Afternoon Tea at Tickton Grange

Tickton Grange is a hotel and restaurant just outside of Beverley in East Yorkshire, that is the perfect venue for a girly mummy-daughter afternoon in traditional country style.

I took my mum there for an early mother’s day treat and found it so calm and lovely, a huge contrast to the wind and rain howling outside! The room we were in for afternoon tea was quaint and pretty, and pleasantly spaced out when comparing it to other famous tea rooms (hem hem Bettys). The staff were so lovely, making us feel special and being really helpful in terms of topping up our teapot and explaining what was on offer- even offering us to upgrade to a champagne or gin and tonic afternoon tea which we unfortunately had to decline as we were driving.

The food itself was so tasty and filling, we honestly didn’t need to eat it all, but we totally did as it was that good! They only told us afterwards that they can bag an extra up for you to take home…

We started off with dainty smoked salmon, ham and mustard and egg mayonnaise sandwiches, along with the added bonus of still warm mini sausage rolls, cheese straws and fruit cake with wensleydale cheese just for the bottom tier! The scones were so soft and crumbly we had trouble spreading the cream on them without it all falling apart, and despite their small size, felt very decadent. The cake tier was the highlight though- shortbread with raspberry kiss meringue, mini lemon drizzle cake, orange macaroons, chocolate brownies and mint chocolate shards. We were so full by the end we had to stay a while longer just to digest it all like overfed pythons! All of this was only £16 each, yet another reason why I actually preferred it to Bettys.

Before leaving, we had a sneaky look around the rest of the hotel under the pretence of looking for a venue for my upcoming wedding (the boyfriend doesn’t know yet that he’s proposed and I’m planning already, but it was a good excuse to be nosey!) I can see why so many people choose Tickton Grange for their weddings, as they not only do a very nice reception by the sounds of it and for a very reasonable price, but also have the license for a civil ceremony and 21 bedrooms to accommodate all your guests, so they really can give you the whole package.

We had a lovely girly afternoon, and will definitely be something we will be repeating- mum even said that she’s going to try and persuade my dad to take her there for dinner as their restaurant menu sounds equally good, so there may be another review coming soon!

 

Treasure House Museum and Art Gallery, Beverley

Having lived near Beverley for most of my life, and even a year actually in Beverley, I feel a little embarrassed that I didn’t even know that the Treasure House Museum and Art Gallery existed. It’s a little out of the way, the TripAdvisor map doesn’t quite get you there and it looks a bit like a council office, but once inside it is a little undiscovered gem, and a very pleasant way to spend an hour while the car was in the garage.

I started with the museum section, which is based around the history of the East Riding. Local history can sometimes be a little dull and feel like the curator is really dredging the barrel to find enough to put on display, but not so much here. There were clearly a lot of hands on activities for children which was nice to see, and they did have some quite impressive exhibits. The real star was five Anglo-Saxon swords in very good condition found in the area, as well as several stashes of Roman and Anglo- Saxon coins and a few gold artefacts. The displays were clear and informative, and as a local it was interesting to see the history of the area without going into too much detail. It has a slightly odd layout as it is displayed by themes, not chronologically, but was still good to see how it all linked together.

After being sadly disappointed with the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, I warily moved on to the art gallery and was pleasantly surprised. It mainly displays the work of local artist Fred Elwell but also a collection donated by various people to the gallery, and whose paintings were much more to my taste than modern art. However, I did enjoy a few paintings in the modern corner by James Neal. Unfortunately, the second half of the gallery was not open to due setting up a new exhibition of local artists which might have been nice to see too. The standout piece for me was the huge painting of the cows on Beverley Westwood called ‘The Panic’ by H.W.B Davis in 1872. The cows are basically life size and perfectly detailed- it genuinely just makes you go wow. I was happily impressed by the Treasure House, and might return again once the new gallery section is open.

Lucia Bar and Grill, Beverley

On Monday evening I was round at my parents for dinner, but with dad running late and my brother still at work, we decided to forget about cooking and go out for a meal. We opted for Lucia’s in Beverley for the main reason of that’s where my brother works and needed picking up from later, and they have always done good food when I visited in the past. They also do very good cocktails, but as designated driver I was on the lemonade.

Lucia’s is a small restaurant and bar just off the main square in Beverley and would be easy to miss- one small arch doorway leading down a bit of an alley before you reach the outside area and adjoining restaurant. Since it was such a warm night, we chose to sit outside but they do thankfully have patio heaters and blankets for when it gets chilly later on. It is small and has a really good cheerful, cosy atmosphere, without feeling like you’re squashed in or overheard. It can get a little noisy with people out for drinks, but quietens down about 9:30 when the younger generations head out for their big night out.

We decided to skip starters and go straight for mains, but with some bread and olives to pass the time while waiting, and the addition of olive and sun-dried tomato bread was a nice touch. I chose the pork belly and chorizo with mashed potato and mustard gravy from the grill section, while the parents had the bacon, chicken and avocado salad and the rump steak skewers. They also do pizza, pasta, and their starters can double up as tapas dishes. My meal may not have been that pretty, but was absolutely amazing- the pork belly was so tender and perfectly cooked and worked very well with the spicy chorizo. The mash was creamy and the mustard gravy just bound everything together- I wiped the plate clean!

Feeling absolutely stuffed yet unable to resist pudding while waiting for my brother to finish his shift, we decided to share a huge slice of toffee and amaretto charlotte, which again was divine- the flavours blended perfectly and was much nicer in my eyes than the traditional apple charlotte. The only downside was that when we asked for the recipe we were told it was bought in rather than made on site, but it was so nice I didn’t mind too much- it’s just a shame we didn’t get the name of where they bought it from as I can’t seem to find a recipe anywhere online! Overall, a very filling and extremely tasty meal for a very reasonable price as they have a 10% loyalty card that you can get for free on their website.

Sleepers Bar, Beverley

It’s finally the end of a very long year, and we made sure the summer holidays began well! Two barbecues with my lovely colleagues was a great way to celebrate finishing, but the real highlights were meals out with family and friends to celebrate birthdays- June is always busy for me!

Saturday night I headed to Beverley for a friend’s birthday. We headed to Sleepers Bar for dinner- I had never been before and was pleasantly surprised at the variety on the menu and the food itself. I had the Chicken Zada, lime and chilli marinated chicken with very chunky chips and sour cream. I admit it’s not the most adventurous choice but it was really good, and the service was very quick and friendly. I wasn’t too keen on the amount of salad though- felt like a little too much to be a side salad, but not enough or not interesting enough to be a proper one. At least I could claim I was being healthy, right…?

Friends had a mixture of meals from tuna steak with tomato, olive and caper tapenade, salmon and prawn fishcakes to mushroom and goat’s cheese strudels which looked amazing…. the two friends who had this couldn’t finish it but looked very happy with themselves! I was having major food envy at every dish that came out, so will definitely have to go again.

We then headed to several pubs and bars around Beverley’s main square where we got pleasantly sozzled and had a fab girly night out. Just what I needed to celebrate the end of term!