Restaurant Myse, Hovingham: Review

Although I visited Le Cochon Aveugle in York just the once, for a kitchen-counter lunch, I recall it being nothing short of stellar.

Whilst influencers blather on that they’re “still dreaming” about whichever dish happened to be the most photogenic at the last freebie they attended, a few things really do still stand out from that meal several years ago for me. Namely: the sole in vivid vadouvan butter, a Yorkshire ‘wet salad’ that transported me back to a grandparent’s rural-style family buffets, and the unexpected jeopardy of ordering a coffee, for this coffee was special coffee and demanded a lengthy back-story and a drip-drip process that almost made me miss my homeward-bound Pacer.

Memories.

Fast forward to 2023, with former Cochon owners the Overingtons now ensconced in a countryside boozer having left York behind. Restaurant Myse, as the former pub’s now known, is a neat and tidy spot: clean, crisp and cosy all at once. We’ve bagged one of the three stylish room for this trip, enabling us to get elbow-deep in the booze offering, which the Noble Rot gang have had a hand in devising. Side note: all bedrooms should come with a slab of charcuterie.

The whole operation here is as tightly executed as the food itself. Indeed, the relaxed but well-oiled hospitality on offer backs up an interview I saw with chef-patron Josh, during which he stated that this place would be “all about the guest”. It’s a notion that’s evident about 17 seconds after we arrive, where an eagle-eyed member of the team spots us park up and escorts us to the front door, to breakfast the next morning where I’m coached through the do’s and don’ts of the boiled egg de-topper.

Regarding the food, I’ll cut to the chase. In terms of the high-end, the laser-guided, the quality of provenance, the slickness of service, nay the whole shebang from bar snacks through to breakfast, I’m simply not sure how it could be bettered. And that possibly sounds a bit vacuous, I know, but the truth is that on the back of this trip I’ve booked a New Year overnighter to L’Enclume – that 3-starred Lake District mecca – ostensibly to see what the difference could possibly be, or if indeed there is one.

Extreme, perhaps, but there we go.

Have some highlights, aka the bits I remembered to take photos of.