The Blacksmiths Inn, Westow

[culinary bear]

fantastic lifestyle opportunity... ha ha ha...

[gethin]

i'd love the time to eat & drink the profits, i've never eaten/drunk so little since we bought it!

i'm losing weight (although that could well be the stress!)

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I don't know why the "run your own pub diet" has never caught on. Its far more effective than Atkins or whatever.

The day I bought my pub , i had to go and buy some trousers because all my clothes and other posessions were in boxes stacked up in the shed (where, 2 years later on, they mostly still are) . 4 weeks later I had to go out and buy new trousers (and a new belt) because my waist measurement had dropped by 4 inches.

I think its something to do with working 20 hours a day and living off just the occasional packet of peanuts.

Gethin

[gethin]

i'd love the time to eat & drink the profits, i've never eaten/drunk so little since we bought it!

i'm losing weight (although that could well be the stress!)

←

I don't know why the "run your own pub diet" has never caught on. Its far more effective than Atkins or whatever.

The day I bought my pub , i had to go and buy some trousers because all my clothes and other posessions were in boxes stacked up in the shed (where, 2 years later on, they mostly still are) . 4 weeks later I had to go out and buy new trousers (and a new belt) because my waist measurement had dropped by 4 inches.

I think its something to do with working 20 hours a day and living off just the occasional packet of peanuts.

Gethin

[culinary bear]

I was just talking to Gary the other day about weight loss in the catering profession... I've lost 1st 10lb (about 10kg) in the last two months after starting a 70 hour a week job, and while it might be welcome, it's a little frightening...!

[offcentre]

you're obviously going to be massively busy but any details and info you can find time to post will be read with great interest Gary.

The best of luck with this from a naively jealous reader.

[curlywurlyfi]

We had a completely marvellous time. So nice to see everyone (Gary + Sarah, Bapi + Rosie). slacker + I arrived after many many hours in the car + were dying for a walk, but Andy the cheery chef appeared with a HUGE bowl of chips saying "these are the Heston Blumenthal style triple-cooked ones, I've just made a batch to try, would you mind...?" so that scotched any foolish notions of exercise. And anyway Westow was freezing, + pitch black. Gary did take us for a walk later armed with a torch so we could have the full 'it's like this down t'pit' experience.

the pub is gorgeous. Big sit-in woodburning fireplace with settles, wooden chairs + tables, all charmingly mismatched, and the dining room is a gorgeous soft tealy blue, with silver cutlery - can't hide the profits, eh, Gary.

Andy chef suggested giving us a little bit of all the starters + puddings on the menu, and mallard for all for main. we hesitated for approx one-tenth of a second.

- black pudding hash brown with poached egg + hollandaise

- tiny lardon + tomato salad

- morsel of turbot on Jerusalem artichoke cubes with chanterelles - this was divine

- foie gras in Yorkshire pudding with onion + wine gravy - lovely foie, sauce possibly a little too reduced?

- roast mallard breast with Yorkshire sauce (Cumberland with jus stirred in), curly kale, roasted butternut squash with thyme. I was in vegetable heaven having just spent three entirely chlorophyll-free days in Paris. Scurvy was imminent. Sorry, Gary, for stealing the kale off your plate (you didn't notice!) My mallard had a real tang of fish (which can happen with wild duck) but others were luckier. Slacker did a certain amount of hoovering up.

To finish, a plate of puddings - tiny piece of ginger parkin - HEAVENLY - much less dry than 'traditional' parkin; apple crumble souffle - nice idea but slightly hmmm in execution; apple crumble sorbet - very good; chocolate tart which was excellent - nice hit of salt too + fab thin pastry; and the generally acclaimed winner, blood orange creme brulee.

We had wine but I don't remember that part - oops.

And then we had a lock-in which involved Tesco Calvados; many pints of beer; 'oh yes let's have a bottle of champagne now that it's 2am'; hiding from Bapi; slacker pulling pints; a conversation with another guest whom I thought was Irish but in fact was just local; and Gary + Sarah's stunt cats who were going to bring us milk + tea on their backs in the morning.

and a lash-up fry up in the morning, which saved the lives of many of the party.

It's a really lovely pub, and the proprietors are pretty nice too Should be absolutely cracking when you get rid of those mingy portions Thanks for a great time.

[Gary Marshall]

you're obviously going to be massively busy but any details and info you can find time to post will be read with great interest Gary.

The best of luck with this from a naively jealous reader.

←

thanks,

i do have the best intentions of posting more & photo's i have loads of pictures of half complete meals as we get too busy and i forget to complete the meal, and my sodding telephone line is a bit flaky which affects the broadband.

cheers

gary

[Gary Marshall]

We had wine but I don't remember that part - oops.

←

we drank, before dinner, house white, le charme sauvignon blanc, a quite quaffable drop, point shown by 3 disappearing very rapidly!

think we had champagne to start, georges gardet brut special

we then had riesling bollenberg 04, materne hageilin

bourgogne chardonnay 2000 etienne sauzet

nuits st georges 1er cru les damodes 1997 machard de gramont (sadly now all gone)

then its replacement - st aubin 1er cru 99 hubert lamy

and finally, andrew quady elysium black muscat

[Gary Marshall]

glad to see slacker, despite the fug of alcohol reminded me we didn't have nuits st georges, we had giradin santenay instead!

whilst i was working my way back from a very enjoyable lunch at le champignon sauvage our guests were feasting upon...

Starters

Cream of Celeriac and Roasted Pear Soup, Home Made Bread £3.95

‘Mrs Kirkhams’ Lancashire Cheese Hash Brown, £5.50

Bramley Apple Puree, Cider Reduction

Nobles of Whitby Oak Smoked Salmon, Toasted Muffin, £6.50

Cucumber Pickle, Shrimp and Caper Vinaigrette

Potted Local Game, Grilled Plums, Mulled Wine Syrup, Warm Toast £5.00

Grilled ‘Blacksmiths’ Black Pudding, Champ Mash, £5.50

Poached Free Range Egg, Tarragon Hollandaise

Main Courses

Bradley’s Of Staxton 21 Day Aged Sirloin Steak, £18.50

Béarnaise Sauce, Triple Cooked Chips

Pot Roasted Local Pigeon, Root Vegetable Pan Haggerty, £13.50

Crispy Parma Ham, Beetroot and Lemon Thyme Juices

Ryedale Venison Haunch Steak, Parsnip and Apple Rosti, £16.50

Black Pudding Faggot, Pearl Barley and Tarragon

Seared Salmon, Wilted Spinach, Mini Lobster Thermidor, £16.50

Melting Potted Shrimps

Pan Roasted Fillet of Cod, Curly Kale, Jerusalem Artichokes, £13.50

Dry Cured Bacon, Plum Tomato and Chive Fish Cream

we've got our butcher making us our own recipe black pudding with sweetbreads and coarse ground sausages too.

Edited January 22, 2006 by Gary Marshall (log)

[Gary Marshall]

and today (sunday) i even managed to have lunch myself, the sauteed mushrooms,then roast beef, followed naturally by apple & rhubarb crumble (first of the season!).

So far january has been very busy, hopefully it will continue!

Starters

Cream Of Parsnip & Roasted Vegetable Soup

£3.95

Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese Hash Brown, Cider Reduction

£5.50

Saute Of Wild Mushrooms On A Toasted Crumpet, Garlic Butter, Blue Cheese Beignet £5.50

Potted Local Game Terrine, Grilled Plums, Mulled Wine Syrup, Warm Toast

£5.00

Grilled Blacksmith’s Inn Own Recipe Black Pudding, Air Dried Ham, Toasted Muffin, Poached Egg, Plum Tomato Sauce

£5.00

Main Courses

Roast 21 Day Aged Fletcher’s Of Norton Sirloin Of Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Red Wine Gravy £9.95

Roast Fletcher’s Free Range Loin Of Pork, Apple Compote, Black Pudding

£9.95

Braised Shoulder Of Lamb, Root Vegetable Pan Haggerty, Pearl Barley & Rosemary Juices £10.95

Blacksmith’s Inn Fishcakes, Wilted Spinach, Plum Tomato & Chive Cream Sauce

£9.95

Pan Roasted Local Pigeon, Parsnip & Apple Rosti, Black Pudding Faggot, Beetroot & Lemon Thyme £10.95

desserts

First Of The Season Rhubarb, & Cox’s Apple Crumble ‘Proper’ Custard

£5.00

Blacksmiths Inn ‘Eccles Cake’ Caramelised Puff Pastry, Spiced Cream, Oven Dried

Raisins £5.50

Glazed Fresh Lemon Tart, Lemon Curd & Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream, Blood Orange Coulis £5.50

Dark Chocolate Pudding, Black Cherry Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Sauce

£5.00

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Dark Muscovado Sauce, Clotted Cream

£5.00

Yorkshire Blue Cheese, Stem Ginger, Celery, Wafers

£5.00

[offcentre]

bugger me that sounds lovely - I'll have the black pudding followed by the pigeon please.

[Gary Marshall]

bugger me that sounds lovely - I'll have the black pudding followed by the pigeon please.

←

the black pudding was very popular, unfortunately we ran out of eggs to poach but luckily being in the sticks we managed to get 60 from our neighbour. We might not have a shop for miles but produce we can usually get hold of!

i had the mushrooms, the garlic butter was obviously pretty potent as mrs m was complaining about it later, the beef and then apple & rhubarb crumble.mmm

[Bapi]

We had wine but I don't remember that part - oops.

←

we drank, before dinner, house white, le charme sauvignon blanc, a quite quaffable drop, point shown by 3 disappearing very rapidly!

think we had champagne to start, georges gardet brut special

we then had riesling bollenberg 04, materne hageilin

bourgogne chardonnay 2000 etienne sauzet

nuits st georges 1er cru les damodes 1997 machard de gramont (sadly now all gone)

then its replacement - st aubin 1er cru 99 hubert lamy

and finally, andrew quady elysium black muscat

←

Oh dear god- the above is the reason that it has taken me this long to respond. A cracking day out, in good company. Loved the foie gras- toad in the hole-inspired stuff as was the turbot dish. And quite frankly, is there anything better than sitting by a fire in the wee small hours, talking nonsense? I think not.

[dkps_2000]

Sunday lunch booked for the 19th @ 1.30pm

[Gary Marshall]

Sunday lunch booked for the 19th @ 1.30pm 

←

thanks, come and say hello, i'll be around

[dkps_2000]

Certainly shall do ;-) Kirkpatrick is the booking.

[dkps_2000]

Back to Manchester now after a long weekend in Yorkshire which culminated in Sunday Lunch at the Blacksmiths

Sentiments above are echoed by myself, very nice pub, also like the way there was a decent amount of room between each table, even if an elderly lady on the table next to us had rather a loud voice! The welcome note on the blackboard for all people who had booked in was a nice touch

Starters was the Black Pudding Hash Brown for myself, possibly lacked in actual Black Pudding flavour but very tasty nonetheless when combined with the rest of the ingredients. My Dad had the Seared Salmon on Potato Pancake (can't remember the exact dish) but it was lovely!

Both of us had the beef for mains which was excellent and had flavour - so many pub sunday lunches serve rubbish beef. I think it would be the best Sunday Lunch beef I've had outside of my own home and to be honest would rival that. Roast Potatoes were crispy just as I like and the vegetables were good!

Dessert wise I had the White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Pears which was excellent, the perfect way for me to end the meal - if only I could have brought some back to Manchester with me! My Dad had the Apple and Pear Turnover which was by all accounts delicious and was certainly a large portion!

Thanks for the hospitality Gary and good luck with it all, sure you won't need it though

[Champagne Sadie]

Just found this thread!

I was lucky enough to have Sunday lunch here a few weeks back - no idea it was so famous! Should have guessed though, because I'm sure I saw Anthony Flinn there.

Rib-sticking potato soup to start, followed by the much mentioned roast beef. (The horseradish was scrummy - is this home-made??)

I'm waiting for another excuse to go to Yorkshire.

[Gary Marshall]

Just found this thread!

I was lucky enough to have Sunday lunch here a few weeks back - no idea it was so famous! Should have guessed though, because I'm sure I saw Anthony Flinn there.

Rib-sticking potato soup to start, followed by the much mentioned roast beef. (The horseradish was scrummy - is this home-made??)

I'm waiting for another excuse to go to Yorkshire.

←

Tony & Olga were up a few weeks ago having lunch with me & the mrs, scott & sam friar.

we have also become a popular haunt of many of the york restaurateurs which is good, especially when i need reciprocal visits on race days

horseradish is indeed homemade, i haven't had the beef for a while, it's nearly always sold out before i get chance to have any!

next time you are in the area let me know

[slacker]

Gary, Bapi etc.... how far are you from N Manchester? 1 hour plus?

Talk of beef...

[Bapi]

Gary, Bapi etc.... how far are you from N Manchester? 1 hour plus?

Talk of beef...

←

Translation please?

[slacker]

Gary, Bapi etc.... how far are you from N Manchester? 1 hour plus?

Talk of beef...

←

Translation please?

←

HOW FAR ARE IS WESTOW FROM NORTH MANCHESTER.

Sorry if I didn't make that clear. I will be in North Manchester and need possibly to get to Westow for some beef. So I think to myself: 'Who will know how long it takes?' Perhaps my hairdresser? No. A bloke who lives in North Manchester, I reckon is my best bet.

ffs.

[Bapi]

Do you not have maps in Cornwall? Don't answer that. Of course I understood that bit you tart, it was the cryptic beef reference. About one and a half hours from us to Westow - so add another half an hour for you.

And why am I not suprised you have a Hairdresser as opposed to a Barber.

[Basildog]

"And why am I not suprised you have a Hairdresser as opposed to a Barber. "

Ha Ha Ha ! now thats funny

[Gary Marshall]

whereabouts in manchester slacker?

it takes me an hour an a half to manchester airport if that helps, bapi drives like a girl, in two hours i'd be in Liverpool.

get onto the m62, A1-m1 link, A64 York follow until you see the sign for westow at the top of the hill.

easy trip, well worth it for a bit of aged sirloin, duck fat roasties, yorkshires & gravy (not forgetting the horseradish), you can have veg too but i think that's an unnecessary distraction from the meatage and may also take up valuable pudding space

i'm hungry now.

Edited April 6, 2006 by Gary Marshall (log)