A Right Royal Feast

When I was asked to do a food review for the Royal Oak on Goodramgate, I must admit I was extremely excited as I’ve been looking for things to do apart from drinking myself silly. Yes, even us freshers get bored of the endless alcohol and have to eat at some point.

I didn’t really do much of a background check on the restaurant as anybody who knows me will tell you how much I like a surprise. Yet the friend who accompanied warned me of her scepticisms, as the 17th century building has a reputation for housing ghosts. Naturally, I laughed this off and we embarked on our adventure to the local pub/restaurant famous for its locally sourced, home cooked meals.

The restaurant is situated in the city centre; a short walk from the York Minster Cathedral. If, unlike me, you’ve still got reasonable drinking ability left in you, then you’ll be pleased to know that it is surrounded by a number of other local pubs where you can go for a cheeky beer or two afterwards.

On arrival, we were met by a dazzling interior, and not in the ‘I just walked into a strip club’ way. The modernised cottage interior was extremely welcoming and I felt right at home.

The Royal Oak is divided into two sections; bar and restaurant. We were greeted and seated in the restaurant area by a polite and friendly staff member who set a homely ambiance. We were offered drinks as our menus were handed to us and given enough time to decide what we would like to eat.

The menu has a wide selection of dishes available, so there’s a little something for everyone. Although I was slightly overwhelmed when I saw the menu, as my enthusiasm to try out new foods had been well hidden until two or three years ago. Ironically, I haven’t really tried a wide variety of English foods. I went from not trying any new foods to trying delicacies from most places around the world, ignoring what has been on my doorstep for years.

For starters we decided to go for the terrine of slow roast duck with Yorkshire chutney and orange dressing and the Thai crab cakes with red pepper salad and sweet chilli dressing. The duck terrine could not be faulted; if it were a play, it would deserve a standing ovation. It certainly lived up to what we expected and although the portions was just right, I could have quite happily gorged on more. The crab starter was also a dish to write home about; it had a generous amount of crab filling, although it could have done with a hint more seasoning. Both starters were extremely satisfying and left us hungry for the main dish.

For mains we played it down a notch and both ordered the rump steak baguette with fried onions and hand cut chips. The mains came with a generous portion of fresh home-made chips and an equally generous steak in the baguette. Yet considering the price, we thought the mains were pretty average. The baguette tasted slightly dry and while the steak used was good quality, my dining partner and I agreed the dish might have been better if the chef substituted the baguette with ciabatta bread in the future and wasn’t so sparing with the fried onions.

Nonetheless, I am partly to blame for my poor choice as far as the main dish is concerned. Although anything I had chosen would probably have struggled to live up to the gorgeous duck starter, I’m certain if I had ordered an alternative (more sophisticated) main, my dining experience would certainly have been different.

I would definitely eat at the Royal Oak again as there wasn’t a lot not to like. The staff were fantastic, the restaurant is clean enough to eat your food off the floor (we do not recommend this) and the pricing is reasonable for what the menu has to offer. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say their competitors have a lot to live up to…