It is well over a year since I have reviewed a fine dining establishment in my general location. This is not due to the fact that there aren’t any suitable candidates, but more because I have been content to continue with my first reviewee – The Fox & Hounds in Sinnington. However, in the past few months, I have found myself going a little further afield, and mainly on Sundays. As such this focused my mind (and stomach) on obtaining a decent lunch in pleasant surroundings on that day. My first target centered on the small village of Harome (pronounced hairum). This is near Helmsley (North Yorkshire) and in fact boasts not one, but two very well-known and good eateries – one being The Pheasant and the other The Star Inn. Both are country house hotels with the former having 3 AA rosettes (the highest), and the latter the same, plus a Michelin rating. For the purposes of this review though I am just writing about The Pheasant – although the latter has also now been visited and will be reviewed in the near future.
So, my first encounter was with The Pheasant. This was pretty ad hoc, as I found myself in the area more by accident – but needed food! I was not far from Harome and recalled that The Star Inn was there, so decided to have a go as a walk-in – more in hope! However, when I drove into the village I also noticed The Pheasant, but continued on to The Star Inn anyway to have a look. However, judging by the pretty full car park, I reasoned that entry was probably not an option without first booking, therefore I decided to try The Pheasant first. So, I turned around and drove back, going through the coaching inn type entrance and parked. At first glance, The Pheasant is a nice old sandstone building with an inviting feel to it. In the carpark I bumped into Liam, who that day was on-duty as front of house (and in fact turned out to be the General Manager). We briefly chatted and he confirmed that he could accommodate me for a Sunday lunch. Great!
Once inside, I decided to go straight into the restaurant and not have a snifter in the homely and traditional country bar/lounge, complete with wood burner etc. Thus ensconced, I decided to go for just one course, and, being my favorite type of Sunday meal, it had to be the ubiquitous roast beef. This commenced with a roll (brioche) with butter (cultured). Personally I am not a great fan of brioche in this capacity, as I find it too sweet and dessert-like. In the same vein I do not like a burger in a brioche bun either – for the same reason. For a drink I had a half pint of Black Sheep and some tap water.
After not too long, the main event arrived – principally on one dinner plate, but also another plate with the vegetables on. The former contained the beef (60 day aged), along with a Yorkshire Pudding, roasted whole carrot, onion, and horseradish, plus miniature gravy jug. The other plate held two small dishes – one holding some cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli, and the other other a leek and seed cheese bake. Nestling between the two were some roast potatoes cooked with rosemary. The meal was sublime in taste and I really could not fault it. The meat was medium rare and buttery to cut. The vegetables were cooked exceptionally well – either al-dente or roasted to just soft. However, “man of the match” went to the potatoes which were, well, perfect, being; lightly crusted on the outside but fluffy inside – and that herby flavour – just mmm! Now, whilst I am only a reasonable cook, I do boast that my roasties are usually brilliant – but these had the edge!
I slowly worked my way through my meal, savouring each mouthful. By the end I was actually pretty full, so decided no to dessert, cheese, or coffee. This being the case I called it a day!
So, a very nice meal served in a timely manner by, mainly, youngish staff. All were refreshingly courteous, helpful, and friendly – as was Liam. The building and it’s areas/rooms that I saw, were well maintained, clean, and tastefully decorated. The ambience was also nice, helped no doubt by the quality of the clientele – judging by the mainly smartly dressed patrons and the quality cars outside! So, what price for all this? Well, the main Sunday lunch menu (so, either Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Wellington) was £25 – so with my beer and a tip, a little over £30. Overall I felt this was pretty fair, and indeed par for the course for this kind of quality. Naturally, if you are going to have a bit of a blow out, with a bar snifter, glass of wine, starter, main course, dessert, and a coffee, then we are flirting with probably £80 or so really. Again though, this is fair.
A couple of weeks later I decided to call in again – on spec. However, they were too busy, and whilst a seat in the bar lounge was possible, I decided against it as the tables and chairs are on the low side, plus at the time, there was a family in situ, with two very small children. The latter is a bit of a no no for me as the potential for noise/disruption is just too great. Anyway, I tried again the following week and this time success! So I now pass some comment on this visit.
So, once again nicely settled in a quietish spot, I studied the menu. I was going to have a 100% repeat of last time, but was stopped in my tracks when I noticed that one starter was beef tartare – one of my all-time favorites. This one was different though – locally sourced smoked Ravenswick venison, with cassis pickled radish, Avruga caviar and sorrel. Now, I simply had to sample this!
However, by opting for such a starter, I realised that would now disrupt my main course selection, as even I did not really want to overdo the beef intake! So, I studied the main options again, and decided to go for the pork belly with crackling. This came with an apricot and sage sausage roll, apricot puree, and cider gravy. There was also the mandatory Yorkshire pudding, plus vegetables – which are in fact the standard accompaniments with the Sunday mains.
At this point I also decided to have a glass of white wine, so chose a Languedoc “Vionier De La Chevaliere” from the wine list. This transpired to be very pleasant and not too dear. As before, a roll was first provided, but this time it had changed to a more standard warm and soft granary type, and was infused with Marmite (barely discernable really so don’t panic) and thyme. It was served with cultured butter. So, much better – although I did find the butter a little creamy and bland. My meal was just as good as before, with the pork very succulent and tender. The piece of crackling was also lovely. The potatoes were mercifully as great as before too, as were other vegetables. Naturally my bill was higher this time, so around £56.
So, my overall conclusion after two visits? Firstly and frankly, I willingly admit that I am a person who is pretty hard to please when it comes to dining out. There are just too many aspects that can go awry and spoil what should be a nice time out. These can range from; po-faced staff who just cannot even pretend to be a bit jolly and accommodating, to poor quality food that is averagely cooked and presented, then mediocre premises, and lastly irritating/boorish clientele – including families with kids too young to control themselves. Whilst paying top dollar is never an absolute given for success, it usually weeds out most or all of the aforementioned annoyances. Anyway, I am happy to say that The Pheasant managed to hit all my major “like” tick boxes, so am more than happy to return, and moreover recommend to other gastronauts (thank you Keith Floyd for that), but please don’t spoil it! Lastly, whilst I have not sampled the accommodation, I did fall into conversation with a couple who were staying a couple of nights and they were very impressed. Any grumbles at all? Well, if I am being picky, I would certainly offer a few roll options as a matter of course – not everybody likes brioche. Also, I am sorry, but I found the butter lacked much taste so would consider reviewing that.
Just one last thing. You may have noticed that I have not mentioned any owner(s) and/or chef(s) et al. Why? Well, being blunt, I am not overly interested in all that kind of thing really. Usually one never claps eyes on such folks anyway, plus, most of the day-to-day graft is delegated to others. All I am interested in is getting a positive experience on the day I pitch up!
Experience rating: 4.5/5.
P.S. I called in again the other Sunday and again had a very nice meal – reverting to beef again. However, I may have had a lucky escape when an extended family group arrived near me with two sub-six year old’s. My heart sank, and more so when the mother then pulled out some sort of electronic notepad out of her large handbag, which was undoubtedly destined for the kids to play with. Happily I had finished so did not wait to find out whether the volume would be on or off, or if it would cause childish noise etc. As alluded to earlier, I do find this kind of thing very annoying. If children are too young to behave without being bribed/entertained then they should stay at home. Unfortunately most modern parents are clueless over discipline and consideration for others, let alone interacting properly with their offspring. Also, alas, restaurants generally are too scared to intervene. In the case of a quality establishment, I would simply not let children in under certain age (or direct them to a different eating area), and would certainly ban the use of all electronic devices. So there!
Words/Images: The Writer (except the bar image – source unknown).