Just arrived back home a little while ago and finished my unpacking. Now I can keep my promise and report on all the excellent nosh I had in York 
Left home on Monday 7th. Being a bank holiday there was no free food to be had on the train, even for us 1st class travellers, so nothing to show from that. I arrived in early afternoon and checked in. I then partook in a long exploration walk around York for what must have been a good 3 hours or so. Ended up going into the first place that came to hand for food, which turned out to be a pub called Thomas's of York. I ordered the BBQ Chicken nachos to be followed by a rump steak baguette and chips, only to be told they were out of nachos. And Baguettes. Settled for a BBQ chicken wrap instead.
Fairly average I have to say. Not the best start to the culinary adventure but at least things can only look up from here.
On Tuesday I went to the Castle Museam in the morning and had lunch at a cafe called Cafe Rouge.
Started with a rump steak baguette with french mustard. Very tasty!
Followed by a very nice creme brulee. Definetely enjoyed this meal and the staff were friendly. Very friendly! To the extent that one of the waitress actually walked a poor old lady to the train station who had wandered into the cafe after getting lost and wandering round in circles for ages. Gotta give a shout out for that.
I then went to Chocolate: Yorks Sweet story. That was an excellent new tour showing the origins of chocolate, its influences on York, the big chocolate companies that had HQs there like Nestle, Rowntree, Craven and we got to watch a chocalatier make some truffles powdered with edible gold dust, that we got to eat. No Pics of that sadly. Did some souvenier shopping, spent a while looking round the castle gardens and then went back to the hotel to change for dinner. Ate that night at the Dean Court Hotel resteraunt. Very posh place!
Started off with a complimentary soup course. Tasty and free. Gotta love that.
Starter was Roast Scottish King Scallops with apple and celery risotto, black pudding crisp and chive oil. My first time ever having scallops. Really really enjoyed this. Will definetely be having scallops again in the future.
Main course was Breast of Wild Duck with duck leg faggot, smoked potatoes, roast beetroot and a braised chicory salad. This was also excellent. Never had duck done in this style before. The meat is perhaps a little more fatty than I like, but all in all it was an excellent dinner.
Had a few cocktails at Bora Bora before calling it a night. Love the way this photo turned out. The colours are great
On Wednesday I did the Yorvik Viking Centre, took a trip on the York tour boat and then visited Dick Turpins grave.
Ok not a picture of food, but how awesome is that? Never got around to seeing this last year, so glad I got the opportunity to do it this time. That night I decided to dine in my own hotels resteraunt.
Started with duck liver and whisky parfait with toasted grannery bread and a side salad. Really loved the parfait. Had a good strong flavour and there was a decent supply of bread to put it on too.
Main was a sirloin steak with a wensleydale and ale rarebit, mash and a wild mushroom and red wine jus. Gorgeous! I totally demolished this.
Finished off with baileys and cream filled profiteroles, topped with a caramel sauce. Very nice way to round off the meal.
On Thursday I went to the National Railway Museam. And look what they had on display there...
Nuff said? Ended up spending ages going round the entire museam, so didnt get much else done before time for dinner. This time went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen.
Had a trio of sliders, along with a thick banana milkshake and a large portion of skinny fries.
This is what the sliders are in case your curious
On Friday I went to the Yorkshire Museam, followed by York Minster. Was lucky enough to catch the start of a guided tour at the minster, so that added a lot more infomation to what I was seeing.
Bought myself a roll from this place for lunch and ate it on a bench in the sunshine. No picture of the roll, but it was delicious slices of roast turkey, topped with stuffing and cranberry. Fantastic quality and a generous amount of meat.
[
Heres a picture of there meats to make up for the lack of a pic of my roll
After that I popped into the Evil Eye lounge based on recommendations from people here for a quick drink.
Just had the one drink, an amaretto and cherry. Didnt really fancy their food menu though, so decided to go to Bettys tea room for my lunch. Busy as always, I had to queue for over 15 minutes just to get a table.
Doesnt look like a lot I grant you. Consists of 4 little sandwhiches (ham, chicken, egg mayo and salmon), a fruit scone with clotted cream and raspberry jam, 3 fancy little cakes (custard tart with fresh raspberries, chocolate coffee cake with a chocolate covered coffee bean on top and a sponge finger with an iceing shell), a pot of house blend tea and a glass of premier rose champagne. Came to a whopping £25. Still it filled me up quite nicely and I suppose your paying for the experience as much as anything else. Later that evening I went to Harkers for dinner, another pub, but one with a better reputation.
Started with a black pudding potato cake with a zesty side salad and horseradish cream. This was sensational! Loved the mix of flavours.
Main was the haddock fish and chips, which apparantly there quite well known for. I can honestly say the reputation is well deserved. Struggled to finish this off, so didnt bother with any pudding.
On Saturday I walked around the city walls, which took about 2 hours to do. The walking wasnt the hardest part mind you. A lot of the times there was no barrier on the inner part of the pathway running along the wall, and I was slightly paranoid about falling. After surviving that I went up on the York Wheel, a new attraction along the same lines as the Millenium Eye in London, although not as tall. At one point they stopped it to let more people on and my capsule was at the very top at the time. I was never scared when it was in motion, but sitting there suspended for a couple of minutes at the highest point definetely had me chewing my nails a bit. Still it was an excellent view! Again had a quick lunch at the Hogroast place. This time went with roast beef and english mustard. Lush! That night I craved nachos again so went to Oscars bistro.
The portion was so large that this was literally all I had, and I still only managed to eat about 90% of it. The sour cream you can just see poking out, but the salsa is hidden from view at the back. In hindsight I wish I had saved room to try one of their amazing looking burgers, but I had no complaints.
On Sunday I went up Cliffords Tower, took another tour round the viking centre, went to the City Art Gallery and did a trip on the sightseeing tour bus, which was the one with the live tour guide on. I finished off by having a slice of chocolate orange cake at the York Cocoa House (no pic sorry) and then back to the hotel to start thinking about packing my case. To save time I again ate at the hotel resteraunt.
Starter this time was the wild mushroom risotto with trufle oil and parmasan crisp. Enjoyed this.
Main was an open lasange with roasted peppers and courgettes. While it was technically fine, I found I didnt enjoy this all that much. The veg was cut a little too thickly for my taste. Could have used some meat too... Oh well.
Monday dawned and it was time to go back home. Got some free food as well as drink this time on the train. Nothing too overwhelming mind you.
Just a bacon roll, some orange juice and a couple of rounds of tea/coffee.
This concludes my holiday. I had a really fantastic time. I would go again, but perhaps not for a few years. Time to go see somewhere else in the world next time I think.
Left home on Monday 7th. Being a bank holiday there was no free food to be had on the train, even for us 1st class travellers, so nothing to show from that. I arrived in early afternoon and checked in. I then partook in a long exploration walk around York for what must have been a good 3 hours or so. Ended up going into the first place that came to hand for food, which turned out to be a pub called Thomas's of York. I ordered the BBQ Chicken nachos to be followed by a rump steak baguette and chips, only to be told they were out of nachos. And Baguettes. Settled for a BBQ chicken wrap instead.
Fairly average I have to say. Not the best start to the culinary adventure but at least things can only look up from here.
On Tuesday I went to the Castle Museam in the morning and had lunch at a cafe called Cafe Rouge.
Started with a rump steak baguette with french mustard. Very tasty!
Followed by a very nice creme brulee. Definetely enjoyed this meal and the staff were friendly. Very friendly! To the extent that one of the waitress actually walked a poor old lady to the train station who had wandered into the cafe after getting lost and wandering round in circles for ages. Gotta give a shout out for that.
I then went to Chocolate: Yorks Sweet story. That was an excellent new tour showing the origins of chocolate, its influences on York, the big chocolate companies that had HQs there like Nestle, Rowntree, Craven and we got to watch a chocalatier make some truffles powdered with edible gold dust, that we got to eat. No Pics of that sadly. Did some souvenier shopping, spent a while looking round the castle gardens and then went back to the hotel to change for dinner. Ate that night at the Dean Court Hotel resteraunt. Very posh place!
Started off with a complimentary soup course. Tasty and free. Gotta love that.
Starter was Roast Scottish King Scallops with apple and celery risotto, black pudding crisp and chive oil. My first time ever having scallops. Really really enjoyed this. Will definetely be having scallops again in the future.
Main course was Breast of Wild Duck with duck leg faggot, smoked potatoes, roast beetroot and a braised chicory salad. This was also excellent. Never had duck done in this style before. The meat is perhaps a little more fatty than I like, but all in all it was an excellent dinner.
Had a few cocktails at Bora Bora before calling it a night. Love the way this photo turned out. The colours are great
On Wednesday I did the Yorvik Viking Centre, took a trip on the York tour boat and then visited Dick Turpins grave.
Ok not a picture of food, but how awesome is that? Never got around to seeing this last year, so glad I got the opportunity to do it this time. That night I decided to dine in my own hotels resteraunt.
Started with duck liver and whisky parfait with toasted grannery bread and a side salad. Really loved the parfait. Had a good strong flavour and there was a decent supply of bread to put it on too.
Main was a sirloin steak with a wensleydale and ale rarebit, mash and a wild mushroom and red wine jus. Gorgeous! I totally demolished this.
Finished off with baileys and cream filled profiteroles, topped with a caramel sauce. Very nice way to round off the meal.
On Thursday I went to the National Railway Museam. And look what they had on display there...
Nuff said?
Ended up spending ages going round the entire museam, so didnt get much else done before time for dinner. This time went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen.Had a trio of sliders, along with a thick banana milkshake and a large portion of skinny fries.
This is what the sliders are in case your curious
On Friday I went to the Yorkshire Museam, followed by York Minster. Was lucky enough to catch the start of a guided tour at the minster, so that added a lot more infomation to what I was seeing.
Bought myself a roll from this place for lunch and ate it on a bench in the sunshine. No picture of the roll, but it was delicious slices of roast turkey, topped with stuffing and cranberry. Fantastic quality and a generous amount of meat.
[
Heres a picture of there meats to make up for the lack of a pic of my roll
After that I popped into the Evil Eye lounge based on recommendations from people here for a quick drink.
Just had the one drink, an amaretto and cherry. Didnt really fancy their food menu though, so decided to go to Bettys tea room for my lunch. Busy as always, I had to queue for over 15 minutes just to get a table.
Doesnt look like a lot I grant you. Consists of 4 little sandwhiches (ham, chicken, egg mayo and salmon), a fruit scone with clotted cream and raspberry jam, 3 fancy little cakes (custard tart with fresh raspberries, chocolate coffee cake with a chocolate covered coffee bean on top and a sponge finger with an iceing shell), a pot of house blend tea and a glass of premier rose champagne. Came to a whopping £25. Still it filled me up quite nicely and I suppose your paying for the experience as much as anything else. Later that evening I went to Harkers for dinner, another pub, but one with a better reputation.
Started with a black pudding potato cake with a zesty side salad and horseradish cream. This was sensational! Loved the mix of flavours.
Main was the haddock fish and chips, which apparantly there quite well known for. I can honestly say the reputation is well deserved. Struggled to finish this off, so didnt bother with any pudding.
On Saturday I walked around the city walls, which took about 2 hours to do. The walking wasnt the hardest part mind you. A lot of the times there was no barrier on the inner part of the pathway running along the wall, and I was slightly paranoid about falling. After surviving that I went up on the York Wheel, a new attraction along the same lines as the Millenium Eye in London, although not as tall. At one point they stopped it to let more people on and my capsule was at the very top at the time. I was never scared when it was in motion, but sitting there suspended for a couple of minutes at the highest point definetely had me chewing my nails a bit. Still it was an excellent view! Again had a quick lunch at the Hogroast place. This time went with roast beef and english mustard. Lush! That night I craved nachos again so went to Oscars bistro.
The portion was so large that this was literally all I had, and I still only managed to eat about 90% of it. The sour cream you can just see poking out, but the salsa is hidden from view at the back. In hindsight I wish I had saved room to try one of their amazing looking burgers, but I had no complaints.
On Sunday I went up Cliffords Tower, took another tour round the viking centre, went to the City Art Gallery and did a trip on the sightseeing tour bus, which was the one with the live tour guide on. I finished off by having a slice of chocolate orange cake at the York Cocoa House (no pic sorry) and then back to the hotel to start thinking about packing my case. To save time I again ate at the hotel resteraunt.
Starter this time was the wild mushroom risotto with trufle oil and parmasan crisp. Enjoyed this.
Main was an open lasange with roasted peppers and courgettes. While it was technically fine, I found I didnt enjoy this all that much. The veg was cut a little too thickly for my taste. Could have used some meat too... Oh well.
Monday dawned and it was time to go back home. Got some free food as well as drink this time on the train. Nothing too overwhelming mind you.
Just a bacon roll, some orange juice and a couple of rounds of tea/coffee.
This concludes my holiday. I had a really fantastic time. I would go again, but perhaps not for a few years. Time to go see somewhere else in the world next time I think.
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