Dinner At The Strafford Arms At Stainborough Near Barnsley
Published On Sunday 27 Feb 2022 by Sticky Beak
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The Man Bird and I received an invitation to dine at The Strafford Arms in Stainborough near Barnsley, and although it’s just outside our usual 30/35 mile radius we felt that it was worth the trip – thankfully we were proved more than right, which you’ll discover as you read on.
Most of our journey was on the M1 so it took us a lot less time to travel than you’d think, and it was only the last couple of miles that were on smaller roads. When we looked at the time, it had actually taken us a lot less time to travel over the county border to Stainborough than it sometimes has when we’ve visited remote locations in the ‘Shire! There is plenty of parking at The Strafford Arms and we bagged a spot just in front of the main entrance.
As far as historic buildings go, The Strafford Arms is pretty much up there with the best in terms of ‘Kerb Appeal’; it is a huge, imposing stone building from the outside and looked beautiful in the evening, lit up to accentuate its features. We stepped inside and received a lovely warm welcome from the manager, Pete, (something the, frankly, awful weather could take note of!) before he escorted us to our table.
Our table was next to one of the original sash windows, with a fantastic vantage point of the kitchen and pass; that was our viewing sorted for the evening! The sash windows were just one facet of The Strafford Arms’ charm: a squared-off dome shaped, high ceiling and brickwork surrounded log burner added character to the restaurant, as did the lower-than-usual lighting level. Neutral tones of Grey, Blue, Beige and Cream worked to provide a calm, relaxed feel to the room and nothing jarred the senses at all. A twinkling tea light on our table brought a gentle charm and romance to the atmosphere for us, and we chinked our glasses together in a toast: Sauv Blanc in mine, Estrella in his.
We had a really polite young lady come and take our food order: Trio of Scallops (£9.95) and Venison Carpachio (£8.50) to start, then Wortley Wagyu Burger (£19.50) and Courgette Wrapped Cod Loin (£19) as mains for His Nibs and me respectively. The burger comes with Parmesan and Truffle fries and Onion Rings as standard, so I just ordered a side of Spinach Gruyere (£3) to go with my fish dish.
There were already plenty of diners in, both in our restaurant section and in the bar area where there was a roaring log fire burning, so Chef and his team were hard at it and we could see the flurry of activity whenever a dish was being plated up on the pass before ‘service’ was called and one of the team took it to its eager recipient.
It wasn’t long before our order was being plated up and we smiled happily as our server placed the platters carefully in front of us. My Venison Carpachio was served on a deep rose coloured platter that the pale Mustard Mayo, verdant Rocket and jewel tones of the Orange, Pickled Red Onion and ruby hued slices of Venison could really ‘pop’ against. The Venison had been seared to seal in all its juiciness, then seasoned and sliced uber-thinly so that it simply melted in the mouth, releasing its sweet yet earthy taste over my taste buds. Complimenting the meats’ sweetness were a range of sharper notes, courtesy of tart pickled Red Onion, peppery Rocket leaves, tangy Orange segments and punchy Mustard that was combined with creamy Mayonnaise. This starter really did have it all: colour, taste, texture and exquisite presentation.
The Man Birds’ Trio of Scallops were neatly presented, side by side, on a dramatic dark blue rectangular platter that again showcased the colours within this dish. The Cauliflower and Vanilla Purée anchored all three morsels securely to the platter and was sublime in the mouth with its warm, rounded notes that glided like silk over the palate. Scallops are divinely sweet and can accommodate many different flavour partners as demonstrated here by Chef, who had cooked them perfectly to preserve their succulence. Good Maple syrup has a complexity of taste and varies from caramel and vanilla tones through to deeper toasty ones, depending on which variety you use, and the one in this dish mirrored the warmer vanilla hints in the purée which knitted the dish together quite cleverly. I had thought my luck was in with the final element in the Scallop Trio, Porcini Mushroom, as his Nibs is notoriously against Funghi. Sadly, like many other things recently, he decided that (in small doses) they were acceptable to eat, and so just a single slice came my way. I nibbled slowly, savouring the earthiness of the Porcini and revelling in its nutty flavour as it unfurled in my mouth. A scattering of micro herbs added a flourish of colour to this superb starter as well as bringing a fresh clean component on to the palate.
Another member of the serving team, a really polite young lady, had checked that we were enjoying our food and Pete had brought some water over to the table for us whilst we were tucking in; you certainly can’t fault the level of attention you get at The Strafford Arms in Stainborough. Shortly after we placed our cutlery down on our platters, they were taken away and then we had our napkins replaced in readiness for the mains.
By now the restaurant was filled with a symphony of delicious aromas, all of which had our nostrils twitching and we craned our necks to see the delights that were winging their way to other tables. It wasn’t overly long before the team were serving a pair of dishes to us and we smiled happily before tucking in.
My Cod Loin was absolutely stunning, it really was! The superbly meaty, thick piece of Cod had been wrapped in thin, longitudinal slices of Courgette to seal in all its natural moisture and then laid on a bed of perfectly al dente, Saffron-pimped rice that contained pieces of rich, smoky Chorizo. A velvety white fish veloute glided between the rice, an unctuous element of the dish that clung seductively to the inside of my cheeks and swirled over my tongue. When you have top quality produce, you don’t need to fuss too much with it to produce amazingly flavoursome dishes and Chef conducted the ingredients like an orchestra maestro here; Bravo!
I had ordered Spinach Gruyere to go with my Cod and by golly, this simple vegetable had, with the addition of Gruyere and seasoning, been transformed into some quite extraordinary. Unlike many places, you also get a generous amount of food for a side dish, so there was lots of wilted tender Spinach to enjoy here. Now you all know that I am a classy *ahem* bird, so it will shock you to hear that I asked for some bread to soak up the glorious Gruyere sauce; in mitigation, I would just like to say that it really was just too good to waste – it honestly was divine!
What we had thought was merely great guest care (which it was) by Pete providing more clean napkins turned out to be considered, previously learned necessity for those indulging in the Wortley Wagyu Burger. The Beef patty had an indulgently generous topping of melted Monterey Jack and Mozzarella cheeses that cascaded down the side of the burger and out of the bun like some molten dairy volcano! His Nibs was like a whirling dervish as he tried to lick his fingers clean of the debris, wiping the excess onto the aforementioned napkins, which he did need more than one of – props to you, Pete.
One of the curiosities of Wagyu Beef Burgers is that they have a superb dense texture that satisfies the most ardent appetite, but the flavour is delicate and creamy with a luxurious moistness to it that ‘ordinary’ burgers just don’t have. All this super model of the burger world and its cheese companion needed was the toasted bun, a slice of sweet Beef Tomato, a Lettuce leaf and slices of proper farmhouse Bacon. Now when you have a class act like this burger, you can’t just chuck any old fries/chips on the platter next to it – can you imagine the body shame the spud would feel, poor thing? Nope, posh burger = posh fries; in this case magnificent Parmesan and Truffle minxes. Yummy, yummy in the Man Birds’ tummy!!
So far the food gods had been smiling on me, but this came to an abrupt end with the desserts; I love Rhubarb, so when I spied the Yorkshire forced Rhubarb Bakewell Tart it was a no-brainer. Imagine how crest-fallen I was when our charming server broke the bad news that this was off the menu? No exaggeration when I say I could’ve cried! However, I girded my loins and chose the four layered Carrot Cake with Fresh Fruits and Clotted Cream instead, to console myself with. The Man stymied me again; I would’ve laid money on him choosing the Sticky Toffee Pudding, but no, he opted for the Double Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cheesecake with Honeycomb and Caramel sauce.
The Carrot cake was beautiful; quite textural thanks to the pieces of Walnut within it and a gorgeous warmth in the mouth from the spices used. This was a superbly moist cake in its own right, but the addition of the sumptuous frosting that punctuated each layer and decorated its edge added even more moisture to the gastro party. A large scoop of Clotted Cream provided more indulgence to this dessert and I was in severe danger of toppling over into the abyss of luxury, but quarters and halves of fresh, sweet Strawberries pulled me back from the brink.
Across the table, The Man was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat as he popped piece after piece of the moreish Cookies and Cream Cheesecake into his greedy mouth. This dessert was as beautiful to behold as it was to eat, its crumbled cookie and Chocolate Chips clearly visible within the cheesecake’s body. Actually, I stand corrected; His Nibs says it tasted even better than it looked! There was a seriously large piece of open textured Honeycomb perching lazily on the side of the cheesecake and its smoky, sweet flavour was the piece-de-resistance.
We rounded off the meal with a couple of black coffees which use beans roasted by our friends, Dark Wood Coffees. Needless to say, it was a superb way to conclude our evening. All too soon, it was time to head out into the dark skies and make our way home to the ‘Shire, so we bade farewell to the wonderful Pete and his team and already began to speak about what we’d eat next time we came to The Strafford Arms!
Hot Wings very happily given to this excellent venue.
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