” It was the wife’s birthday and I was a bit short of ideas. Not least because I currently have no kitchen as such but a brand spanking new Aga that I’ve never used before where a kitchen will one day be. Getting a takeaway seemed a bit cheap but trying to prepare any proper meals at the moment is nigh-on impossible. So I had a word with Chris who had mentioned plans to trial a cook-at-home scheme and he gave me an option. I collected the food from the restaurant and was handed a series of vacuum-packed bags with labels on telling me a) what they were and b) what to do with them. Chris gave me a few pointers and that was that.
The meal that was created was:
Rump pave steak with a brandy and white truffle sauce
Potato gratins
Maple-glazed carrots, parsnips and yellow carrots
Purple-sprouting broccoli
Sun-dried tomato and cress granish
Sounds a bit impressive and complicated, doesn’t it? Well…
Ease of preparation
Bear in mind I was making this on a brand new Aga which I haven’t used before (it only went on this week) and isn’t as easy to control the temperature on i.e. couldn’t get it to the recommended temperatures on the labels. It was a doddle. The hardest thing was getting the gratin out of the packet! All I did was shove the veg in one roasting tray, the gratins in another and stick them in the oven (which idles at 240). I gave them about 15m and they were fine (I could have given them a little longer in fairness). Once they went in, I heated the pan, completely forgot to dry the steaks first and shoved them in, blood and all, and gave them about 90s each side. Took the pan off the heat and left it with a lid on. Boiled salted water in another pan, stuck the broccoli in for 30s, drained and left in the pan off the heat with a lid on. Gently warmed the sauce and served.
Portion size
Plenty for two. With a little additional meat, it could easily stretch it to 4 and give a fancy restaurant-look presentation.
Cost
I believe the idea is to charge about £15 for a two-person main course (£20 for 2 courses), which is I suppose about the price of a main for one in a restaurant. Bear in mind what you get for similar dine for £10 offers from well-known supermarkets and the quality. This is restaurant-quality fresh food at not much more than fairly ropey processed food. No contest.
Results
Awesome. Even with my throw-it-on presentation, it went down a storm. I didn’t use too much of the sauce, so I put the rest in a tub and stuck it in the fridge and will use at a later date. It truly was a restaurant meal in our own home with the added bonus of not having to arrange baby-sitters, taxis and all the other grief that being a parent entails when you want something fancy to eat. Two days later and we were both still savouring the experience. Suffice it to say, brownie points were well and truly won.
Conclusion
I understand they plan to include presentation boxes with a guide on how to get that restaurant-look on your plate, offer various menu options and possibly even some sort of loyalty scheme. All in all, this idea is gold-dust and, if there is any justice in the world, cannot possibly fail. Collection only at the moment, but I quite liked the idea of popping in to the restaurant to pick up the supplies. It reminded me of the episode of Fawlty Towers when he has to go and get the duck a l’orange and ends up giving the car one hell of a thrashing…
Keep your eyes peeled for the launch of this service and try it for yourself. Because believe me, like me, you’ll be trying it more than once…”
Whether you’re just dropping in for a bowl of soup – a warming, gently fiery Indian spiced tomato and ginger, say – or a 21-day aged steak with chips and a Yorkshire blue sauce, expect cooking shot through with a quiet, self-confident flair
The GuardianWe enjoyed a coffee and cake at the coffee shop in the Merchants House. Table service and friendly staff.
Imaginative menu, very reasonable price, try the mushrooms with brie, and of course, the original dandilion and burdock
BristolA friend and I were staying overnight and wanted to go somewhere unfussy but good quality without opting for a chain restaurant. Luckily we booked because on arrival for our table at 8.30pm we realised the restaurant was totally booked up on a Monday night!
The staff couldn’t have been more helpful, smiley, friendly, knew the menu, busy but attentive – bang on.
My friend chose the hot smoked salmon starter and duck main, both of which she said were perfectly executed – I tasted the starter and it was a well balanced dish with beetroot and a herby spread for the croutons. I had the steak pave which was very tasty and did exactly what you’d expect.
For dessert we shared the house favourite, the name of which escapes me but it was meringuey, gingery and rhubarby and had almond brittle too. personally we’d have had less of the brittle (or had it smashed into small nuggets) and more of the amazing rhubarb compote, but it was really delicious and I rarely have pudding!
Definitely recommended.
Cafe is part of the restaurant in Gillygate and is modern clean and well presented.
Menu is good choice and reasonable, we had a scone however the compote was extremely runny and difficult to get on scone but was very tasty.
Worth visiting after a walk around the gallery.
Haywards Heath, United KingdomWent for dinner and it was fully booked. The waitres who saw us told us to come back half hour later. She was really nice to fit us in. We had a gorgeus meat dish and excellent wine. The waitres was polite and kind. Bear in mind it’s a bistro. Menu and wine list are not long. Food made with fresh ingredients and carefully prepared takes time and is not the cheapest you can get. Excellent price – quality relation. Would go again and recommend to friends.
Maria C Sao PauloWent into the York Art Gallery to escape the rain and found a decent cup of coffee at a reasonable price.
Paul B Nottingham, United KingdomFrom the outside this looks like a tearoom, but don’t be put off. Book a table for an evening meal and enjoy a great, modern-style bistro menu. The food was excellent with a reasonably priced wine list and friendly staff. It will be on our list of places to go back to next time we visit York. Highly recommended.
Peterborough, United KingdomWhat an amazing little place. We visited here for lunch last week during our trip to York. A great value lunch at £12.50 for 2 courses. The gin cocktail was fantastic too. I had the Pate starter and the meatloaf burger, both of which were fantastic. The burger was melt in the mouth with homemade chips, absolutely fantastic food.
Macclesfield, England