A review of The Pipe and Glass

The Pipe and Glass East Yorkshire
Feb 2010

The Pipe and Glass is the best restaurant in East Yorkshire. Hmmm. On the face of it you wouldn’t think of this as a particularly amazing achievement, especially if like me you’d sampled the pies at Craven Park, home to Hull Kingston Rovers. But in fact this little corner of Yorkshire is really turning into something special.

Just spend an hour browsing the marketplace in Beverley, you’ll see top class butchers, quality bread makers, exceptional coffee and pastries, as well as really good local fruit and veg, although to my disappointment I could not find a string vest anywhere (but this is a long and difficult story I’ll not bore you with right now). Also in central Beverley you’ll find Whites, a patisserie by day and high end restaurant by night run by John Robinson. Whites has just been awarded a Bib Gourmand - the stepping stone to Michelin star fame. Opened only a couple of years ago I enjoyed a family meal there last year. The food was first class although the service was a bit tentative and nervous although I have no doubt that the Bib will have endowed them all with a well deserved sense of confidence.

While banging on about Michelin Stars I come to the best restaurant in East Yorkshire, the Pipe and Glass in Dalton. I went there for a Sunday lunchtime pint when it was still a pub when I first started courting my Mrs some ten or so years ago. Back then it was a bit of a run down country pub doing some food but it was only going down hill. My in-laws used to go there for their anniversary so it was once clearly of a decent standard, but the years weren’t kind and like so many country pubs it fell by the wayside.

That’s all in the past, and now it’s headed by James and Kate Mackenzie who have done such a good job that they’ve recently been awarded a Michelin Star. And rightly so, the food has a real local flavour, my companions and I devoured pigeon, venison suet puddings, a Barnsley chop and rabbit rissoles. The guy knows how to cook, he clearly loves this part of the world and makes its produce work. The puddings too were a treat, we had a lemon and rosemary possett, made with an old Yorkshire recipe, a pear tart, a selection of local ice creams and sorbets, apples done three ways and the mother-in law tucked into a chocolate selection, five different expressions of chocolate including a crème brulee, a brownie and some kind of chocolate orange pyramid.

If I was to pick fault I thought that the wine list, in trying to make itself accessible became a bit impenetrable, it had sections like ‘light and fruity’ and ‘wines to match with food’ and really what we want are chapters called ‘Bordeaux under £25’ and ‘cheap and cheerful but we won’t look down on you’. The upside was that they still see this as a pub and taking your pint to the table was perfectly acceptable (a good job too as they did four top quality real ales).

As for the price, there were five mains, five puddings, two and a half pints, a bottle of pinot noir and five glasses of Prosecco, and the lot came to about £170.

So if you’re looking for well priced, high class food in relaxed, comfortable surroundings you really should take a long look at the Pipe and Glass, yes it’s a long way away from everywhere (it helps if you have a really well dressed brother-in-law to agree to drive - thanks Nathan), but I bet you there will be a number of these really good local restaurants springing up across the country. If you can’t find yours the Pipe and Glass does rooms and East Yorkshire is gastronomically going places. Up the Rovers!

www.pipeandglass.co.uk/home.php