Back in 2019, we had an incredible meal at a little restaurant in the centre of York called Le Cochon Aveugle, run by Victoria and Josh Overington
As with many restaurant owners, Covid ushered in big changes, and when they found an old pub for sale in the pretty village of Hovingham, about 40 minutes outside York, they jumped at the chance, and sold up everything to make the move.
They opened Mýse in 2023, a small restaurant with six rooms, and won a Michelin star a year later. Having been such fans of Le Cochon, we’ve been desperate to get up to Mýse since it opened and we finally made the long drive up the A1 from London this October, for dinner and an overnight stay.
Hovingham is a tiny little village with not much more than a village shop, an old pub and hotel (The Worsley Arms), a bakery, and now Mýse. The surrounding countryside is a stunner – we arrived about 4pm and took a two-hour walk through the woods and farmland just as the sun was going down in a spectacular pink sunset. There were cows (lots of them), apple and quince trees (we may have eaten a few), and beautiful autumnal trees, dappled every shade of brown and red going. If you’re heading up there and fancy doing the same, look for the “Hovingham and Howardian Hills Circular” on All Trails.
Back at Mýse as it was getting dark, we just had time for a quick cuppa before heading down for a pre-dinner drink. There are only around 16 covers in the dining room and everyone sits at the same time at 7pm, but there are lots of nooks around the bar area where you can settle in for a drink first. We got right up by the fire for a glass of Langham English fizz (one of our favourites) and a fig leaf Old Fashioned. With your drinks come the first couple of snacks of the evening – a crisp summer field cheese biscuit with pontack ketchup, and slithers of house-made pork shoulder and whisky sausage.
Dinner is a tasting menu format at £165 per person and begins proper with a few more snacks: a charcoal pie with roe deer tartare and smoked Exmoor caviar; a crispy pancake filled with langoustine and herring roe; and braised ox cheek stuffed into what’s essentially a mini Yorkshire pudding, topped with fermented cucumber. A big shout out for the bread too, which is baked in-house and comes with not only butter but a bowl of chicken drippings. We repeat, chicken drippings: an actual bowl of delish fatty chicken gravy for dunking that bread into.
Next was a dish we remembered loving at Le Cochon – a hand dived Orkney scallop baked in its own shell and surrounded by a pool of sea urchin butter. A perfect dish. Next, fermented pumpkin seed ice cream came with a velvety squash soup; and a savoury custard was topped with fresh white crab and preserved wild mushrooms.
The main event is duck served three ways: a brilliant duck bone broth; a sourdough crumped stuffed with duck liver and ham; and then a big pink slice of duck breast with crisp roasted skin, served with heritage beetroot, wood sorrel and walnut wine (which is made in-house).
Desserts included a very clever Jerusalem artichoke ice cream with birch sap syrup, which was served with the crisp roasted artichoke skin that you use for scooping up the ice cream. A very clever and tasty dessert. And finally, local honey ice cream with sea buckthorn caramel; aged beef fat fudge with Wiltshire truffle and a grating of smoked ox heart; and flamed quince cake with malted barley ice cream.
Aside from not having far to go to bed after a big dinner, the best part about staying over at a restaurant is having breakfast the next day. Mýse eschews the usual full English style options in favour of a spread that includes homemade granola with Estate Dairy yoghurt; more of that sourdough bread with Ampersand butter; local Trealy farm pancetta; Lincolnshire Poacher cheese; and hard boiled eggs. There’s also three little pots of smoked salmon rillettes, smoked goat cheese, and chicken liver parfait – all tasty but we have to say we weren’t quite ready for things this rich early in the morning! We finished up with an excellent little brown butter cake however, together with another pot of the great Chemex filter coffee.
We’re so happy to have finally got up to Mýse. It’s a fabulous, creative menu full of interesting and, crucially, flavour-packed dishes. It’s well worth the trip up north, especially if you stayed a few days to take in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside too.
Main Street, Hovingham, York YO62 4LF
restaurantmyse.co.uk
