Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Yorkshire is known for hearty food, though bacon-based breakfasts and lunches of pork pies do tend to pale fairly quickly. Increasingly, the larger towns and cities, particularly Leeds, have developed a foodie scene of sorts. Indian restaurants (often called curry houses) can be very good in northern cities. Out in the countryside, pubs are your best bet for dining. Many serve excellent home-cooked food and locally reared meat (especially lamb) and vegetables. Roast beef dinners generally come with Yorkshire pudding, the tasty, puffy, oven-baked dish made from egg batter known as a popover in the United States. It's generally served with lots of gravy. Be sure to sample local cheeses, especially Wensleydale, which has a delicate flavor and honey aftertaste.
Perfectly positioned at the bottom of the village, this friendly retreat dating back to 1828 looks out from atop a seawall to dramatic views of the North Sea (if you can get a coveted window table), with a warming open fire in winter and a sunny terrace in summer. The reasonably priced menu leans towards well-prepared traditional pub grub, including fish-and-chips or shellfish like Whitby scampi or crab and lemon salad. There are three B&B rooms upstairs.
Originally a watering hole for foundry workers, this lovely old inn is now a welcoming gastropub, with industrial-chic exposed brick, wooden beams, flagstone floors, and open fireplaces. The menu changes daily, and the unfussy, reliably good dishes—noted for their use of fresh, local ingredients—might include beer-battered haddock with triple-cooked fries or pan-roasted sea trout with spring onion potatoes and tender-stem broccoli in a butter sauce. In summer, you can sit in a sunny courtyard with a glass from the varied wine list or a pint of local ale.
This 16th-century building with two magnificent stone fireplaces is now a welcoming pub, and the friendly and efficient service gets high marks. The menu is full of hearty old favorites, with mains like steak and ale pie or grilled chicken breast with bacon, melted cheese, and barbecue sauce, plus an assortment of salads, burgers, and homemade kebabs. Craft beers (called "real ales" in Britain) are a specialty, and there are two B&B rooms upstairs if you wish to stay the night.
On the outskirts of town, in a Victorian textile mill that's been transformed into a live-and-work complex for artists, this family-friendly, café-cum-coffee shop has been winning fans with all-day healthy breakfast and brunch dishes like a veggie version of a Full English (smashed avocado, Halloumi, egg, beans, tomatoes, and toast) as well as breads, cakes, and pastries baked fresh on-site. When you've finished eating, check out the exhibitions in the complex's 3,500-square-foot art gallery. Buses 16 and 508 can get you here from the center.
On the first floor of a shopping center, in what is known as Trinity Kitchen, you'll find a changing (bimonthly) lineup of six pop-up restaurants featuring the offerings of top food vans from around the country installed next to permanent options serving burgers, gluten-free-pho, Indian, Mexican, gyros, or pizza. Recent temporary vendors have included Yoi Fried Chicken (a spicy pan-Asian take on chicken bao); Hong Bao Asian Street Food (vegetable tempura, pork skewers, curry dishes); Yard Dog (hot dogs and mac-and-cheese); and Burgerati (smash burgers).
Claiming to date from 1715, this narrow, atmospheric bar in a quiet alley off bustling Briggate retains 19th- and 20th-century features, like beveled mirrors, copper-topped tables, Art Nouveau stained glass, and mosaic tiles. It serves superior pub food with an emphasis on the local and seasonal, like a grilled eggplant tabbouleh or homemade beef-and-ale pie. Beers from local microbreweries are featured, and the prices are friendly. There's also a pre-theater fixed price (£25) menu.
