrived in the form of a dish of Peanut Pakoda, peanuts deep fried in gramflour that hadn’t quite reached their full potential, remaining a little bland compared to the other generously spiced dishes. With these snacks addressed, we got our order in and took a couple of outstanding beers from Leeds based Northern Monk Brewery to keep us company.

We were a little sad to find that the Pani Puri had sold out, though this was apt given that we were meant to be focussing on the newer offerings. Okra fries, chicken Hyderabadi Murgh Tikka and Masala fried squid came up first and revealed a preference amongst us for the Okra and Chicken, both of which offered the right balance of spice and texture nicely. I’ve eaten the tandoori mixed grill on each of my visits to The Cat’s Pyjamas and it remains a great value crowd pleaser, ensuring it’s always split perfectly fairly – the only divisive note being the lamb that packed significantly more heat than the other elements.

From the curry we plumped for the Mean Molee, a gently warming fish curry with a coconut and ginger sauce. This one drew unanimous praise as we competed to get our hands on it. To soak up all this we grabbed some pilau rice, roti, a Yorkshire cheese naan and a Kachumber salad to give a lighter element to the feasting. All the sides were up to snuff. I’d have liked a more aggressive cheese taste in the naan but that’s splitting hairs as everything soaked up the spice perfectly. The table also commented on how the curry was lacking the layer of grease that sometimes makes it hard to digest anglicised curry.

The menu at the Cat’s Pyjamas is superbly well judged and consistent. This was my third visit and I think it hits its marks perfectly. There’s a wide beer menu and the place lends itself happily to either a chilled out series of dishes with friends over a few drinks, or a few quick snacks on the way to a later engagement.

​Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. The final bill would have been £74 to feed four people (which included several alcoholic drinks).

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When we visited to check out the new menu, we were leaving 4 week old baby YoaF out of our hands for the first time so resisted the temptation to linger in the front bar over a flight of sherry, rather settling straight into a snug corner table in the downstairs dining area for a chat about the new menu. There may be a few branches of Ambiente these days (Leeds and Hull joining the York sites) but the willingness to give distinct menus makes sure that while the DNA of the experience remains true throughout, each venue keeps a sense of individuality.

We kicked things off with a Spanish seafood platter to share which came with a generous portion of bread and “picos de pan” (reminiscent of breadsticks) to mop up a side of salt cod pate. Our server had raved about the new Cantabrian anchovies so I made a made sure I was rude enough to grab the first mouthful and confirm that the recommendation was more than just an employee’s hyperbole. The Boquerones that have frequently appeared on Ambiente menus for some time remain as delicious as one would expect good quality marinated anchovies to be but the newer variant brings boast worthy subtlety and depth along with the sharp anchovy. Elsewhere on the platter we enjoyed fabulous tuna belly and salt cured tuna along with tender thinly sliced octopus.

Having enjoyed our seafood, we moved onto a couple of hearty meat dishes. A “Bola de Cordero” slow roast lamb shoulder croquette on squash puree revealed plenty of rich, slow cooked shredded lamb to contrast with the crunchy exterior. Not the most subtle dish but absolutely satisfying. Next up came “Ragu Española” which put braised beef shin with pasta. I’d not expected to be so impressed with pasta on this trip but the short strands here were superb and made a luxurious dish with the generous and rich beef ragu it shared a bowl with.

For some vegetable relief we chose wild mushroom, kale and feta empanadas garnished with oven roasted grapes in masala and a balsamic beetroot with baby onion salad salad. The baby onions with the beetroot were dyed red by the root veg leading to a very red plate of food broken by dill garnish; any lack of visual variety being made up for by an abundance of flavour.

I was really impressed with the new menu that offered plenty of great, bold flavours at really sensible prices. Our lunch attracted a bill of less than fifty pounds including a glass of sherry each. While the standard for eating out in York has risen markedly over the last five years, Ambiente certainly hasn’t been left behind and the Goodramgate branch remains a welcoming place to enjoy great food and sherry.

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

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When we arrived on a Saturday evening, it became clear that this place was starting to build a reputation. I’d foregone bothering to book a table on the, apparently incorrect, assumption that a newish restaurant wouldn’t be packed out, so when we arrived at half six we were only seated on the basis that the table would be needed back in an hour. With no time for too much debate, we ordered some beers and only a few plates, fearing that we wouldn’t be able to pack too much into a brief sitting.

Thankfully service was quick given our compressed timeframe and plates were despatched from the kitchen quickly. We opted for some steamed rice and stir fried broccoli to accompany plates of lamb red curry, “Legendary” crispy pork belly and salmon tartare that were well presented if a little bit of a squeeze on the small table for two. The highlight was the beautifully balanced pork belly that had been simply paired with some wilted greens and packed in plenty of garlic to go with its oyster sauce dressing.

The lamb curry was less exciting but well executed and as richly flavoured as one would hope. The salmon tartare came well presented with a bed of cucumber, a small salad and a dressing to soften the spice as needed. The plate would have benefited from a bit of a wipe to remove excess moisture but the shallot, salmon and chilli worked well together along with the egg yolk to bring together a lovely, though aggressively spiced, dish.

Having hit our time limit, we settled a very reasonable £40 hit to the pocket and left very happy. The small plate thing has its critics, but if you’re happy with things arriving as they’re prepared, Thai food lends itself well to this style of dining, so we’ll certainly be back to Phranakhon to investigate the menu in more depth.

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Mr P’s Curious Tavern is a departure for Mr Pern. While there’re bar spaces in both the original Star and its city-based sibling the Star Inn The City, this is no restaurant. That’s not to say that food here isn’t more than capable of standing on its own two feet though. The offering here is distinct from the Star(s), with a brief to be more adventurous and playful. Small plates are delivered as they are prepared and can be ordered as and when desire or appetite strikes throughout your visit.

The venue is packed with ephemera from Mr Pern’s collection and certainly has his style splashed all over it. The downstairs bar balances clutter and character with usability very well, while the upstairs is perhaps still waiting for its full compliment of quirk. Mr P’s Curious Tavern is somewhere to relax and feel comfortable without the formality of fine dining. This is certainly a place you can just call into for a quick drink or spend a more expansive evening having small plate after small plate delivered to you. As far as pricing goes, it’s accessible. A glass of wine starts at under four quid and the small plates start at only a few pounds for nibbles.

We started with a glass of white and a gin and tonic that was beautifully presented with a few raspberries as we perused the intriguing menu. It was extremely tempting to order one of everything, but realistically there wasn’t going to be enough appetite to tackle that task. We went for tuna sashimi, goats cheese ice cream with Waldorf, steak tartare, ‘Croque M’lass’, ‘Haute’ dog, ‘Egg n’ toast’ and one of the day’s specials that included pig cheek. We took a bit of guidance from the server about how much to order, pitching right into the middle of the suggested range and took reassurance in confirmation that we could order more as we went through the meal in the event of our collective stomach having the edge over our eyes.

First out of the blocks was the sashimi with scallions, horseradish, pink ginger and oriental jam. We were immediately blown away by the combination of flavour and texture both on the plate as a whole and rammed into each bite. The balance of delicate and strong flavours was struck perfectly to make sure that nothing was overwhelmed. The question raised was if this strong start could be maintained.

Yes. It could. Next came steak tartare. I’m a huge fan of this dish, but like to be a little pragmatic about where I order it. The only place previously in York I’ve felt comfortable to order it was at the Whippet Inn courtesy of a chef who’s now coincidentally working at the Star In the City, so I have to confess that in advance of this visit I’d already popped in and tried it. As was the previous experience, this was fantastic. The tartare is served with fried bread ‘sprinkles’ and ‘HP ripple’ ice cream. As I write this, I keep flicking back to the picture I took of it and struggling for words, the contrast between the savoury notes in the ice cream and sharp flavours of caper with the soft meat texture in the background is just magical. This is one of may favourite dishes in York.

Next to be delivered was the Croque M’lass. It’d be unfair to describe this as a toastie, but the dish draws deep of the comfort food well. Salmon, comté and quail eggs all thrust their way into the limelight in this marvellous plate, all the more so for six quid. Having polished that off we were presented with the goats cheese ice cream. Presented in a Kilner jar with a layer of Waldorf salad at the bottom under a generous dollop of the ice cream, you can probably guess what I’m going to say. Yep, another playful triumph! Letting the food be the theatre rather than messing round with unnecessary contrivances works wonderfully. Cold, savoury, cheesy ice cream? Yes, it works brilliantly.

By now, as I’m sure you can guess, our expectations were higher than Pete Doherty celebrating finding a hundred stupid hats in a cocaine factory, so I’ve got to confess a twinge of disappointment at the next dish. The ‘Haute’ dog with juniper cabbage coleslaw and fried onions was good, and for seven pounds, a cracking snack, but it didn’t live up to its predecessors. I’ve no idea what I was expecting, but by this point I suppose anything less than it tap dancing its way into my mouth while singing the national anthem was bound to be a let down. A perfectly acceptable dish that was all but drowned out by its company. Our final savoury dish was a special of the day that paired ox cheek and risotto to good effect with chicken thrown in for good measure. Yum.

At this point we were intending to call it a day, but our server dashed those intentions by insisting we take a sweet dish. He recommended ‘Egg n’ Toast’, which arrived in due course. With this plate we were firmly back in the realms of silliness: crisp toasts to dunk into a ceramic egg of panna cotta and fruity coulis counterpointed the conventional presentation against the light flavours.

Mr P’s Curious Tavern is now firmly amongst my favourites in York. The small plate concept works wonderfully. I love the idea of being able to get a snack of extremely high quality without having to commit to the time or financial outlay of a big meal out. I love the sense of fun that comes through in the plates. The moments at which Beth and I caught each other’s eye on sharing the first bite of a particular dish (that makes it sound way more like a date than it was) and just started laughing tell the story for themselves. We variously described the dishes as ludicrous, ridiculous, silly and just plain daft. Theatre for the sake of it around a table can feel contrived and really detract from the experience, but embedding it into the plate to become part of the food’s DNA makes perfect sense. I’ll have a steak tartare if you’re popping to the bar.

Disclaimer: Though our meal was complimentary, all opinions are our own

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In this country we’re rubbish at going for a quick drink after work, or rather too good at it. It’s well documented that us Brits are useless at adopting the cafe culture of our continental counterparts, preferring instead to inadvertently end up trying to maintain the structural integrity of a dubious kebab. Apericena is the polar opposite of that. Unlimited Italian food including dessert and a glass of wine timed to coincide with office workers exodus, it has all the signs of imposing civility on its guests.

Seven quid gets you signed up to the Veeno buffet and a glass in your hand, a quid more makes that a large glass. I’d expect to pay five pounds for a glass of any drinkable wine in a town centre venue so by that reckoning you’re paying 2 (or 3) pounds for your dinner, which for that price must surely be awful?

Nope. Platters of olive tapenade on focaccia, rice and pasta salads, tuna bites and pecorino were forthcoming and regularly topped up until everyone was sated. Admittedly nothing about it was flashy or obviously expensive, but everything was well executed and tasty. A more ostentatious offering would knock the price up, remove the spontaneity of organising a gathering here and change the dynamic of the socialising, so I think this is right on the mark. Cream and strawberries came out for dessert as things were starting to wrap up, again simple but not overstated.

The only thing I would pick fault with is the Veeno plates. I was tempted to go the full Partridge and bring my own plate to replace the glorified coasters that were provided. I’ve no idea if this was a conscious effort to try and minimise people’s gluttonous urges, but if so it was unnecessary, the clientele displaying continental levels of moderation.

I’ll certainly be back, though not as soon as I’d hoped. Rather frustratingly Mrs YoaF has cast me aside tomorrow night in favour of taking a few friends there. Guess I’ll have to wait, serves me right for shouting about it.

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Choosing the Bel Paese platter (usually £15), we were presented with a range of smoked cheese, grissini, mozzarella, cured meats, gorgonzola and bread. Curiously, the wine I spilled across this lot served to do nothing untoward to the flavours. There’s little necessary to say about the selection, good quality meats and cheeses with a few chunks of nice bread really speak for themselves. The chunks of parmingiano reggiano clung to by encouragingly viscous balsamic were a particularly encouraging combination.

A good chat with the proprietor convinced me of the owner’s passion for their product and the desire to get quality family products into the UK market was clearly apparent. It’s worth being explicit that this isn’t a place to come for a meal. Yes, you can leave without needing something further to eat, but you won’t be squeezing out of the door on the back of many courses.

A few tweaks would help to perfect the experience: table service would be nice and the lighting needs a bit of work for mood. A clearer message about the Sicilian associations wouldn’t hurt too but Veeno is a great addition to York. Nitpicking aside, decent wine at good prices along with good quality snacks. For example, a glass of wine plus a pannini comes in at under a fiver at lunchtime. Nothing to argue with there. I’ll be back.

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This week I was lucky enough to be invited to taste sherry with Ambiente in Leeds. As previously recorded here I’m a fan of their York restaurant so aside from anything else it was a lovely chance to pop across to Leeds and check it out. Set in a lovely building a few minutes’ walk from the station the restaurant is centred around an open kitchen – a trait which I immediately felt jealous isn’t shared in York.

The sherries were provided by Real Tesoro with fascinating and knowledgeable introductions from their representative Jaime Delage Estevez, a family member from Grupo Estevez. Starting with a beautiful light Fino paired with olives wrapped in anchovy and marinated pepper we caught up with some friends including the lovely CosyCoffeeShops to talk things through. In short order the group agreed that anchovies, peppers, olives and sherry were all good things.

After the light beginning, things stepped up a notch with the Manzanilla. Marginally stronger and darker but still a beautifully translucent drink things progressed well, accompany beetroot discs with goats cheese and fennel. Scraps of Iberico ham were passed around as we debated the place of sherry in British society…..as were salmon chunks, tomato with basil pesto, king prawn and chorizo skewers….in retrospect I feel even luckier than 24 hours ago.

A glass of Amontillado eased our transition to the darker more notably conditioned drinks and, pleasant though it was, didn’t make the impression that the Oloroso did. As the darker sherries took their place, effectively paired with barbecued lamb chunks, most agreed this one struck the best balance between complexity of flavour and refreshment. By now we were superbly well versed on the Solera system and making many new friends.

To polish the evening of sherry with Ambiente off we moved onto a PX Sherry (PX being one of the three grapes you make sherry with). We were warned this would be a notable step from dry complexity to intense sweetness. Tempering the sweetness we were presented with chunks of salty, sharp Roquefort. Working backwards to my personal preference, as someone who’s not drunk sherry intentionally as an adult before, I’d go for the initial FIno with which we were presented as an aperitif or the Oloroso to accompany tapas. The PX presented interesting aftertaste but I couldn’t help but feel the sweetness was overpowering.

Following a lovely evening, would I take the the advice and pair sherry with an entire meal? No. Saying that, I very much enjoyed what we tasted and the variety of flavours but I wouldn’t swap the flavour range we were presented with for the softness of a nice red against rare red meat. The whole thing certainly merits further investigation.

Thank you again to the always marvellous Ambiente for a lovely (and, for the sake of transparency, free) evening

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