Looking to escape the hustle and bustle of London for the weekend? Being just a two hour train journey from Kings Cross, York is the ideal weekend away destination. As well as being full of history, the medieval city of York is also home to some up-and-coming restaurants, including relatively new fine dining restaurant Arras.
Founded by power couple Adam and Lovaine Humphrey, the restaurant first opened its doors all the way over in Sydney back in 2007 before transporting over here in August last year. The restaurant takes inspiration from both British and international cuisine, with a heavy influence on seasonal ingredients. Location-wise it’s within the city walls, just a two minute walk from the city centre. The building itself is a former coach house so it has high ceilings and plenty of natural light, and the decor is luxe with bold art work painted onto the walls.
We opted for the five course lunch menu, which came with the choice of pairing wines for the dishes. The wine list is very extensive at Arras; Lovaine knows a thing or two about wine as she was a part of the wine team at the Fat Duck prior to Arras. The five course meal began with a very pretty amuse bouche of truffled potatoes, fried leeks and vichyssoise.
[easy-image-collage id=116746]Other highlights included the Greek salad with roast salmon, feta mousse, tomato jam, olive caramel and fried red onion and the bavette which was served with grilled pineapple, confit egg yolk, crispy bacon, pickled beetroot, burnt onion and ricotta. And we would definitely recommend saving room for the cheese trolley. Served at your table, founder Adam, who is responsible for sourcing the British cheeses describes each and every one in detail before dishing them up.
Considering the high quality of ingredients and the attention to detail in each dish, the restaurant is very reasonably priced, with the five course menu costing £55 per person and an additional £35pp for the wine pairing. Arras is ideal if you’re looking to have a celebratory meal or fancy treating yourself whilst on your trip out of London.
The Old Coach House, Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PW
arrasrestaurant.co.uk