Holdsworth House Hotel, Halifax

It was always going to be a good day when the amount of time, on public transport, to get from Hebden Bridge to Illingworth was 40 minutes and it included interaction with the charming staff of the T.J. Walsh bus company. I simply said where we were going to, paid my £1.40, and the driver stopped at where we needed to get off and pointed us in the right direction and during the journey he had quietly engaged with every person who got on the bus.

The Holdsworth House Hotel had been on the radar for a very long time and the January food and wine discount deal was the ideal catalyst to get us to book.

We did walk into a wedding when we arrived but eventually took our table in one of the grand rooms of this 17th century Jacobean manor.

The meal was advertised as Little Valley beer battered deep fried line caught haddock and was simply stunning. The fish was incredibly fresh and flavoursome and held together beautifully. The Little Valley beer and brilliant cooking were brought together to deliver a wonderful light, crisp and consistent batter which had to be separated from the fish to truly appreciate its excellent flavour.

The chips were wedges once again but I’ll have to let it pass this time as they were beautifully crisp, light chips with a fantastic taste.

Wow! The mushy peas were the stars of the meal. They had an intense pea flavour with great depth and a perfectly balanced texture of truly mushy but some still fully formed peas now and again and was a tribute to the glory of the mushy pea accompaniment.

No lemon – that was a surprise. The tartare was too creamy for my tastes and didn’t have the kick it should have had until right at the end. I had expected to be amazed as the rest of the meal was so good but it was the only part that could do with re-assessing.

The venue, the attention to detail in the dining experience and the £11.95 price tag is effectively posh fish and chips. But this meal had no pretentions as it was simply a beautifully crafted meal in charming surroundings with efficient, understated staff. The meal was washed down with a lovely South African white which was the perfect accompaniment.

One of the best fish and chips meals I’ve ever had and I don’t think it’ll be too long before we return.