In my recent post on Sushi & Bowl I mused on the the opportunity to try out new venues that is afforded by York Restaurant Week, a theme that continued in the week for me with a trip to an intriguing spot called Duck Shack which has sprung up on the edge of St Sampson’s Square. This site was previously a nondescript cafe with a “world food” theme but has now shifted to the Duck Shack York identity and quietly opened its doors to the public. The menu comprises a selection of “Hong Kong Style BBQ Charcoal Roasted Meat” and is decidedly carnivorous in its bent. This is probably not somewhere ..read more

I can scarcely believe that, as I type this, it’s four years to the day since pubs were told to shut. An awful lot has changed since then and, thankfully, an awful lot has returned to normal but York still bears the scars of the Covid era in the form of a number of closed premises. This post-Covid world is certainly not without challenges for the hospitality industry, with spiralling costs and incomes ever more squeezed. Nevertheless, there’re still new places to keep me busy trying out. One that’s piqued my interest for some time is Sushi & Bowl which has appeared on Lendal in recent time ..read more

I managed to resist for quite a long time but it’s happened, I’ve finally caved and jumped on the air fryer band wagon. I’ve a tendency to fall for gadgets that I’ve been trying to slow down over the last few years, but recently I found myself with a bit of money burning a hole in my pocket and a whole load of glowing testimonials about air fryers in many browser tabs in front of me. Throw in a pending week home alone cooking for one and I quickly abandoned any restraint and ordered a Ninja Air Fryer Max. The air fryer isn’t as new a phenomenon as the current cost-of-living spike in its popula ..read more

January As usual it was a slow start to the year as we left the festive season behind and started looking forward to the new year. My first meal out of the New Year was lunch at Izakaya, where I’d enjoyed the tasting menu so much previously. Next up I made my way to eat with the team at Yahala Mataam, an important social enterprise that contributes hugely to York. Sunday lunch at Hotel du Vin was a treat while a highlight of the month was a first trip to 22 Yards wine bar which features top notch food to go with amazing views of the Minster. Izakaya Yahala Mataam 22 Yards February The second ..read more

(ad – pr visit) If you follow me on any social media channel you’ll almost certainly have noted my affection for Clucking Oinks. Way back in 2017 I ran a few street food events at The Fulford Arms, one of which featured fantastic fried chicken from the Clucking team and since then I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy their food many times as they made their name in Spark. A little while ago though they moved into permanent premises on Castlegate while maintaining their presence at Spark and servicing York with a delivery service. Now they’ve found their feet in the new kitchen and adapted it to the ..read more

(ad – pr) York has some pretty spectacular restaurants, with premises inhabiting noted buildings such as The Assembly Rooms and the former girls’ school on Low Petergate – now occupied La Vechhia Scuola – notably repurposing grand buildings for hospitality. This concept has been taken to an extreme now with the opening earlier this year of Andrew Pern’s newest endeavour, York Minster Refectory. This building, opposite the edifice from which it derives its name, was previously the Minster School and as such not something to which I’d previously paid much attention. I popped by for canapés at th ..read more

(ad – pr) As my daughter approaches her sixth birthday it’s dawning on me that she won’t continue as such a delightful, angelic, kind being who craves my company forever. With Christmas around the corner, I suppose there’s a limited shelf-life (elf life?) to the whole Christmas/Santa subterfuge so in actuality the window between gaining enough cognition to appreciate it but not so much as to question it is only a few years, rather limiting the number of opportunities to indulge both her and us. We had a great time at Murton Park last year meeting Santa on a train ride there so when the North Y ..read more

(ad – pr) Since it opened I’ve made a number of trips to the Malmaison in the centre of York which is housed in a former insurance office that for so many years was a beacon of mundanity and grey. I can attest to that being the case on the basis of having worked there but it’s utterly transformed now into a bright, stylish and modern building fully deserving of its enhanced standing. Sora up on the roof offers incredible views and a unique experience while the bar and Chez Mal York on the ground floor make up a more conventional food and drink offering. I called by back in April to check it ou ..read more

In the headlong rush toward Christmas it can be tricky to fit in all the experiences one wants to give a family. Between seeking out Santa, picking out and decorating a tree, writing and planning a menu in great detail (just me…?), finding shelves for elves, extracting Christmas lists from children (and adults come to think of it) and generally getting through the schools endless run of engagements, there’s a fair bit on at this time of year. One festive event that really marks the start of the Christmas Season though is the opening of one of the region’s iconic stately homes Christmas experie ..read more

I’m quite open that running this site affords me plenty of opportunities to eat out, which I regard as a huge privilege, but that doesn’t mean I’m not always on the look out for opportunities to enjoy meals out that don’t just fortuitously drop into my lap. I’m certainly not averse to spending my own money in restaurants but recently I noticed an unusual detail in a news article in the local media. LNER were to take over The Cookery School at The Grand to celebrate their centenary and it was free for the public to sign up to. All that they asked was that attendees would bring a donation for Th ..read more