Nice places to eat in York

Juliav_2

I am taking my mum away for a surprise 60th weekend. Would love to take her somewhere special for dinner, but as always we are on a budget and this makes it difficult.

I have seen J Bakers at £37 per head, but as I am paying for the whole weekend, this makes one meal quite expensive

Has anyone dined somewhere in york that was reasonably cheap, but offered a lovely relaxed dining experience?

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margaretclare

I don't know about dinner, but I'd have thought that for a 60-year old lady, afternoon tea is a 'must'. That means it has to be Betty's: http://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe.asp?storyid={DAF3BD0D-69CE-4B89-92C9-84F9E0D9A11A}

HTH

Bebsie

margaretclare wrote: »

I don't know about dinner, but I'd have thought that for a 60-year old lady, afternoon tea is a 'must'. That means it has to be Betty's: http://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe.asp?storyid={DAF3BD0D-69CE-4B89-92C9-84F9E0D9A11A}

HTH

I agree 100% I love it there and I feel so special he he (I'm not quite 60 though):p

sweeper12

Hiya

You could always try the Living Room on Ouse Bridge. They have a really good selection of food to suit most budgets, priced from reasonable to expensive. There is also the location to consider, if you book or go on a fairly quiet day, you can get a table overlooking the river which I can recommend.

Good luck

S x

starco_iom

We like to visit York and we do this at least twice a year, some of our favorites that we have accumilated over the years are
Betty's nice consistant food lovely afternoon tea and lunches
Cafe concerto - sticky toffee pud superb, not glam surroundings but reasonable priced and food really homecooked and tasty
Blue bicycle nice french rest on the same road as J baker
Caesars italian restaurant always packed
Piccolinos - italian nice surrounding and confortable, good standard of food even though a chain.
Delrios on micklegate another nice italian well known by the locals

Rosie75

I used to live in York and would agree that Betty's would be a good choice for this sort of occasion. It's open in the evenings too, not just for tea, and they usually have a pianist in the evening.
Other places that I used to like are Cafe Concerto (as someone else mentioned), Cafe No.8 (Gillygate), MeltonsToo (Walmgate).
There are also a couple of chain restaurants that you could consider purely because they are in nice buildings: Loch Fyne, if you like seafood, on Walmgate, and Ask (Davygate) which is in the beautiful eighteenth-century assembly rooms designed by Lord Burlington. That might be a nice choice for a lunch while you are there.
I should warn you that York can get rather, er, raucous on a weekend evening and that you probably wouldn't want to be walking back to your hotel around the time the pubs shut. Or perhaps you would - it might be an experience, who knows?! You can pretty much forget going somewhere (other than a hotel) for a quiet drink on a weekend evening.

sparklylime

I would recommend 'Meltons Too' - went there for a meal while visiting York last year and had a beautiful meal, not too expensive either. The food was delicious and the staff were lovely and helpful in every way. We'd definately go there again next time we're in the area

parlie

without doubt the best place to eat in york is cafe concerto - just opposite the minster! you MUST go there! gorgeous food and wonderful atmosphere!

minerva_windsong

Another vote for Melton's Too - me and my boyfriend went last summer for our anniversary and got their early bird special, which is a starter and a main course for £12.50 each before 7pm. Of course that does then give you the issue of what to do with your evening, and as someone else said York on a Saturday night isn't the quietest place to go out for a drink...

Blue Bicycle is apparently very nice but rather expensive (about £50 a head including wine). Other than that, I've heard good things about Oscar's, Ate O'Clock and the Biltmore Bar and Grill, although the latter is again not particularly cheap.

rcherryuk

Meltons Too & Cafe Concerto are both solid choices.

Rob

polly.88

Betty's is great but expensive, and you always have to queue; maybe Little Betty's in Stonegate wouldn't be so crowded. Cafe Concerto is tired and stuck in a time warp. Very similar to CC is Cafe No 8 in Gillygate, mentioned elsewhere, which is good. The best place to eat by far is Meltons in Scarcroft Road; it is formal but excellent food. If you do the "early bird" it is not too expensive, and VERY good value. An excellent cafe is Pig and Pastry in Bishopthorpe Road; it is very very busy, and a real buzz to it - friendly service, good food but you have to share a table. Also very good lunch time place is Le Langhe but I advise booking ahead as always busy. Great place, authentic Italian food (not very friendly though). Good luck and enjoy!