As an ex-travel agent, it’s hard for me to not want those indulgent experiences. Travelling is great for the soul, the mind and all-round life experience. Elegant Resorts cater for those wonderful memories you create in some of the world’s most beautiful destinations such as the Caribbean, The Indian Ocean and many more. Creating a luxury Caribbean or Mauritius holiday experience in the UK was top of the agenda & I couldn’t think of anything better than The Courtyard Spa at the local Bridge Inn at Walshford. Having been before when the Spa just opened it has recently undergone a massive £225K refurbishment adding even more wonderful spa features to their repertoire.
There is nothing I enjoy more than a good burger joint. Sadly, you have to venture to the bigger cities near us such as Leeds, York or Harrogate to be given some meat-a-licious joy. But not now. Now we have the wonderful Sir Dukes to wet our burger ridden appetite.
Recently opened in the old spot of Bon Appetite, this new Bar & Grill gives our little Market Town of Wetherby something it has been missing for a long, long time. Whilst we do have a few select, lovely restaurants in the area we just lack those funky little spots that echo that city charm that we very rarely get in the countryside. I for one could not be happier with this place.
Located in an old, limestone building it oozes that farmhouse style but then when you walk through the door it becomes very quirky. Lots of random pieces of art throughout that you don’t know where to look. We were here early doors to enjoy the Buy 1 get 1 free offer that they are currently promoting so we got a nice spot right next to the original fireplace and at the window for some perfect people watching fun.
We were handed two menus by a lovely host (who I must commend on his royal blue suit – top marks for style there!) Whilst the menu is predominantly meaty, they don’t do too many options which I think is good as it keeps things simple and the process of eating out so much less stressful of having to choose. This place offers burgers, hanging kebabs and a selection from the grill. All of which made my mouth water at the thoughts. I ummed and ahhed about which burger to go for between a simple burger with cheese and trimming or the ‘’Grand Old Duke of Pork’’ (I love the play on words here!) and settled for the latter.
Of course, I was not disappointed with my choice. A thick locally reared beef burger, lashing of pulled pork and peanut butter sauce, accompanied with a honey glazed spare rib, bacon popcorn and some skinny fries. I will wait whilst you just take that in, because it took me a while to process it when it was put in front of me!
You know those meals you get that just cannot be put in to words how good it was? Well this is one of those moments. EVERY. SINGLE. BITE. Was just ridiculously tasty. The beef was cooked to perfection and the pulled pork and peanut butter sauce tasted like a dream and really complimented one another. Bacon popcorn? I hear you say! Yes, and despite all of the odds that should be against it, it was amazing and tasted exactly like a piece of bacon should do. The honey glazed spare rib was perfectly succulent and fell off the bone, just how I like it! And the skinny fries, well you can see where this blog post is going, were DIVINE, especially when it was lashed with Sir Dukes own home made BBQ & Whiskey sauce.
Okay, so of course we were ready to pop after this delicious meal. However, nothing was going to stop us wanting some form of desert afterwards & Sir Dukes do cakes pretty well here. Mr C opted for the Chocolate Fudge Rolo cake which just melted in your mouth (of course I stole a cheeky bite, or two? I have to I’m his wife!)
Whilst he chomped away on the sickly sweet desert I opted to try out one of the cocktails they had on offer, priced at £6 it wasn’t the cheapest cocktail but as we were eating on the BOGOF deal I thought I might as well treat myself & boy am I glad I did?! I opted for the ‘’Solero’’ cocktail which is a passion fruit flavoured drink that is amazing. It was sweet but had a nice tart after kick which I like with my cocktails. It certainly went down a treat!
After our bellies being delightfully full and VERY happy we asked for the bill. Marcus, the owner came over and say Hello as I had mentioned on Twitter & Facebook that we were heading over for a bite to eat which was lovely. All the staff made us feel so welcome and I think this will pay dividends with the local community.
The bill came to a grand total of £33 + tip. This included, two burger with skinny fries, 2 coleslaws, 2 Peroni’s, Chocolate Fudge Rolo cake & a Solero cocktail – I thought it was extremely reasonable for the quality and standard of food we had just feasted on. They even give you wham bars with your bill which wins me over alone!
Overall this new Bar & Grill is a refreshing new joint in Wetherby, if you like cool and quirky with a burger thrown in to the mix then I would not hesitate suggesting this local restaurant! It was a first time experience and it certainly won’t be our last. I wish it all it’s success, however I don’t think it needs my wishes as they seem to be doing everything right without them!
I love to hear about local eateries so if you know of any then let me know, I’d love to hear from you!
When you live somewhere for a long time you very rarely look past what meets the eye. You take things for granted and don’t see for what it is worth. This weekend proved that despite our local town being a ‘’same old, same old’’ kind of place we were wowed with the Wetherby Food Festival this past weekend. And as soon as someone mentions food, I am there.
So on Sunday afternoon we found ourselves heading down to the Ings by the river to experience some culinary delights and get our senses lusting after food that we don’t normally get to try! Cue photo overload.
First things first, we had to wet our alcoholic appetite and we were not dissapointed with the amount of drinks stalls availabe. As much as I love prosecco I really fancied trying some locally made raspberry cider. I can’t say I was overly overjoyed with my choice as it was extremely tart and still tasted like pear cider. I expected it to be like a mixed fruit type of cider. Clearly not.
Despite the terrible choice in beverage it was time to have a look round and see what food was on offer. I have a penchant for filling my stomach & I enjoy good food. Hence the gut that you may see in a few photos time. I am determined to go on a health kick so what better way than to spend my last Sunday as a ‘’free eating woman?’’
Who doesn’t love a good old, restored, vintage caravan? Hands down. THIS is my ultimate dream. I would just adore the chance of being able to restore my own caravan and create a pop up cafe from time to time as a little hobby. The guys at Crepe Escape have done an amazing job. And what’s better they have painted it in my favourite colour too!
Yep, there is fatty bum bum – I have indulged in a few cream cakes recently, my hair is windswept and Mr C can never take a good photo of me. I will stick to a tripod next time.
For those of you who care I kept my look simple and despite the glorious weather it was pouring it down in the morning so I thought I would put some jeans on. BIG MISTAKE.
Top | Zara (eBay find)
Jeans | Topshop Baxter
Shoes | Birkenstocks
Now, on to the food…
Mr C indulged in a super, doubly spicy chorizo burger which he said was extremely tasty. I have to agree it looked amazing as well.
I opted for Paella from Black Bull Paella. It was fresh and had just been made which made even more appetising. Big chunks of chicken & chorizo is exactly what I like in a paella. It was quite oniony but it was still delicious and quite spicy too. As fan of a little kick we were not disappointed with our choices.
I’m sure you will agree, EVERYTHING, looked amazing & so delicious. In fact my mouth is watering at the sight of the beautiful, hand pick strawberries. (Insert strawberry Emoji / heart eyes face here!)
Not only was there food and drink available they had kitted out the festival with two stages for performances it so it really felt like you were at a festival with some local, home-grown musical talent too! These guys below were awesome with the little accordian!
Honestly, credit goes to the organisers because I have never seen Wetherby so busy before and it was clearly enjoyed by all. The entry was only £2.50 to get in which was an absolute bargain for a full day of entertainment. I hope it is back next year, even bigger & better than this year!
What did you do this weekend? Does your home town offer something similar every year? I’d love to hear from you!
Rebecca xxx
Ps. If you want to get Festival ready why not head over to my giveaway and enter to win a pair of Hunter Wellies, click here!
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
You must be logged in to post a comment.