Lords Restaurant
8 Montpellier Street
Harrogate
N. Yorkshire HG1 2TQ
Tel: 01423 508762

This is a part of the world I do not know so I dived onto the internet and found Lords: there the consensus seemed to be it was good but not cheap. We found the restaurant in a narrow street in this attractive area in the centre of town. There is a cricket theme however it does not dominate, it just provide a friendly ambience. I looked at the menu outside and was encouraged: it looked interesting!
I was surprised how small Lords was: somehow I thought it would be bigger but instead it had a pleasant bar area and about eight tables. We were welcomed and invited to sit at the bar whilst our table was sorted. I have a feeling that we then talked ourselves into a better table by chatting up the Boss and grabbing the wine list as a source for an aperitif. It may also have been that he realised I was not going to fit on a small table! Whatever the reason we got a good table for four: although we were only two and had booked for that number. The Boss, whose name I neglected to get, was a good-hands-on-caring professional and he looked after us well all night.
We did not stay long at the bar before we were whisked to our table with our bottle of wine. The starter offers were diverse with a ‘tian of crayfish and avocado’ side by side with ‘belly pork with black pudding.’ Hester settled for ‘Shetland King Scallops with sweet potato puree, tarragon butter and orange glaze’ whilst I was tempted by the unusually named ‘three birds of a kind.’ This was an interesting mix of chicken liver parfait, duck rillettes and seared pigeon breast. No complaints as it was interesting and tasty cooking. I was impressed with the idea of wrapping the rillittes in a cabbage leaf.
For mains we opted for ‘lemon and chervil crusted turbot chunks’ and ‘cannon of lamb with black pudding. Cannon of lamb is the fillet and it came nicely pink. I nearly had the local venison also on the menu. Many dishes had products with local identities: with Nidderdale Lamb, Northalaton Chicken, Gressingham duck and Vale of York venison all featuring and giving a good local feel to the menu.
The service was good, the staff pleasant and there was decent pause between courses, a real plus in my book. Of course that should happen without comment but all too often there is either virtually no break, or a prolonged break. As ever - timing is everything.
A really good restaurant run by first-rate people with an interesting-well-cooked menu. Just the place I love to find when travelling and looking for that little je ne said quoi!