This weekend myself and Michael headed north to Yorkshire, my folks took Poppy for the night so we could enjoy a much needed break. We’ve been working so hard, what with the shop, flat renovations and uni that I could have jumped for joy when the email inviting us to Ox Pasture Hall Hotel arrived in my inbox.
Located just 2 miles from Scarborough, the hotel is just about as far removed from anything you’d associate with a seaside resort. Set in rolling hills and woodland, it’s the perfect country getaway. As we stepped out the car I could feel the stress melting away.
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| Ox Pasture Hall – The grounds in all their glory! |
The reception was easy to find and we were greeted by a lovely chap (I didn’t catch his name) who showed us personally to our room, as we walked through the grounds, it was obvious how well they are maintained. The grounds are split up into courtyard areas, each one with a water feature and seating, I can imagine it would be lovely in the summer to sit and read in the sunshine.
We stayed in a suite, which, lets be honest, is pretty down right swanky, it’s not something most of us could afford to do very often, but if you have a special occasion to celebrate, or fancy a bit of luxury, this is the place to be.
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| The beautiful Hornsea Suite |
The room consisted of a huge, well appointed bathroom with shower and a massive bath, a living area and bedroom. The furniture was all beautifully crafted oak and the suite was decorated in relaxing neutral tones. The view from our window was stunning and even on a relatively gloomy autumn day, the rooms were flooded with light.
Once we’d settled in we headed to one of the lounge areas in the hotel to enjoy a spot of afternoon tea.
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| Tea with a view |
Relaxing on the big leather suites we were presented with three tiers of yummy homemade treats. The finger sandwiches of beef, cucumber and a chive butter and egg mayonnaise were delicious, followed by a zingy lemon cheese cake, chocolate and pistachio gateau, and my favourite, freshly made, still warm scones.
Pleasantly full we headed back to the room to relax, do a bit of reading and watch some TV. These are the small pleasures that we don’t really have time for anymore, so it was truly wonderful to be able to just forget about everything for a while.
The hotel has a bar and bistro as well as a restaurant with A La Carte menu. We booked in for a meal at the latter. As the hotel has lots of lovely lounge areas you can sit in one of those and peruse the menu in comfort before heading to your table for dinner, which is just what we did. After a glass of Prosecco and a short wait we were shown to our table. A small appetiser of carrot and cumin soup was brought out before our starter, which was absolutely delicious.
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| Carrot and cumin soup |
For our starter we both went for the Ham, Egg and Peas, a dish of mini ham hock, pea mousse, crispy quail egg, pickled vegetables and a honey mustard dressing.
Holy. Moly. It was so delicious, the flavours were perfectly balanced, the vinegary vegetables cut through the rich, salty ham and the sweet pea puree and the cripsy quail egg added texture. Michael and I ended up in a fit of hysterics because we kept making yummy “mmm” noises which got quite embarrassing in the end, which in turn set us off laughing like naughty school kids! (Can’t take us anywhere).
For the main course, I went with the lamb and Michael opted for the confit duck.
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| Lamby goodness |
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| Melt in the mouth duck |
Needless to say, the yummy noises didn’t stop at the starter. I don’t have lamb very often because I’m the only one in my house that likes it, so it was a very welcome treat, the melt in the mouth bone rack of lamb was cooked to perfection and served on boulangerie potatoes, so delicious. The confit duck just fell away from the bone and Michael certainly had his happy face on throughout the meal!
Sadly I have no dessert pictures to show you, Michael and I were defeated by the starters and main and had no room left for pudding! I know, weak, feeble fools!
Off we headed, back to our suite where we lounged around, again (it was marvellous), exhausted by all the fresh air and good food, we slept like babies in the most comfortable of beds.
In the morning, greeted by the stunning views, we headed back to the restaurant for breakfast.
We both went for the full “Yorkshire” cooked breakfast which we both noted was really fresh tasting. All too often hotel breakfast can taste a bit stale, I think it’s the culmination of cooking on mass and not always greatest of ingredients, but this was most definitely not the case the the Ox Pasture Hall. The breakfast was so tasty, fresh and surprisingly light considering it was a cooked breakfast.
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| Poached… |
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| Scrambled… |
As you can see, there’s not a jot of grease on the plate. I had the poached eggs and they were cooked to perfection, still runny and unctuous in the middle.
Whilst there, we couldn’t help but reminise about our wedding as it reminded us so much of where we got married, and what a perfect place it would be to get married too. They have the most beautiful wedding facilities, it almost makes me want to do it all over again, but I guess I’m stuck with the ginger fox for now! Haha!
After breakfast we went for a little walk around the grounds, taking in the fresh morning air and making the most of our last couple of hours there. Our stay was just what the doctor ordered, we could not have wished for a more relaxing, luxurious, tasty break. I cannot recommend Ox Pasture Hall highly enough, the staff were wonderful and courteous, the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, it really is a little slice of heaven in the Yorkshire countryside.
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| Ahh young(ish) love… |
** My stay at Ox Pasture Hotel was complimentary for the purposes of review, but all words and opinions are my own and 100% honest**
Posted in Becky Barnes Blog, Travel