Review: The Wensleydale Heifer, Wensleydale

I like the decor at the Wensleydale Heifer. It’s cheerfully bright and unashamedly personal: they like the things they like, and that’s how they’ve decorated. No attempt to design for an expected demographic or conjure up a particular aesthetic. Except I guess that “cheerfully individual” is an aesthetic in itself?

Anyway, the cheerful individuality and friendly helpfulness extended to the staff, who were all lovely. And the food was excellent. Oddly enough, considering the name of the place and it’s location as far from the sea as you can get in Yorkshire, they specialise in seafood. They also specialise in generous helpings.

I started with a fish pakora. The pakora was thin and crisp around a beautifully translucent piece of fish, very impressive to get the fish cooked just right while deep frying. Very nice spicing in the batter too, gently fragrant and warming. Worked well with a creamy raita and some sticky-sweet onions, a crumble of toasted cashew and coconut on top. Maureen’s fried squid was also excellent: delicate rings in a light batter, on a really delicious salad of wakame seaweed noodles, peanuts, warm chilli and bright lime.

Her main of fish-and-chips was a monster piece in a really great batter, very decent chips as well. One of the best bits was the curry sauce served with: unmistakable “chip shop curry” but somehow refined and made elegant, warmly flavoured and exceedingly moreish. Over the table my dad had a half-lobster thermidor that was pronounced superb and also seemed about twice the size it ought to be; the lobster was diced and I honestly think they may be so generous that they put more than half a lobster back into the half-lobster shell!? I broke ranks and had the rib-eye steak. It was a nice piece of meat, just what I was after, but if I’m honest I’ve had fuller-flavoured steaks. Still, cooked perfectly, and the absolutely ravishing truffled Madeira gravy they served with it added all the rich luxury that I could want. Celeriac puree, grilled mushrooms and crisp onion rings were all fine additions.

Coconut icecream and mango sorbet were all we could manage after, but both were top-notch. You’ll be at around £45 for two courses and £55 for three at the Heifer, so it’s at the top-end of dining in the Dales (I should note that we got a lovely amuse bouche and petit fours). I’d say that was good value for the generosity of excellent cooking, arguably the best meal of our eight nights in the north.