6 Best Restaurants in Yorkshire, England

Diners at this chef-owned country inn 5 miles north of Skipton in the hidden hamlet of Hetton often make it hard for anyone else to find parking, such is the reputation of this highly regarded, Michelin-starred gastropub set in an early-18th-century building with contemporary decor and views across the Dales. Its three-course fixed-price menus for lunch (£85) and dinner (£95) feature beautifully prepared roast lamb, beef, and seafood dishes. The ancient stone barn conversion across the road has five well-equipped guest rooms. There are also six bedrooms above the restaurant and another four in a more modern building.

With a Michelin-starred chef whose family farm is right down the road, this former drover's inn has a high reputation among foodies that belies its Yorkshire village location. Dishes feature unusual combinations and esoteric ingredients based on what is available from the nearby garden or can be foraged locally—even cocktails include fruits and herbs made into alcohol, with wood sorrel replacing garnishes of lemons and limes. The 12-course dinner tasting menu changes daily but might include mains like barbecued langoustine tails brushed with pickled and salted rhubarb, scallops in a wild garlic and girolle sauce, or lamb sweetbreads, and desserts like crab apple with dark chocolate. Pescatarian and vegan items are also available. There are no à la carte options but there is a smaller lunchtime tasting menu on Saturday. You can stay over in one of the nine comfortable bedrooms, although only single-night bookings are available.

With one seating a night and one fixed-price menu that changes seasonally, dining in this six-table, family-run restaurant is more like eating in someone's home. If you get tired of Whitby's ubiquitous fish-and-chips, Ditto offers fine-dining alternatives like pork belly with potatoes Anna and butternut squash or pan-fried chicken breast and rolled chicken thigh in a truffle cream sauce. Desserts include burnt Basque cheesecake with fresh strawberries. Be sure to book well in advance.

This handsome pub combines a cozy traditional wood-paneled bar with a restaurant in a contemporary glass-and-steel extension that specializes in traditional Yorkshire cooking. Using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, options might include Chicken Supreme with asparagus, peas, and black garlic aioli; Seafood Thermidor with locally caught salmon, cod, and monkfish; or a homemade steak-and-ale pie. There's also a good-value two-course lunchtime and early bird set menu (£16.95).

The Harvey Nichols department store's roaring success is partly due to the lure of this stylish café, a standout for food, city views, and dramatic, high-tech design. The well-crafted Modern British menu changes bimonthly but is sure to have imaginative dishes like pan-fried sea bream with a lemon and mixed seed mousse, potato cake, and marinated zucchini or charred lamb leg with a Greek salad. There's also a separate plant-based menu. Irresistible desserts include cherry and whipped milk chocolate ganache with a mille-feuille, The three-course set menu that includes a Rosé Spritz (£35) is a good deal.

Set in what was once a Victorian shop, this family-run restaurant uses locally sourced produce to create its seasonal, highly imaginative takes on Modern British cuisine. Selections include a girolle tartlet with barbecued sweetcorn and truffle, Yorkshire lamb in a Madeira jus, and confit carrots with sea buckthorn and cashews. Dishes are available as a five-course tasting menu at lunch and dinner, with a vegetarian version available (£96), or a three-course fixed-price dinner menu (£78). A 10-minute walk from Clifford's Tower, Melton's also has an offshoot French-influenced restaurant called The Chopping Block, on nearby Walmsgate and above a traditional bar called the Walmsgate Ale House, which specializes in local cask and keg beers.