Nigel Burton finds decent pub grub at a windswept location on the North York Moors

WHAT makes a meal special? The food and drink, obviously, but I also like to think that convivial company, a relaxed atmosphere and a great venue help lift a meal from the mundane to the memorable.

The Lion Inn, a windswept pub sitting on a moorland ridge at the highest point of the North York Moors, ticks the boxes in so many ways.

There’s been an inn on the same site since the 16th Century, when a bunch of green leaves hanging outside was a sign that the hostelry was open for business. Since then, generations of landlords have dispensed food and drink to weary travellers, tired and thirsty after the 1,325ft climb out of Farndale.

Now, of course, most of the visitors travel to the Lion Inn by car.

However you get there, the journey is an event in itself – breathtaking scenery unfolds as you near the summit and, on a good day, it’s possible to see across the Vale of York.

Before the boom in tourism, the year-round trade at the Lion Inn was sustained by a nearby ironstone mine. If you are driving keep a look out for the giant hillside brick kilns, which treated the iron ore before it was taken by rail to the iron furnaces on Teesside.

Blakey Ridge – the outcrop of rock on which the Lion Inn sits – is a beautiful place to be when the sun is shining.

It even has a rugged beauty when it’s pouring down, but the weather up here can be cruel. In 2010, a group of people were trapped in the pub for eight days after 16ft snow drifts blocked the doors and windows.

Although it was still early when we arrived, the car park was full.

This observation was confirmed upon entering – the cosy main bar was packed with families and weary walkers enjoying well-deserved refreshments.

There’s an extensive bar menu, but we were dining in the restaurant, which is to the left of the bar area.

The menu offered up the traditional range of pub starters: prawn cocktail, breaded mushrooms and chicken goujons and so on. I opted for a giant Yorkshire pud and Jane chose the smoked salmon and scrambled egg, which costs £5.95.

The Yorkshire pud was fine. It lived up to its billing, easily filling the plate, and the thick, meaty gravy was an excellent accompaniment.

Good value for £3.95.

Fluffy scrambled eggs and the subtle smoked taste of salmon are a classic combo, although I prefer them to be mixed then flavoured with a pinch of chives and plenty of black pepper, rather than presented as separate portions on the same plate as they were here.

For my main course, I chose the Barnsley chops, which cost £14.50, while Jane opted to push the boat out with the steak tournedos rossini at £19.95.

Barnsley chops (also known as saddle chops) are cut across from the middle of the loin, creating a doublesided chop. I can’t argue with the portion size or the quality of the meat which was tender and juicy. I’d have preferred potatoes with my main course but didn’t get the option – although I did get a very generous helping of chips.

Tournedos rossini is an old French recipe named after an Italian composer (Gioachino Rossini). It consists of a filet mignon of beef that is topped (or filled) with foie gras and served on a large crouton.

Sadly for Jane, the steak and the duck pate weren’t to her preference and, to make matters worse, the crouton they rested on had all the taste and texture of fried bread.

To the chef’s credit, the meat had been done to Jane’s requirements, but that didn’t prevent it going back largely uneaten. And again, there was no alternative to chips.

For dessert, Jane ordered the raspberry meringue and I selected the brandy snap basket with ice-cream.

Again I got quantity (not one, but two, brandy snap baskets) but would have preferred a little more quality (the ice-cream looked and tasted like simple soft scoop and the cream had been squirted from a can).

The meringue was exactly as described: a large meringue, some raspberries and more squirty cream.

Both desserts cost £4.25.

If this reads like damning with faint praise then it is.

To be fair, the Lion Inn does not pretend to be a gastro pub and, judging by the number of diners packed into the restaurant, it has no need of any critic’s recommendation.

But when I review a pub or a restaurant I always try to see the best of it.

And there were lots of good points about this visit. I can’t quibble over the amount of food or the speed with which it was cooked, but... somehow, I came away feeling slightly disappointed.

Maybe the stunning location had led me to unreasonable expectations, but I was really hoping for a meal to remember. Instead I got pub grub – perfectly decent, but, sadly, nothing more than that.

Food facts
Food quality: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Value for money: 3/5

The Lion Inn, Blakey
Ridge, Kirkbymoorside,
North York Moors.
Meals served: 12 noon-
10pm daily.
Tel: 01751-417320
Website: lionblakey.co.uk