I have been travelling. Not far, not for long, but both Keeley and I hit the road for a little break away from home – over those hill to Yorkshire.
For those of you who don’t know, Yorkshire as a whole is a bit of a second home for me. My family is spread across it from York to Scarborough, Tadcaster to Doncaster, with more distant relatives spreading those tentacles further. For me hearing those dropped letters, and the soft burr of an ‘oh’ is comfort. It’s the voice of my nan, my aunties, uncles and cousins. It’s christenings and weddings, family parties, and baking with my Nanan in her kitchen.
This was, however my first visit to Malton, though I suspect not my last. It’s gorgeous. Winding streets, stone buildings, rolling green hills, and if you like food and drink (and I do) lots of places to indulge.
We began by heading to our hotel, The Talbot. It’s a gorgeous old coaching in, and the first thing you’ll notice is the view. We spent a fair few hours of our visit sitting in the sunshine, with a glass of wine drinking it in. The second thing you’ll notice is just how dog friendly it is. It really is. We met a doddery old American bulldog, Cocker Spaniels, Labradors, Labradoodles… When you’re with a dog lover like Keeley, every dog needs to be said hello to. There’s plenty of spots for food and water, and more importantly, plenty space for them to run around in.
Before I begin, we did manage to time our visit rather poorly. We arrived on Sunday and were staying overnight – but this is rural Yorkshire and not much is open on a Sunday, or a Monday. Lesson learned, we’ll plan better next time.
That said, we really had a lovely couple of days. The sun (mostly) shone, the weather was warm, and the food and drink we did get to sample was well worth the visit. Obviously boding well for a revisit.
After wine and refreshment, we checked in. Our room was in the soft green you’ll find throughout the hotel, with warmer accents in pink, peach and red. There are little touches you’ll love. Proper tea and coffee in the room (no nasty packets of Nescafe here), rubber duck in the bathroom, full size toiletries and even a little welcome note.
Suitably refreshed and dumping our bags, we went in search of a late lunch. As I mentioned before, many places were sadly closed, but the Stew & Oyster in the centre of town was open, and we settled in to sample some nibbly bits. Stew & Oyster are a small Yorkshire based chain, and as you’d guess by the name, their food menu includes lots of one pot dishes (stews and casseroles) along with plenty of smaller plates. Just what we needed.
Though perhaps small plates is a misnomer. The cheese and bread plates are vast, and absolutely delightful. Fresh warm bread rolls, pots of butter, thick wedges of cheese – we had perhaps over ordered when the curried chicken nuggets, mixed falafel, and honey mustard sausages appeared (along with a good local G&T or two) but we were starving, so made short work of them, before sitting back in the sunshine, replete. Proof if we needed it that sometimes a chain is a good thing.
Full, slightly sleepy, we meandered the town, noseying at toy shops, and (closed or closing) restaurants. Aside from the Brass Castle brewery (a glass of Bad Kitty please), my favourite spot was an ever present Cooplands – cake shop of my childhood. During the brief time we lived in Bircotes, I can still remember being sent to the local shop for lunch time treats on a Saturday.
As the sun began to hide itself behind a cloud, we headed back to put our feet up ahead of a lazy dinner.
Our dinner was to be in the restaurant at The Talbot – open to both residents and locals, it offers British cooking, using local ingredients. And we’d spotted a couple of dishes on the menu we were dying to sample.
Across the board we went for very different options. Keeley selected absolute classics, prawn cocktail, a lamb roast dinner, and rhubarb crumble with custard. For me, it was fresh summer ingredients. Hens egg in breadcrumbs with local asparagus.
Fishcakes with spinach and broad bean fricassee, and beurre blanc, and an absolute stunner of a dessert.
The Yorkshire pudding sundae. It was incredible. Ginger cake crumbs, salted caramel ice cream, vanilla ice cream, Yorkshire tea syrup, biscuit crumbs, whipped cream and a huge, crispy Yorkshire pud. I don’t mind admitting this is something I am desperate to recreate at home. It was indulgent, but not overly sweet, the syrup adding a little bitterness, and the ginger crumb adding a bit of spicy heat.
Before I finish, a nod to the wine list at The Talbot. It’s fabulous. I’ve made some notes of the wines I enjoyed, including a delightful rose, that I’m going to need to stock up on at home.
Very full, and after giving our thanks to Jazz who looked after us, we made our way back upstairs to relax and digest. Trash Tv, and sleep were on our menu for the rest of the night.
The next morning, we awoke in need of caffeine.
It was obviously a busy morning for everyone, as we were seated in a the bar for breakfast, rather than the restaurant. It did also mean that unfortunately our service wasn’t quite as speedy – and whilst Keeley enjoyed a rather swiftly arriving continental platter with thick flapjack, pastry, yogurt and fruit, my own eggs benny took a little longer.
I made use of the time to sip my coffee and wake myself up, trying hard not to ogle Keeley’s own breakfast too hard. When it did arrive, it was worth the wait with crisp bacon, rich hollandaise and runny yolked egg.
Soon it was time to check out. But we had one more stop to make before we headed back home. Rare Bird Distillery. Oh yes, you know me, if there’s local gin to find, I will find it. And in this case it was all but on our doorstep, at the Talbot Yard Food Court.
Rare Bird was set up by ex-firefighter Matt and his wife Elizabeth. They both welcomed us to the distillery on a day off (thank you!), to show us around the distillery itself, show off the still, Florence, Gin School, and let us sample the gin.
The gin itself is made in the one shot method (everything in at once), with no maceration period. Their London Dry is just that, clean with a good juniper bite, and some lovely savoury notes. It uses eleven botanicals, including hibiscus, green pepper, cassia, French rosemary and Italian citrus. It’s absolutely delightful, as is their rhubarb gin – no sugary sweetness here, it’s biting and tart, made to be drunk with a sweeter style of tonic (such as Fever Tree Mediterranean). I’m using writing this as a prompt to snaffle a bottle or two of my own.
We were also able to sample two new gins being created. One with rose, and one with Madagascan vanilla. Both again, very different in style, but delightful. The rose gives hints of Turkish delight, rich and floral (and had me immediately wanting to dab some behind my ears – or bake with it). The vanilla still keeps the bite of juniper, but with lots of rich vanilla. This goes really well with ginger ale, the vanilla making it more like a rum or a whisky. I must admit, both are fabulous and I’m keeping a beady eye on their website for them launching into the wild.
Chatting to Matt was fascinating. We were able to hear about how they’ve adapted to the changes across the country with COVID, switching to more deliveries, vouchers for the gin school, and offering differing bottle sizes, and refills. It’s been a challenging time for all, but they’ve adapted so well, and are now seeing more people keen to visit and get their gin on!
Though we were only in Malton for a couple of days, it was such a fabulous place to visit, and as I mentioned before, definitely on the list to revisit, to see the local market, head to the brewery taps, and indulge in more of the restaurants nearby.
As for us, I visited the bakery at the Food Court to grab a couple of teacakes to take home, and we hit the road back to reality.