J. Baker’s

I have found my favourite restaurant, it’s just a shame that it is so far away.

Food

I fell in love with J Bakers straight away. They do things differently, I love their individuality. When I start describing the meal, you will see what I mean.

When we sat down, a little dish of Smoked almonds were presented. These were so addictive, and we munched through them while deciding on what to get. J Baker has introduced the “Grazing menu”, which really works like tapas or mezas. You choose a few dishes and make your own degustation. There are also the standard main meals on offer for lunch. For dinner it is a bit more conventional, with entrees and mains the focus, but the grazing option is also there. I decided to go grazing, but to choose the grazing plate, which is a selection of the grazing and main menu, while Slokky opted for a main.

Our next little surprise was when a rectangular plate arrived with a brown paper bag, some butter and sour cream. We were delighted to discover they contained little boiled potatoes. It was so simple, yet ingenious, and sure beats bread any day. What’s more, the cream was delicious, I actually smothered my potatoes in it. Next on the agenda was an amuse bouche of artichoke and split pea whip. Now, I’ve had a few amuse boucle in my time, and this is one of the best soup I’ve had. It was more whip than foam, and was very concentrated in flavour.

I was really looking forward to the meal by this time, and didn’t have to wait long at all. I was surprised when the Spotted Duck arrived as part of my Grazing Plate (£10.00), as the portion was entrée size. This is basically a terrain, made with Yorkshire produce, and with a wonderful balsamic vinegar reduction. The other part of my plate was Battered East Coast salt cod. This was a medium sized ball of the most delicious beer batter I have ever tasted, with beautiful fresh fish that didn’t really need the wonderful mayo to accompany it.

Slokky’s Tasty Lancashire Cheese Pudding ~ Curly Kale, shallot jam (£10.00) was no letdown either. Tasting a bit like the cheese tart we bought from Lille, it was reminiscent of eating ricotta pudding. The shallot jam was beautiful, but I was busy smearing the kale with the balsamic dressing and licking what I didn’t catch off the plate. This was very filling, so we didn’t really need the Baked beans, goose fat and parsley (£2.00) side we ordered, but with a name like that, who could resist? I am glad we did too as this was so top notch with flavour, gamey, mashed beans in a wonderful stock sauce.

We were really full as we had already ordered more since the menu sounded so tempting. The problem was, the desserts were even more tempting. We were so pleased with our meal we wanted to come back for dinner, so we could try the puddings then, but unfortunately they were all booked out, so we decided to throw caution into the wind and our “moderate eating plan” out the window, and ordered us each a dessert. I couldn’t resist the Yorkshire Triangle Rhubarb Fool (£4.50). The name refers to the region of Yorkshire that produces rhubarb. The rhubarb itself was prepared so it was crunchy and tangy, a bit like a pickle really. It was great, but what was even more enticing was the beautiful cream and shortbread on top. Best I have ever tasted. Ever.

And here is another example of why I love J Baker’s so much. They have a “chocolate room” menu where all manners of chocolate desserts and chocolate drinks are presented. After a long deliberation, we decided on the Summer Fruits, Pistachio and Chocolate Sundae (£4.50). Yum!! Kiwi, pineapple, passionfruit and superb dark chocolate ice-cream. We were very very satisfied at the end, but sad that we won’t get to come back for a while.

Rating - 9

Atmosphere

Somehow this is a place you want to come back to again and again. The orange tones and colourful flowers are endearing, and they have scattered old copies of food guides as display, including the SMH Good Food Guide 2002!!! We were given a prime spot next to the window, so we could watch the people come and go outside. There is a bar upstairs that looked very inviting. I think it is so different and refreshing to all the other places you see around York, and even London for that matter. I love that they are individuals, their cutlery and plates are very cool, with their own style, and really fits the atmosphere of this place.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Not really professional, none of the proper restaurant touch. Nobody enquired about my well-being when I got up to use the bathroom, we had to fill our own water, and plates were not removed for a long time. But they were very endearing, maybe because they looked so young and spoke with this very cool accent.

Rating - 2

C-factor

Our almost 3 course meal, no drinks, was only £31!!! For top quality food and the service charge only applies if there are more than 6 people and it’s only 10%.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

7 Fossgate
York
YO1 9TA
Phone+44 (0) 19 0462 2688
Website