Eating & Drinking, York

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Lunch time came along, and once again was the problem of what to do.
One thing York is not short off, is food place's ranging from reasonable to expensive, there was a good choice.
We had been "hanging out" for a Cornish Pasty, and Colin [Brittania] had told us there was a good pasty shop here. Luckily, on my walk to meet my husband for lunch, I had come across it.

It was well known, people were coming in and out all the time. There were a few table's inside, we were lucky to grab one as a couple were leaving. Pastie's, not just a couple to choose from, but a big list of different type's. We just ordered the vegetable Pasty and a coffee, sat in the shop and enjoyed both. Real hot, so lucky we weren't in a hurry!

If time is short, or budget limited, why not get your hand wrapped round a roast meat sandwich? The are two shops near the Shambles in York offering sandwiches from 'hog raost' to beef, lamb and turkey. Of the two shops, Scotts excels at this. However, when visiting in January 2007, Scotts was found to only offer these delicious sandwiches on Sundays.

On other days, Scotts remains true to its origins as a butchers, selling some handsome roasting joints as well as other meats.

And if you can't get to York - you can still order their excellent meat online!

I was looking up some York stuff on the internet and came across the Roman Bath Inn website...and it dawned on me that I had visited this place when I was in York - I knew the internet was good for somethin'. The Inn seems like it's just a pub when you enter but give the barkeep a few coins and they direct you to the baths. It's a self-guided tour. The baths were inside the old Roman fortress and probably constructed in the 2nd century A.D. There are about 4 rooms on the tour. It doesn't compare to the Roman baths in Bath, but it is worth a visit.

Not a very old brewery at all, in fact I remember working in the offices opposite the brewery when it opened in 1996. It has however taken off big time and already in the year 2000 did its "Yorkshire Terrier" win prizes and well, "Stonewall" is a very appropriate name for another of its beers, since the brewery fascinatingly enough has found space within the city walls. Today it has brewery visits around four times a day during the afternoon (only May to September on Sundays) where you also get a visit to their bar afterwards. Should you become an enthusiast, you can join the brewery club too.

Though I had garnered some information on York's most famous hotel, I thought this summary by someone who frequents such establishments, unlike myself, had a lovely personal ring to it and I hope you will enjoy as well.
"The polished wood pillar that illustrated the water level and dates of flooding are very intresting and help to show how badly the floods can affect the local community. The height of the flooding in 2000 is the equivalent of a 6'2" man. The rest of the decor consists of battle hardened red brick interior (Water Damage no doubt), lovely wood beams and a selection of comfy chairs and stools. Then there is the bar. Any bar in my opinion that sells Ayengebrau is a good bar. The stuff says it is 4.5% but me and the missus strongly disagree after walking up to Cliffords tower after a couple of bevs. That was not the exilerating experience it could have been. We were suprised at the size of the place it was tiny but that just added to the quaint feel of the place. An ambiance that was completed by the warm sun reflecting off the river outside - Sitting on the benches, (Don't worry If they apear full people will budge up for you, very friendly folk in York). A lovely pub with good ale and a smile"
That 2000 marker incidentally, is just above where the picture cuts out. If you want to see what it actually looked like during the flood, see CandS's pages.

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Crabtree & Evelyn is an old fashioned shop which has been successful internationally. They sell wonderful toiletries, including soap and bath gel as well as fragrances, candles and gifts. Just the sort of place to keep the female in your life out of if you don't wish to lighten your wallet. Their products can also be found in John Lewis, Army & Navy Stores, House of Fraser, Liberty's, Selfridges, Peter Jones and Harrods.

The second building (Harkers) originally was that of a finance company, hence the affordablility of a neo-classical facade, which sort of ties in with the fact that it overlooks the old Roman entrance.
Harkers is a bar and restaurant that serves a variety of European and vegetarian dishes. Catering for private parties of up to 40 guests is available upon request. On Thursday nights, they also have live music. Happy Hour is on Fridays and Saturdays from 4pm until 8pm.

The Masons Arms is a pub we ate at. The main reason being that it was just down the road from where we were staying.
It was your typical average pub, i.e. more interested in selling beers than accommodating those who wanted to eat, but the food was acceptable and the atmosphere, other than the smoke, was cosy.

The Kings Arms is one hotel that never needs to spend money on publicity. As explained in my previous tip it has achieved notoriety by the amount of times it gets flooded and thus has become a tourist magnet.
It is also unique, again due to the river height, in having a licence for the premises that allows it to store kegs and such above the bar rather than below.
This shot was taken about the time we were trying to convince Dave that we needed a break after 3 hours, Ian leading the chorus. Fortunately it was a request Dave was only too happy to comply with.

Ok Richie this is the one and only brewery in York..and sorry I didn't go in so I can't give you the low down on it :-S