The Bull, Broughton near Skipton

Firstly an apology. I had the opportunity for a standard fish and chips and had my head turned by deep fried East coast Monkfish tail in breadcrumbs with a marrowfat and green pea crush and real chips, which was a bit steep at £13.50, but it was Easter and I was living dangerously. 

Purists look away now.

The monkfish tails were meaty and juicy. They were effectively big goujons which worked well as a really tasty alternative to the traditional cod or haddock. The batter had breadcrumbs added and was light and crisp and the crumbs brought extra taste and texture, which was an enjoyable break with the norm.

The chips, which came in a separate bowl, were really tasty and very very long. I shouldn’t have a problem with really long chips but they did look a little odd, but more importantly they should have had a couple of minutes extra in the fryer just to crisp them up and get more colour into them. They were good chips, if not outstanding.

The marrowfat and green pea crush was lovely as it had all the different flavours and textures in a big dollop on the side of the plate. They had a variety of colour and added something a bit cheeky to every mouthful.

The presentation of the lemon was very clever. They put the lemon in muslin, tied at the top, and you could squeeze with impunity in the knowledge that the pips were going nowhere. The tartare was OK. It had a good balance of all the essential flavours with lots of lovely bits to bite through but didn’t have enough of a zing for me.

I went for the Bull’s beer board which was three thirds of three different beers – Hetton Pale from the Dark Horse Brewery, Joshua Jane from the Ilkley Brewery and the Signal Main Line from the very new Settle Brewing Company. All were lovely.

The service let the whole experience down. Staff talked too quickly to be understood, simple requests for a glass of water or for the bill both needed to be repeated. It was a big busy pub but  and it seemed  that there was a process the staff had to follow and your request went into the system rather than the member of staff assigned to your table just getting it done. It seemed quite odd that this ‘restaurant and real ale gastro pub’, which is part of the part of the group which runs Northcote Manor, didn’t have a better way of managing the customer experience. After all, it was a £13.50 fish and chips.

 Great food, great beer, shame about the service.

Forster’s Bistro and Deli, Bradford

This city centre restaurant is run by Forster Community College which gifts all its profits back to the college and is a great addition to the City Park.

I went for the fish and chips with minted mushy peas which was very reasonably priced at £6.95.

The fish had great big chunks, was incredibly tasty. However, we were back on the skin on/skin off issue and whilst I can see that it might be tricky for a fish with such big chunks to hold together for deep frying for me it doesn’t work in terms of flavour as I can’t eat it. The batter the fish came in was light and a little too oily but was a good, no-nonsense traditional batter.

The chips were like your mam used to make them. Hand cut, with the odd tiny bit of skin on them, they were reasonably cooked but I would have given them a couple more minutes in the fryer to crisp up some more but they did have a lovely light floury flavour. They came as a side dish as yet again Forster’s had decided to move away from the traditional circular plate. This time it was a plate with a deep well in its middle which I’ve found out is called a deep plate – which is interesting. It worked OK for the fish and peas but less well when you added the chips and hence the need for these to be in a side dish. The outside edge of the well did make for a very handy circular mini-table to rest the squeezed lemon and inedible skin on but it would have looked better on a more ‘normal’ plate.

A beautiful puree of minted peas contributed enormously to the enjoyment of the meal with a subtly to the flavours which worked really well with the fish. The tartare was lemon zesty and really well balanced, the lemon was a fine size and the only problem was the vinegar. It came in a jug and needed tremendous dexterity to pour just the right amount on the chips without drowning them completely. 

To drink, I had an unremarkable bottle of Saltaire Blonde which wasn’t helped by being too cold followed by a stunning glass of Soldiers Block Shiraz.

Forster’s is a great example to other towns and cities of what colleges that have hospitality related courses can do to add to the culinary offering of a centre. The staff, many of whom are students at the college, clearly understand what high quality customer service is and delivered a quietly efficient experience even though they were rushed off their feet. A real pleasure to have visited.