The Blackwell Ox Inn

Food

The Sunday lunch menu was in operation. I skipped the entrée, but had a taste of the others. I was not very impressed with the Crab Cakes, Lemon Mayonnaise and Dressed Leaves. I could taste mostly potatoes in the crab cakes, and it was bland and dry. The lemon mayo wasn’t that great, but did the job to help the crab cakes go down. The Smoked Salmon and Caper Terrine was very ordinary too, I don’t think they even bother doing anything except put some smoked salmon and capers together.

Mains were either a roast or a vegetarian option. Well, as expected, we all went the roast. The description of the roasts were as follows:

• Sirloin of Beef Roasted on the Bone with Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy
• Braised Should of Lamb with Mint Gravy
• Roast Loin of Rare Bread Pork with Spiced Apple and Clove Gravy

But on delivery, all the different meats were all served with a Yorkshire (very nice it is too) and the same sauce. Of all the meat though, the lamb was the best, juicy and not tough…the worst was surprisingly the beef, which was too tough. There was also a big helping of vegetables (bland!!) on the side too.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

Again, following the country pub formula. They have a front room with the bar and a roaring fire going. But we were going in the “dining room”. Well, we did want to dine at 3:30pm, so they opened up the dining room just for us. We got the prime bay window spot (well…no one was fighting for the spot with us), and it felt kinda weird dining, as all the tables around us were set up for breakfast the next day, and here we were, sitting in the almost darkness, enjoying a meal by ourselves. Everyone left us alone, except for the waiters who would wonder in and out to see if we were ok. I can see the room would be a lovely breakfast spot, but for lunch at 3pm on a gloomy Sunday…maybe not.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Generally very good. They came to check up on us quite a few times to make sure we had everything, but they neglected to ask us for any drink order.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

All starters and desserts were £4.95 and mains at £8.95, so a bargain really. They even do a 2 for 1 on main courses booked through Toptable, but Slokky neglected to book the deal.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

Huby Road
Sutton on the Forest
York
YO61 1DT
Phone +44 (0) 13 4781 0328
Website