Home on the Grange

As per my last post, my eating habits appear to have devolved recently. What better way to get those foodie juices flowing this weekend than to hit up the vibrant York restaurant scene?
Unfortunately, our beloved J Baker's was fully booked on Saturday night. Well, I say unfortunate; it is always gratifying to know that plenty of people share your good opinion of a place, I just wish they'd leave me a table. Anyway, we ended up at The Grange Hotel instead which has the advantage of being a mere five minute totter down the road from our flat.

Last time we ate here, they obviously had a chef with some high falutin' ideas - although I can't remember the details I do recall a tasting menu and a parade of very small amounts of food on very large plates. They have reverted back now to a more bistro like approach which is rather less exciting for a dinky food enthusiast like myself, but probably a safer bet for a kitchen that, on Saturday at least, didn't always get the balance of flavours bang on. For example, the vanilla cider shot that accompanied a mini pork pie and pickled onion starter was rather heavy handed vanilla-wise which left it far too cloying to complement its platefellows; a shame, because it was easily the most exciting sounding dish on the menu.

Mini pork pie with cider shot and pickled onions (from a very weird angle....)

There were some nice moments though. The stand out dish for me was a chargrilled rump of lamb with ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, and basil jus The lamb was as pink as a blushing bride and buttery soft, a truly delicious piece of meat that stood up surprisingly well to the bolshy Mediterranean flavours. It came with crispy gnocchi - which I take to have been pan fried in the manner of Nigella's rapid roastini, and which will be sure to make an appearance on our home menu before too long.

Chargrilled lamb Mediterranean style

Two courses each plus a shared pud, a bottle of wine and a double G&T apiece and we paid just over £50 a head which is not bad at all. And it certainly got me more in the mood for (proper) food, as I actually managed to serve up a home-cooked meal on Sunday (and we'll gloss over the fact that three out of the four constituents were home cooked a couple of months ago and retrieved from the freezer). Hey, baby steps...

The Grange Hotel
1 Clifton
York
YO30 6AA

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