Sunday lunch for 1: £16.00

Up until my recent trip to York the farthest north I had ever been in Britain was Oxford.  I kept hearing that York was a really pretty city, full of history, nice church, etc.  And since it’s just about 2 hours by train from London I decided to make a weekend of it.

York Minster

York is indeed a really pretty city.  The Minster is amazing and its definitely a fun place to spend a weekend, especially since there are plenty of great little independent pubs and tea shops to hang out in.  I managed to have both really good and unfortunately some incredibly mediocre food.  My favorite meal in York happened also to be my last.

I had been out the evening before with a friend and we had sampled a couple of York’s better pubs.  And when I was woken up on Sunday by the bells of the Minster I was definitely craving something substantial (read – heavy and fatty) so I headed out in search of a traditional roast.

Melton’s and Melton’s Too are both listed in all the guidebooks as great places to have traditional English fare and so I assumed I would find myself in a kind of musty old fashioned English carvery type deal with horrible wall to wall carpeting and buffet line.  I was so very very wrong.  The restaurant is modern and minimal inside while still feeling cozy – dark wood floors, white walls, neutral tones.

To start I order smoked haddock carpaccio with aubergine pickle.  Smoked haddock is not something I’ve ever come across in the States and its my new favorite smoked fish.  The good stuff I find is never too salty or smokey or strong – its a nice mild smoked fish.  And this particular haddock was divine.

Smoked Haddock Carpaccio with Aubergine Pickle

It had a light smokey flavor and the pickle added just the right touch of acid to the dish.  I could’ve just eaten several more servings of it and forgotten about the rest of the meal.

And then the roast.  I am not a huge beef or chicken eater but I do love a good roast pork.   Melton’s uses a lot of local produce.  I like when restaurants tell you where they source their food from.  This pork was from Thirsk in Yorkshire and it apparently led a happy and fulfilling life before becoming my lunch.

Roast Pork with all the trimmings

It was scrumptious.  A generous amount of crispy crackling and moist and flavorful meat.  It was sooooo goood.   This was also my very first Yorkshire pudding and seriously, I could live on them.   What a great idea.  My only complaint about the meal was that the potatoes were almost completely dry, like they had been cooked in a blast furnace. They were the only let down of the meal though.

All this food, with great service and tab of only £16.00.  Definitely a keeper.  Its a good thing I can’t just pop over every Sunday for lunch or I would which would be absolutely terrible for my arteries.

If you’re visiting York and you want some good English fare done well then you should avoid the carveries closer to the center of town and head over to Melton’s Too instead.

Melton’s Too
25 Walmgate
York, YO1 9TX

Dinner for one with several glasses of wine:  £42.00

I’ve come to Lynton in Exmoor National Park, Devon to see if I can find some of that romantic rocky English coastline I’ve read about and to stuff myself full of seafood.  This is my first real outing on my own in England and so far so good.  I’ve managed to tackle the absolutely insanely steep hills in my car without bursting in to tears or driving into the sea so when I arrive in Lynton I am in a fabulous mood.

After checking into my B&B I wander around town looking for a meal. I stop into what is supposed to be the best restaurant around, the St. Vincent House to see about booking a table.  The owner who is also the chef tells me – without ever looking at his reservation book – that they are completely full all weekend seconds after I watch him take a booking for a table of 2 and giving the couple options on the time to eat.  His code for I ain’t wasting a whole table on one single girl.  Scratch that one off of the list.  Dejected I ask for advice from the proprietress of my B&B. She recommends a relatively new place in town called On The Steps.

The restaurant itself is literally situated on a set of stairs tucked into a tiny little space.  The interior is cozy without being stuffy.  It has exposed wood beams, an old fireplace and simple wooden tables.

The nice man who greets me – turns out to be the owner and executive chef – hands me a menu on a single piece of paper.  This is always a good sign at a seafood restaurant.  It always concerns me when a place serving fish has a laminated menu in a big leather folder.  That usually means that they are serving you whatever they got whether it is fresh or in season (i.e. its all frozen and comes from a large corporate distributor).  The chef explains that they change the menu daily based upon what they buy in the morning from the local fisherman.  This is a very good sign.

Amuse-bouche

While I am perusing the menu I am provided with an amuse.  It was a lovely little melon foam.  I am normally a hater of foams but this was a nice pallet cleanser and it perked up my appetite.

Lundy Squid with Pernod Veloute and Samphire Grass

For my starter I have Lundy squid with Pernod veloute and samphire grass. This was quite possibly the most perfectly cooked squid I have ever had.  Just lightly lightly grilled it was sweet and not at all chewy.  It might also just be that it was the freshest squid I have ever eaten as Lundy Island is just due west of Lynton.

Samphire grass which I’d never had before gave the dish all the salt it needed and the pernod based butter sauce tied it all together.  There was just a hint of anise that did not overpower the dish.  It was simply great.  I sat there smiling at my plate like an idiot.

Grey Mullet with Crab Cake and Watercress Puree

My main course had more fantastically fresh, expertly prepared, locally sourced goodies.  Line caught grey mullet perched precariously on a crab cake that was all crab and no filler.  It could have used a little hit of acid but overall it too was excellent.

I ended the meal with a cheese plate which consisted of local Devonshire cheeses and a glass of Muscat. Anyone who knows me knows that this is precisely my idea of heaven.

When I told a good friend of mine who is quite the foodie of my weekend plans for hiking and excellent food in Devon he had warned me that I should expect to suffer nothing but horrible microwaved pap in any restaurant in the English countryside. Clearly he’s not been spending much time outside of London these days. There was no microwave in this restaurant I am sure.

It was really clear to me that the chef/owner really cares about the food he serves and the experience his customers have.  I will go back to Lynton just to eat here again.

On The Steps
Church Steps
Church Hill
Lynton, EX35
P: 01598 753614
(they have no website that I can find)

Lunch for 2 with beer: £23.00

Its about time I got out and about in Britain.  Its not all London after all.  Luckily I am not the only one who’s not seen much outside the capital.  Some of my English friends have missed whole swathes of the countryside and luckily they have cars!

One such friend is Martin who has somehow – up until now of course – never been to the Cotswolds.  So on a recent Saturday we set off on a mission to overdose on pretty.

Our first stop was Mister Lovell which is close to Oxford but is pretty darn empty.  No coaches could possibly make it into the village so it is fairly unspoiled.  The reason to come here is the ruin of Lovell Hall which is situated in an idyllic setting on the edge of a wood by a stream.

Lovell Hall

It took us quite a while to find it (turns out its right behind the church – which is also nice to visit) but it was well worth the effort.  It would be a great place to have a picnic, but bring your food with you as I did not see any shops in the village.

Our next stop was Burford which is (as are all the Cotswolds villages) pretty, but it is also crammed full of other tourists all gawking at the sagging cottages.

The high street all seemed a little much so we headed off onto a side street to the Angel for lunch.  Not too far off of the beaten path it is nevertheless a complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of the high street.  The pub itself is elfin in proportions.  I am considered to be quite short and I am pretty sure I could have reached up and touched the ceiling.  It was quite cozy and I was prepared to tuck into a table by the fireplace when the landlord suggested the garden in the back.

This was no London pub beer garden (read concrete square with table on it).  This was a proper garden filled with flowers and birdsong.  There are several tables but they are all well spaced out so you’ve got plenty of room to relax.

Knowing that we would be stopping somewhere later that day for a cream tea I opted for a simple ploughman’s with Stilton.

Ploughman's

I expected something really simple and dull so was well pleased when my lunch arrived.  Everything about it was just right.  The bread was a hearty country style (no bagged bread here).   There was ample salad, really good cheese and we suspect that the “pickle” was house made.  All in all a very good country lunch.  I was well fortified for the next 300 small villages it felt like we visited that day.

They also have an interesting looking dinner menu which you can order from during lunch.  I would definitely stop by again, if ever I find myself in Burford.

Smurf Cottages, Broadway

Other places that you should definitely go to in the Cotswolds are the Slaughters and Broadway.  Avoid Bourton on the Water at all costs as it has been turned into a horrible Cotswolds theme park.

The Angel
14 Whitney St
Burford, Oxfordshire
OX18 4SN