The Italian influenced restaurant, bar and deli is located in the grade 2 listed former Terry’s chocolate factory in York. The Old Liquor Store is a mix of history and modernity served underground in the old cellar of Terry’s.
The restaurant offers breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner including small plates, and Sunday roasts. The onsite deli stocks pantry favourites, and the bar hosts events and pre/post York Races brunch and dinner bookings.
The Old Liquor Store is in the Bishopthorpe area of York, in one of the suburbs just outside the city centre. Nestled amongst some of York’s swankiest apartments, the restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday serving great food.
H&N Magazine was invited to try one of the menus, so we sent our writer, Rachel McAlley with her family to try out the Sunday Roast menu.
We arrived at the restaurant entrance, where the walls were adorned with old photographs, invites, and newspaper clippings from when it was Terry’s chocolate factory. A few comfy chairs, sofas and bar stools were filled with guests waiting for their Sunday lunch booking.
The staff greeted us with a smile and took us straight to our table, where we perused the drinks menu. Once we ordered drinks the Sunday Roast and Sunday Specials menus were presented. One course is priced at £24, two courses at £32, and three courses at £36.
Sunday Lunch
We chose from both menus for our starters and opted for shell on king prawns, with Calabrian chilli and lime butter, with dulse mayonnaise. Furthermore, we opted for the York gourmet mushroom arancino served with king oyster ketchup, crema di capra, and fermented black garlic. Our final starter was the braised lamb belly hotpot filled Yorkshire pudding, with rosemary and mint gravy.
The standout starters were the king prawns, of which there were plenty, a large bowl full in fact. Also, the braised lamb, which could have easily been a main course as it was an incredibly huge dish. Both were full of flavour and we didn’t want them to end!
Moving onto the main courses, we chose from the a la carte menu. Two of us went for the roast sirloin of Yorkshire reared beef and veal bone gravy and the other opted for the garlic and oregano porchetta with crackling, fennel sausage stuffing, and big apple cider gravy. Both dishes were served with garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, baked cauliflower and taleggio gratin, honey glazed roots, and buttered Italian greens.
Okay, where to start with this? Every single element of both dishes was exquisite, from the perfectly cooked pink beef to the crispy, crunchy crackling. The stuffing was perfection, the giant whole carrots were melt-in-the-mouth delicious, and the cauliflower gratin was simply moreish. We couldn’t have dined anywhere better.
Sunday Lunch
We also ordered a couple of extra side dishes including the Chianti braised red cabbage, and the salt baked new potatoes with pesto rosso butter. Honestly, the red cabbage was outstanding, even better than my mother-in-law’s, which is saying something! I nearly asked for the recipe, but thought better of it as I didn’t want to be told no by the head chef.
Now, we were asked if we fancied trying dessert, which on any other occasion I would have said yes, but I was far too full. However, one of us did go for it and opted for the burnt vanilla custard with fresh and frozen raspberry, amaretto roasted peach, and roasted almonds. Once eaten it was referred to as a revelation of a dessert, with exceptional flavour.
Sunday Lunch
The service was second to none, the team were fantastic, and the chef even let me take a photo whilst he was cooking. So, all-in-all this was a fantastic visit to The Old Liquor Store in York, and we are already planning a return visit for a Christmas night out, this time we will be trying their small plates at dinner.
We would highly recommend booking a table before going as they do book quickly, and we can fully appreciate why!
Visit The Old Liquor Store to find out more and book a table.
Exquisite Sunday Lunch at The Old Liquor Store, York – Words by Rachel McAlley / @LadyRach
