I reviewed the magnificently restored Goldsborough Hall near Knaresborough in North Yorkshire early last summer, when I participated in their wonderful afternoon tea experience.(https://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/travel-product/accommodation-hotel/154864)
The adjacent village pub, the Bay Horse Inn, was a typical rustic style village pub and very comfortable if a little neglected, but with so much potential.
Mark and Clare Oglesby, the owners of Goldsborough Hall clearly spotted the same potential and in a joint venture with Enterprise Inns, spent half a million pounds on bringing the pub back into the estate’s ownership. Alas, this was just a pound or two more than my own budget. (Oh no it wasn’t).
The totally refurbished ‘pub with rooms’ was re-opened in November 2019.
The pub was originally named after stud horse The Byerley Turk (1680 – 1706), one of the first three pure Arabian horses to arrive in England. The other two were The Darley Arabian (1700 -1730) and The Godolphin Arabian (1724 – 1753). These three stud horses created the U.K’s present thoroughbred horse lineage. Byerley Turk was buried within the grounds of Goldsborough Hall in 1706.
The pub itself was built in the 16th century and is Grade II listed and so great care had to be taken to preserve as much as possible. Now transformed into a contemporary, easy on the eye and superbly comfortable ‘pub with rooms’, the emphasis on food is beginning to attract attention in the region. The new chef has produced a menu to suit modern tastes, with subtle and varied twists to the flavours and presentation.
On entering from the large rear car park, we found ourselves in a comfortable snug with stone flagged floor, adjacent to the two sided bar. This had a wood fired stove burning away quietly, providing welcome warmth from the chilly day outside. We were soon seated in the upper snug, which shared the log burner with the lower room. The three draught beers on offer were Rooster’s YPA, Black Sheep and Taylor’s Landlord, all reliable and local Yorkshire brews. There is a gin and tonic menu which offers 23 different brands of gin.
The dining rooms are adjacent, airy and spacious with dark wood flooring, original exposed roof beams and simple wooden furniture. One room looks out on to the long beer garden whilst the other fronts the main but very quiet road outside. The decor is bright and very tasteful with light colours.
An unobtrusive jazzy, bluesy soundtrack provided a subtle, background atmosphere.
For starters, I chose the garlic & chilli butterfly king prawns on ciabatta (£7.25).
A plentiful pile of large, succulent prawns flavoured with garlic and fresh chillies topped a triangle of warm ciabatta, accompanied by the freshest of fresh curly endive leaves.
Beetroot, apple and goat’s cheese salad with caramelised walnuts (£6.50) was my partner’s choice and also declared excellent.
My 8oz hunk of flat iron steak (£18.95) came cooked as requested, with chunky twice cooked chips, beautiful roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine and Portobello mushrooms. Simple, but great quality and so well done – not the steak, which was a medium rare.
Across the table, a fillet of beer battered haddock (£13.95) came with tartar sauce, a large bowl of hand-cut chips and mushy peas. Faultless again.
For dessert I could not resist date sticky toffee pudding (6.95) with toffee sauce, stem ginger and a scoop of caramel ice cream. Good stuff but for the world’s best (I kid you not) try the following, https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sticky_toffee_pudding_25161,
which is a Hairy Biker’s version. This is truly outstanding and a family favourite of ours.
Being a Yorkshire girl, my wife just had to have the forced Yorkshire rhubarb and apple pie with ice cream. Too large to finish but a good effort was made!
All the staff were well trained, friendly and helpful. The beer garden to the rear is a relaxing place to sit in the warmer weather.
The meal was delightful, the surroundings beautiful, cosy and so relaxing. It took us a couple of hours to visit, so peaceful and convivial it was, and we left reluctantly, though we will be back. We have made our choice and I am anticipating the Christmas menu already. I know it’s March, but when you discover a great place…
By judicious searching online there are deals to be had for meals here.
The separate accommodation building is close by and has five delightful, well equipped en-suite rooms. From a four-poster family room, to large doubles and flexible double/twin rooms all have climate controlled atmospheres, power showers, Nespresso coffee machines, 50″ 4K Ultra HD televisions and numerous neat touches such as induction phone chargers and wi-fi.
A few miles from the A1/A59 junction and around twenty minutes from Harrogate and York, this place has an appeal for all the senses and deserves to be a very successful addition to the dining scene.
For further information go to www.bayhorseinn.co.uk, whilst your sat-nav will help you hoof-it to HG5 8NW.
Like The Byerley Turk, this is a racing cert winner and neigh-sayers will be disappointed.
