The Bottom Line
It takes a little effort to find The Pipe and Glass Inn. Good news that it's really worth the journey. Fresh, imaginative, seasonal food for a fair price in a country pub with bags of charm and style. And a new Michelin star in 2010.Essentials
- Address:West End, South Dalton,Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 7PN
- Telephone: +44 (0)1430 810246
- Reservations?: Recommended. Bookings by telephone only
- Price Range: Moderate for its class. At least £20 for two courses
- Website
- Opening Hours: Food noon to 2 and 6:30 to 9:30p.m. Tuesday through Friday; noon to 11p.m. Saturday, noon to 4p.m. Sunday. Bar noon to 3p.m. and 6 to 11p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 11p.m. Saturday, to 10:30p.m. Sunday. Closed on Monday
A Destination Restaurant
The Pipe & Glass Inn, in the hamlet of South Dalton near Beverley, is not a place you'd stumble on during a drive in the country (unless you're exceptionally lucky). About an hour's drive from York, half an hour from Hull, the pub restaurant is a destination in its own right.Recently awarded the Bib Gourmand by Michelin (for good food at moderate prices), The Pipe & Glass Inn has since 2006, been collecting awards and listings in all the best guidebooks right and left.
Dr. Who's Tardis
Fans of Dr. Who know that his Tardis is an old fashioned phone box on the outside, a huge time ship on the inside. The Pipe&Glass is a bit like that. Dating from the 15th century, with 17th century additions, the pub occupies the site of an estate gatehouse. From the outside, it looks like a small, white country pub.But inside, beyond the pub itself, the restaurant unfolds through room after room that Chef-Proprietor James Mackenzie and his wife Kate have decorated in an airy, rustic-modern style. Decorative vignettes - fresh flowers in antique jugs, tin sculptures of roosters, blue and white china - are tucked in corners and over mantlepieces. It all culminates in a sunny conservatory overlooking the countryside and outdoor tables.
And the Food
The restaurant uses locally sourced produce as well as top quality foods from wherever they are found. The seasonal menu emphasizes hearty, flavor packed interpretations of regional and modern British food.Choices - that change monthly - might include starters of a little jar of spiced potted Gloucester old spot pork, sticky apples and crackling salad or hare and juniper pasty, pickled wild mushroom and air dried ham salad, ale and fig chutney. Mains in May included beef with Yorkshire pudding and ale gravy; truffled field mushroom and spinach tart with cheddar rarebit, poached egg and hazelnut pesto, or grilled sirloin steak with salt beef (corned beef) hash cake, watercress and shallot salad, grain mustard sauce.
I chose an incredibly "more-ish" smoked haddock risotto from the specials menu on a chalk board in the pub. My only complaint was the portion was so generous and the dish so delicious, it was impossible not to over eat. Definitely mark your map for this one.
