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Millbank (near Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire)


Bapi

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Has anyone heard of/been to Millbank? We are thinking of lunching here this weekend, witha friend as its in quite a nearby picturesque spot. The chef is Glen Futter who is ex-of the Nico Landenis stable. Squaremeal lists it as having a Michelin star. Is that so (Gary/anyone)?

Squaremeal review listed below.

"Rural pub-feel meets contemporary style & modern European food at this Michelin-starred Pennine eaterie. Chef Glen Futter has done time at Chez Nico in London & is clearly a keen disciple of Nico Ladenis’ love of luxury, to which he adds his own global spin. Crab meat is moulded into a sausage & dressed with coconut, for instance, while roast suckling pig comes with coriander gnocchi & an Oriental sauce. For dessert, go for lemon tart with raspberry sorbet or the selection of Yorkshire cheeses, then chill out on the timber-decked terrace or lounge in the smoking room. Modern jazz & drinks every Sunday from 9pm. "

Grateful for any info/reports.

Ta

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i'm pretty sure it doesn't have a star, laziness prevents me from checking it out on viamichelin.

my colleague lives nearby and says it is a very small pub that has been nicely converted, not a big dining room (which suggests you should book) and food was always very good.

note past tense, he now has two children so doesn't get to eat out as much - let that be a cautionary tale for you :laugh:

it sounds like a decent bet if you are in the area.

you don't win friends with salad

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Hi Bapi

supposed to pretty good - and therefore has been on my to-do list (along with the Weavers Shed) for some time now!

If you subscribe to time out - try this link .. I think it's also mentioned in my Michelin guide to dining in pubs if that helps.

Yin

X

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Bapi - you move any further north, it'll be reindeer kebabs for you, my son.

An ancient sanskrit saying for you Moby. "Man with one pair of trousers to his name should shut the fook up" :raz::wink:

Thanks all, just about to book for Saturday. Found my 2004 Red Guide and yes- it has BG.

CharlieO Will certainly report back next week.

Yin- Weavers Shed was great when we dined there last year. Highly recommended.

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Well, Hallelujah- I am saved. I have found a little gem not fifteen short minutes from where we now live. The Millbank is set in a very pleasant rural spot on the side of a valley – with views overlooking the surrounding fields, down towards a mill. A perfect location to sit outside on a warm sunny day, like today, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case last Saturday. So to cheers our spirits in the fog, wind and rain we popped in for lunch.

The interior is stylishly modern, with wooden floors, some banquette seating and aubergine coloured walls. Not what you would expect from looking at the exterior of the building. Three of us had a glass of champagne in the bar whilst the other in our party squealed and created until we stopped force feeding him the frankly risible excuse for cottage pie being served up to him in a jar. On reflection, being offered something to nibble on with the champagne wouldn’t have a gone a miss. But then I am naturally greedy.

The missus started with Cumin Roast scallops, Warm Smoked trout and Sweet Potato Puree. Not a dish that appealed to me as I thought the eclectic ingredients wouldn’t marry well and cumin is a spice, that if left in the wrong hands, can be all too overpowering. My fears were not abated when the dish arrived, as the whole surface of the scallops were a deep brown colour and looked overdone. But I was wholly wrong, the scallops were very succulent and not overcooked and the use of the cumin judicious. A good dish and well enjoyed by Rosie.

Our friend Sarah opted for the Black Bream, Basil Mash and Tomato and Lemon dressing- which came with some unannounced French beans. I didn’t try this (although offered some) but she thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I was intrigued by the sound of the Foie Gras brulee on brioche, Poached Cherries and Frisee salad. This was more like a disc of foie gras parfait sat on top of a piece of circular brioche. The brulee effect came from a delicate layer of crunch on top of the foie. It all tasted very satisfying – especially when eaten with the delicious poached cherries. My only slight criticism would be that the dish should perhaps be served a tad warmer. I would (and will) gladly have this dish again.

Main courses were for the missus. Confit of Duck with White Beans puree, Spiced Bread and Apple Toastie, with Deep-Fried Sage. A knockout dish. All the ingredients combined fabulously well to provide a delicious mouthful as that’s all I got of my wife’s dish. Why the hell is it that your wife/ partner always chooses the best thing on the bloody menu? Sarah had the Goosnargh Chicken Breast, Fondant Potato with a Spring Onion and Mushroom Sauce. Very moist meat and a well presented dish. I opted for Roast Suckling pig with a Turnip Dauphinoise, Roast Carrot, with a Honey and Clove sauce. Very tender meat- lovely crackling and a revelation- I like turnips – especially when they are cooked this way. A quick mention of the saucing with our dishes. All of them were spot on, with depth of flavour and clarity without being whoringly cloying. A sure sign that you are in safe hands and a craft the chef –Glen Futter-no doubt learnt the importance of during his time in Nico Landenis’ kitchen.

With this we drank an unusual Soave, in that it was rather rich and buttery, unlike the Soave I remember from the 1980’s. The wine list is nicely judged and I especially like the endearing “If you like these, you will love this” sections on each page, pointing you in other directions.

To finish we had Banana Fritter with Banana and Rum Fool and a caramel sauce. Rich, sticky and moreish. The iced vanilla Parfait with Strawberries was well received too. The wife went for the selection of 3 French cheeses which ironically came in at 55 pence more than the 3 Yorkshire cheeses! A slice of Reblechon and Fourme d'Ambert along with a Goat’s cheese which escapes me. Very nice but they could have done with being taken out of the fridge a good half an hour before as the Reblechon was only just on the point of turning.

A minor quibble as this is a very competent and friendly operation which is now owned by the chef Glen Futter and his business partner; the very personable and horribly youthful Restaurant manager. We will be sure to return very soon. (Er, may be even next weekend)

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. We will be sure to return very soon. (Er, may be even next weekend)

after anthony's for tea?

Well we did return to the Millbank but the day before the Anthony's 5 hour marathon on Saturday. :raz:

When we arrived I settled down to a pint of the world class Timothy Taylor's Landlord - a king amongst beers; when er, some nibbles arrived in the form of some tasty olives. Very welcome, after my very minor whinge last week. :wink::biggrin:

I opted for the intriguing chicken croquette which came with a very light chorizo based oil, with shards of chorizo within it. I sometimes avoid chorizo on menus as the smokiness inherent in the sausage can over power- but not a bit of that in this dish. Rosie had the foiegras dish I had last week, as she enjoyed the atom like portion I generously allowed her.

For mains I had Lamb served two ways with a most -pink loin accompanied by a shepherd's pie made from the shin. Actually, it was more like a piece of shin with lovely buttery mash on top. Rosie was recommeded to have the Oxtail and root vegetable pie by the friendly bloke in the bar happily tucking in to it. She was glad she did, it came with crunchy yet light pastry and beautifully tender meat.

We finished with vanilla parfait between us in the garden in the glorious sunshine - whilst I drained the remnants of the Madfish Pinot Noir we had ordered. A quick chat with the yooful Joe ,the restaurant manager, and I soon realised he had read my garbled ramblings of last week. :huh: Well he didn't shoot me anyway - which is nice.

Set me up very nicely for Anthony's the next day.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Bapi, next time you're in can you ask the chef what the inspiration is behind the foie gras brulee?  Cheers c-s.

Shall do Scott. Possibly (read definitely, if I get my way) back there on Friday.

Does c-s stand for what I think it does?

Moby- I'd just stick to meals on wheels - Sir. :biggrin:

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You rude sod Scott. :biggrin:

Bad thing 1: Broke my son's favourite toy in the morning. (Hence muderous looks from the first born. :sad:

Bad thing 2: Backed the car into the wall outside the Millbank in haste to sate my hunger this lunch time. :angry:

Good thing 1:Pigeon breast with a mint risotto. Nicely carmaleised, pink and slightly bloody, alongside came a toothsome, if a smidgen minty, risotto. Worked well together.

Good thing 2: World class Fish and chips. The batter was- without wanting to eulogise about it too much - freakin fantastic. Golden, crunchy and crisped to perfection; encasing pearly white flakes of fish. Its so easy to get this dish wrong, but this was excellent. The batter is made using beer and yeast to give the lightness and crunchiness. Served with quenelles of tartare sauce and "yorkshire caviar"- i.e. mushy peas. Liked the fat chips served in a "Jenga" like tower too.

The bintage ate Polenta and Pecorino Fritters served with a leek and walnut salad. Not my cup of tea( as it was vegetarian) but it was very pleasant. Followed by Halibut, with spinach, potatoes Anna, carmelised baby onions and a rich hollandaise, which brought the dish together.

With two Amontillado Finos, two glasses of wine and a tea and coffee. The whole thing came to a very reasonable £50.

Scott- The inspiration for the Foie Gras Brulee came from Jean Georges Vongerichten's restaurant-Jo Jo's in New York.

Met the nice chap who recommended the Oxtail pie again, sat in his usual seat. Obviously the Millbank has its regulars which er, we now seem to be joining. :smile:

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Bapi - I take it from your earlier posts that they are ok with young kids? I've got a 4 month old at home now and we are struggling to find places that are ok with them. Anthony's said it would be ok but I have a slight nevousness about her clearing out that enclosed space.

We had a slightly traumatic event at the Star at Harome in the bar area where she decided that no one else should get to eat at all. It ended with us eating our courses indicidually whilst one of us rocked a pram outside! -Not a relaxed dining experience, especially with 20 people standing at the bar ogling your table with avarice.

Cheers

P

Gordon Wallace
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Yes, absolutely- Joe the front of house chap at the Millbank, is always very personable and welcoming with our little one and Hugo especially likes their bread, which tends to keep him quiet. ( I want a free drink for that Joe! :smile: ). I think that most places are now becoming child friendly, even the higher end places. We took our little one to The Waterside in Bray and he did start squawking at one point. So I too had to take him outside to clam down, but the staff didn't bat an eyelid. He was just a little pissed off with being in his buggy- he was fine thirty seconds later stuffng his face with my lobster( little sod), when sat next to his mother on the banquette. I know it can be be a little worrying when they do make a bit of noise, but I don't really think that others mind quite as much as we as parents, think they do.

He was with us at Anthony's a couple of weeks back and they- especially Olga - looked after him incredibly well. In fact, we were shamed into buying him a new high chair as the one at Anthony's was ten times better than one we had for him at home. :blink:

Or you could do what I had to do with him when he was three months old at Hibiscus back in March. March the buggy around until he sound asleep and then run to the restaurant in the vain hope thjat he will stay asleep. Seem to work though, we manged to work our way through 8o% of the 9 course tasting menu before he awoke. But that does rather knacker one out.

Having said that, we only tend to go out for lunch with him as I think it isn't always to fair to others escaping their own kids, to have to put up with other people's at dinner. But Lunch is fair game in my book.

Oh and he had a minor paddy for 20 seconds at the Star too- but I had langoustines to eat and so it was my wife's turn to sort the nappy out on that occassion. :biggrin:

Edited by Bapi (log)
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I know it can be be a little worrying when they do make a bit of noise, but I don't really think that others mind quite as much as we as parents, think they do.

:laugh:

Cheeky bastard :raz: Just wait till it happens to you and see what sort of tenuous excuses you come out with.

Come to think of it, you did look rather relieved that Hugo didn't come with us to the Box Tree last Saturday.

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Cheers Bapi, we have definitely had to find more time for lunches these days, since I agree that restaurants are fare game at that time :laugh: I'll give the Millbank a go in the next few weeks then since we've been feeling a little deprived recently. Got our first babysitter in for a trip to No 3 in a couple of weeks. :biggrin:

Gordon Wallace
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Plutocrat,

I forgot to mention that the Millbank is closed until 17th(ish) October as the chaps are off on their hols. Best to ring and check me thinks. I am sure you will have a good time when you do go. We could always take both our kids at the same time and make Joe's life a real misery :biggrin:

Enjoy No 3 as well on your first night out. I am giving serious thought to a boy's Friday afternoon lunch in Leeds soon ( if I get permission from Mission Control that is :wink::unsure: ). From Gary M's eulogies in the past, I am sure you won't be dissapointed.

Enjoy :smile:

B

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  • 3 months later...

We have had numerous meals here over the last few months. And for the calibre of the cooking, it continues to provide astonishingly good value. Especially with Fixed price menu which provided me with a dish of near perfect Duck confit, with Anna potatoes and Savoy cabbage. Two courses and a coffee cost just £11.95.

A special mention must go to the fabulous creation that was a Venison Scotch egg the missus had a couple of weeks ago. She adores Scotch Eggs, as evidenced by her spending £33 on the bloody things from the Handmade Scotch Egg Company a couple of years back! :blink: This version was a revelation though-cutting into the cripsy breadcrumbs, revealed a thin layer of the rich, dark meat. The suprise was that the egg inside was still perfectly runny, which worked so well with the rest of the dish. Put it back on the menu!

We ventured over there again today for our first Sunday Lunch. Who should be there, but the nice chap-Max-I mentioned above, who had given us reccomendations in the past. A fellow foodie, we had a drink and chat discussing which places we had dined at. We bought him a drink before we sat down to lunch and certainly didn't expect him to reciprocate. Especially when a half bottle of Krug arrived at our table :shock: He is officially the most generous chap in West Yorkshire! :smile:

Back to lunch-I went for a smoked chicken samosa with avocado puree and chilli oil. Very eclectic ingredients - but they worked well. I especially liked how the lightly smoked chicken worked with with the fragrant oil. It was nice to see Yorkshire pudding with onion gravy being offered as a first course as is traditional in Yorkshire. I didn't opt for that as I went for Rib of Yorkshire beef with the aforemetioned puddings and roast vegetables. Spot on rare beef and, horribly good yorkies to mop up a rich red wine sauce. The moo, went for Black Bream, with chorizo and new potato saute. Crispy, golden and slightly charred skin, moist pearly, flesh sat on top of subtle sauce of chorizo and diced new potatoes. Textbook stuff.

My only slight quibble in the past was that the cheese could have been taken out of the fridge a smidgen sooner. Easily rectifed, since as we knew we wanted some - we asked for just that to happen. Served with some excellent pickled grapes. I opted for sticky toffee pudding which my mother happily polished off.

£ 16.95 for three courses or £13.25 for two. With a round of drinks and one coffee- the bill was an unfeasibly reasonable £40.

Edited by Bapi (log)
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dear bapi

glad you enjoyed your sunday lunch and max really is a generous yorkshire man. next time your in the area do try us. the old bore at rishworth not far from the afore memtioned place. past roux brothers scholar winner at the stoves, intresting place which has been awarded best dining pub by robert cockcroft this year. i await your comments.

scott

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Thank you Scott and welcome.

Aaah, Rishworth. I remember passing the entrance exam for the school there, er, many moons ago. Funnily enough, a fellow Landlord in North Yorkshire, mentioned your place -The Old Bore-to me only this week. You are indeed on the to-do list, :smile: along with the Junction Inn, down the road. All three, of which Robert Cockcroft has eulogised about. It's just a pity that we keep having to pass over the border from Lancs, to get some decent food within fifteen minutes of where we live. :sad:

Cheers

Bapi

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  • 4 months later...

Why can't more places do this?

We are having dinner here tonight, with a skinny fop from Cornwall. Just had a look on the website at the menu- which is updated daily, and have already selected what I want to eat tonight.

Ham Hock Faggot to begin, followed by the Beef Wellington me thinks. :smile:

Millbank

Edited by Bapi (log)
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