Pearly Cow York
York, North Yorkshire
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After three decades under the same ownership, The Grange (a go-to spot for weddings, christenings and funeral teas) was put on the market in 2022 and snapped up by Tristan, Tom and James Guest. The brothers have transformed the original Regency townhouse into a quirkily decorated boutique hotel now named No.1 York (part of their GuestHouse collection), with Pearly Cow as its standalone restaurant. While there's a nod to vegetarians, the kitchen majors in 45-day salt-aged steaks, cooked over charcoal, served with a marrow bone and paired with peppercorn or béarnaise sauce – perhaps with a side order of the crispest beef-fat chips. There's plenty of seafood too: hazelnut-crusted halibut with saffron potatoes, fennel and orange was spot-on, although a sauce would have finished it off beautifully. Opening dishes are rather confusingly lumped together as ‘snacks, ‘ice’ and ‘small plates’, which can lead to over-ordering and an unexpectedly large bill. That said, a snack of creamy salt cod in a crisp taco and a wonderfully fresh tuna tartare (with soy and bonito wrapped in sour cream) both hit the high notes. Other winners range from charred mackerel with pomegranate and fennel to their signature beef tartare embellished with oyster cream, beef jam and Exmoor caviar. For afters, our textbook raspberry soufflé outshone a rather prosaic white chocolate parfait. The well-spread wine list includes a Yorkshire sparkler, and we like their original take on afternoon tea, too: billed as 'afternoon sea', it delivers oysters, mussels, prawn cocktail, crab on toast, garlicky scallops and smoked salmon scones for £38 (add £20 a head for bottomless rosé). Despite a few minor misgivings, Pearly Cow is a very creditable addition to York's restaurant scene.
