One hundred years ago, the first Michelin guide to Great Britain encouraged motorists to burn rubber by beating a path to recommended hotels. In 2011, just 20 of Michelin's early tips remain in its slender red volume. One robust survivor is the Black Swan in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. This well-heeled market town still attracts latter-day Mr Toads who relish a burn-up on the county's unpopulated roads. On Sundays, the market place is chock-a-block with gleaming motorcycles tended by owners in garish leathers. Poop poop!
Just as it did a century ago, the Black Swan caters to visitors drawn to Helmsley by the grouse moors to the north and gorgeous Ryedale to the east. The hotel is not content to rest on its laurels. Behind the politely restrained façade ("a nice Georgian job," according to Pevsner), the hotel has refurbished its bar, producing a cross between a country-house lounge and a Thirties cocktail joint. My wife was offered a choice of three gins for her G&T, but the flat-screen TV silently mouthing Sky News is a mistake. A similar effort is apparent in the kitchen, where an ambitious Australian chef called Paul Peters counters competition from the two-restaurant empire of Andrew Pern in the nearby village of Harome.
It proved a bit tricky to negotiate the menu. From the £33 table d'hôte for three courses, I was tempted by pressed pork belly followed by slow-braised lamb shoulder, but this would have been too unremittingly carnivorous. From the à la carte, which involved a complicated series of supplements, I was lured by scallops (+ £5), halibut (+ £7) and beef fillet (+ £9). With the prospective bill heading north of £40, my value-for-money calculation (a Yorkshire speciality) suggested that the six-course Signature Menu for £50, which included scallops, halibut and beef fillet, might be the best deal.
Read more at http://www.independent.co.uk
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