I recently spent the weekend in Yorkshire with my Mum, who has now moved back to the area after living in Cyprus for almost 15 years. You may have read my other posts about our wonderful trip to High Farndale Farm and Afternoon Tea at Bettys.

We both love our food and so it was only natural that most of our weekend together centred around good grub!

I arrived in York on the Saturday lunchtime and so we thought we’d have lunch in the city. I hadn’t wandered around York since I was probably about 11 years old, so it was nice to reminisce and brought back many great memories – although it was so busy with lots of hen parties and stag do’s. Not quite like it used to be. I think next time I would go mid-week rather than a Saturday.

We stumbled upon a pub/restaurant called Guy Fawkes Inn on High Petergate – I’m a sucker for a place with history, and this is built on the spot where the man himself was born! Most other pubs and restaurants were packed but this one wasn’t too bad. We weren’t sure if that was a good sign or not, but we thought we’d give it a go. It was very dark inside, candlelit despite being in the middle of a sunny day. But I didn’t mind that, I’m a fan of dark and dingy places, I find them quite cosy. It was a bit of a nightmare for the camera though, as you’ll see, I couldn’t really get the best photos.

I ordered the Belly Pork with Paprika Sausage and Apple Stew with a Fondant Potato.

I must say, it was incredibly yummy! The pork was cooked perfectly and there was an extra surprise of a generously sized piece of crackling stuck into my fondant potato. My mum went for the Wild Mushroom & Asparagus Linguine, with Sweet Red Onion, Parmesan Cream, Shredded Basil and Toasted Pine nuts.

It wouldn’t be my first choice in a restaurant (where is the meat?!) but she thoroughly enjoyed it and said it was one of the nicest dishes she’d had at a restaurant recently. So we were both very satisfied with our trip to Guy Fawkes Inn – the bill was less than £30.00, and although we didn’t have any alcohol, it seemed very reasonable for very tasty and filling food!

The next day we went to High Farndale Farm and on the way home, we thought we’d stop at Helmsley and buy something to eat nearby. If you haven’t been to Helmsley before and have the opportunity to, please do it, you won’t regret it. It’s a beautiful little market town heading towards the North Yorkshire Moors.

We stopped off at Hunters of Helmsley where we bought some delicious pasties and quiches. It’s a wonderful delicatessen that sells everything you could ever want, and the prices made me want to cry compared to London. We ended up pulling in to a quiet little country lane and eating our purchases looking out over a vibrant yellow rapeseed field (my hayfever might have hated me, but it was so pretty!)

At the till, I noticed some Helmsley Ales on display, and the lady told me that they were brewed just down the road – well of course, we had to check this out! Less than 5 minutes away is Helmsley Brewing Co, where they brew their own ales – we bought one of each: Howardian Gold (Golden Ale), Hipa (India Pale Ale), Yorkshire Legend (Classic Yorkshire Bitter) and Helmsley Honey (Honeyed Golden Ale).

We drank them when we got home that evening and they were fantastic – the bitter was a bit heavy for me, but my Mum enjoyed it. I was a big fan of the honeyed golden ale – I’d never tried anything like this before and would love to get some more.

Aside from all of this, we also experienced some fabulous home cooking – we had dinner at our family friends, Mel and Lloyd’s house, who live just up the road from my mum, directly opposite where we used to live and where I grew up as a child. Mel is a great cook and she made a fantastic tagine dinner for us. I really must get one of her recipes for #FoodieFriends on here soon.

It was a lovely weekend and I can’t wait to go back up again soon! There are lots of places for me to explore.