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.