| Pub Restaurants | |
| The Slug and Lettuce | |
| The Doremose | |
| Edwards | |
| The Pitcher and Piano | |
| Bar 38 |
It's more a pub than a restaurant, but they have pretentions to be foody, so they deserve a slating for the food I got. I opted for the "Soil Association" Sausages and Mash. If the sausages had been warm, they'd have been quite nice. If the mash hadn't been lumpy, I'd have loved it. If the gravy had shed it's skin, I'd have found it eatable. And at £6.50, if it had been half the price I'd still have been pissed off. Infact, I'd have preferred a slug and lettuce. Get a grip!
Serving a lunch and dinner menu, The Doremouse strives to offer something a little bit different from standard pub fare (although you can't help but think it all arrives in the back of a chilled van, ready prepared). Mind you, I'd still recommend their awesome Brunch that puts even a Little Chef Olympic Breakfast to shame as a lard fest. At night, choose from dishes such as a Chicken Arrabbiata, Sirloin Steak with Mushroom and Marsala, Salmon Prawn & Four Cheese Pasta and various specials. Finish it off with what is perhaps the best Irish coffee we've had anywhere, and you'll be pretty satisfied.
I've often passed this pub at night and gawped at the girls in thigh length boots and skimpy dresses queing to be admitted. And the boys with the beer guts, tattoos and capped T-shirts. Or was it the other way around? During the day, however, things are much more conservative, including their lunch menu. It attempts to cover most of the bases from BLT's to Pitta Wraps, from Lasagne to Thai Chicken, and the portions are substantial to say the least! Good value, nice coffee too and you could do much worse for a pub lunch in York.
Nice views over the River Ouse are almost obscured by the size of the plates they serve you with here. The menu reminds you of pubs like the Slug and Lettuce, or any of these other chain pubs that are expanding out from London to see if there's life North of Watford. They serve starters, sandwiches, main courses and salads - I'd recommend the nachos, and avoid the Chargrilled Chicken Breast with Stir Fried Vegetables (wouldn't feed a gerbil). It verges on the expensive too.
Clearly the 38 stands for the amount of minutes you will spend waiting for your food to arrive, judging by our various experiences. Once it does finally appear in front of you, it's none too bad, a cross between Spanish Tappas, Chinese and Japanese appetisers. Bangers and Mash it's not, but then Bar 38 isn't Old Peculiar and Pork Scratchings either. It's a trendy place, and it's therefore trendy food that's on offer. If you also assume it's more trendy than filling, then you'll be spot on. Basically, it's food for girls who think Bridgette Jones is a real person and that Chardonnay is a brand name.
