I recently decided that there's definitely a market for rating Sunday Lunches in my area, yes we've got Trip Advisor, the semi reliable source for restaurant reviews but I think there's so much more to reviewing a Sunday Lunch than just a couple of lines and an overall mark out of 5, so treat this as the first of many reviews.
Finding the best Sunday lunch in Yorkshire will be a difficult job, I would imagine, but by looking at a number of aspects of each venue I hope to give you a properly rounded view of where's best for Sunday Lunch near you. When reviewing, I will be looking at 5 aspects:
quality and choice of meat (obviously),
quality and choice of veg,
quality of Yorkshire pudding,
eating environment and
value for money.
Firstly, I'll be doing a review of
Bishop's Bar and Bistro in Howden. I will start by saying that this meal was complimentary because I won it but there were no obligations whatsoever for me to review it, in fact I daresay that unless the owners read this review, they'll not know I even have a blog to share my view on.
Eating Environment
Space isn't a luxury enjoyed by Bishop's Bar and Bistro, I must admit, although the atmosphere and decor is lovely. As you can see on the photo, they have beautiful copper beer pumps mounted on a solid wood bar; I think they've gone for a rustic yet modern kind of look which I do think they've achieved for the most part. In the bar area they have some sofas and other comfy seating which can be used while you wait for your table and it does section off the main eating restaurant from the customers just in for a few drinks which is always a good idea I find, if possible.
The restaurant area has wooden bench seating which runs across the back of the room which then has space for several tables to be positioned in whichever way suits the bistro at that particular time and they then have 4/5 other separate tables and chairs at the other side of the room. Quite rightly so, they have utilised every bit of space available but at peak times when the room is full it does seem very, very busy and ends up being quite a close eating experience with other guests. Not a huge issue for us as we were on a table for 2 in a bit of an alcove but if you don't like being close to other diners I would suggest you make the team aware so they can try and seat you accordingly.
Quality and choice of meat
As you can see on the menu above, they have 7 choices of main course: roast beef, roast lamb, roast belly pork, poached chicken, poached haddock, steak and ale pie and leek and potato pie (vegetarian option) which, for me, is an amazing choice for any pub or restaurant for Sunday Lunch and to have the option of lamb is also quite a luxury compared to some places so in terms of choices there's definitely plenty of them! You can also choose between 3 different sizes of lunch, small £8.50 (one meat), medium £10.50 (two meats) or large £11.50 (to be honest, I'm not sure whether this gave 3 choices of meat or just more of two meats).
We both went for a medium with beef and belly pork.
Unfortunately, you can't actually see the beef as it's hidden under the slab of belly pork but it was definitely there. The belly pork itself was beautiful, obviously it is a fatty meat so please be aware of this before you order but the fat makes the meat beautifully tender and flavoursome. The crackling on top wasn't the best I've tasted but I ate it nevertheless because for me, there's something strangely appealing about a layer of cooked fat on top of pork.
I was slightly disappointed with the beef, but only because it was sliced so thinly, thin slices will suit some and not others though! I just prefer a thicker cut. It was still lean and tasty though so I can't fault it on that basis.
Yorkshire Pudding
The Yorkshire definitely looked and tasted homemade which ticks a box straight away and it had properly risen to pretty impressive heights. Was it the best I've ever tasted, no, purely because maybe the mixture was a little bit thick as it was quite a stodgy pudding, less crispy and more stodgy but it was also by no means a bad Yorkshire!
Choice and Quality of Veg
In my opinion, the veg really can make or break a Sunday lunch and luckily, Bishop's Bar and Bistro delivered on that side of things aswell...
In separate serving bowls, we had carrots, brocolli, leeks in a creamy sauce then cauliflower cheese and I think they were honey roasted parsnips and carrots. All veg was cooked to perfection and I love the fact that they offer leeks in the creamy sauce - I'm not 100% sure what the creamy sauce was but it was gorgeous! The cauli cheese was also really tasty and had obviously been finished off under the grill or something to give that browning on the cheese. We could have had more veg, if we'd wanted but it was more than enough for us two to share!
Value for Money
I couldn't do a review of Sunday Lunches up north and not make a comment about value for money because it is something that most of us look at regardless of what we're buying. As I mentioned earlier, they do have 3 different prices for Sunday Lunch at Bishop's Bar and Bistro; between £8.50 and £11.50. I realise that we didn't actually pay for ours as it was a competition prize but if we had, it would have been £10.50 each which I think is more than reasonable considering the quality and amount of food we received! It's definitely not the cheapest Sunday lunch you'll find but as we all know, it's often a case of 'you get what you pay for'
Would I recommend Bishop's Bar & Bistro? Absolutely, just make sure you book in as they do seem to get very busy and make sure you give any seating requests on booking and I'm sure the team will do their best to accommodate you!
