I HAD been to Middleham Key Centre before for the odd council meeting or planning hearing, but the discovery that it now boasted a bistro was a surprise.

During the day the venue, which is tucked away in a residential area of the pretty racing town, is a rural conference and meeting centre, but on Friday and Saturday nights a room at the back opens as a little restaurant. You enter via the unlit car park of the Key Centre, with the lights from the door shining out into the night like a beacon for hungry travellers, or even those who have popped in from just down the road.

Without seeing it, Fairhursts could be construed as being a tad ill-conceived – a restaurant in the back room of a conference centre well away from passing trade, but it's actually a really nice, intimate room, with a little bar, interesting artwork, a wooden floor and candlelit tables. Less of a surprise than the location of the bistro was the name of those behind the venture; the Fairhurst family has been providing top-notch catering services in the Yorkshire Dales for several decades.

There were a few other couples in when we arrived and the lady serving was choosing to put everyone together in one end, rather than space us out around the room. Pet hate is too strong, but it is a little irritating when you have to speak in hushed toned for fears of the next table overhearing you gossip about work colleagues or bad mouth the children.

The menu prepared by chef Guy Fairhurst aims for modern interpretations of classic dishes. It's a small menu – four starters, four main courses and three desserts, plus a cheeseboard. The limited options were not a problem for me, although Sarah struggled at first to make her choices. After some umming and ahhing, she opted to start with a Yorkshire pudding, served with burnt onion. Yorkshire puddings are the highlight of any roast and are too good just to be eaten on Sunday, especially when they were served like this one with a traditional wet salad and a meaty, salty beef jus.

I went for the KFC chicken, panko, sweet chilli, Boston beans and celeriac remoulade. Quite what Colonel Sanders would make of the flagrant infringement of his trademarks I'm not sure, but he should perhaps be more worried that his secret recipe had been spectacularly bettered. The panko breadcrumb coating on the chicken was spicy and delicious, while the beans and the chilli sauce were good accompaniments.

For main, Sarah had the crispy jerk belly pork, rice, peas, spring onions, beef tomatoes and mango. She really enjoyed the dish, especially the tender meat coated in sticky, spicy sauce.

Feeling adventurous and wanting to reminisce after being brought up in a vegetarian household, I went for the vegetable burger made from wild mushrooms and cashew nuts, served in a brioche bun, with sour cream and salsa. As a lover of mushrooms, I found it as tasty as any beef burger. Everything on the plate had clearly been hand-made with a lot of thought.

I finished with a delicious rich and sticky double chocolate pancake served in a mini-tower of banana, chocolate sauce and ice cream. Sarah had floating islands of meringue, with vanilla, custard and a very impressive spun sugar structure, which she said was heaven.

I forgot to mention the little mushroom soup and the home-made bread we were served before our starters, which were both excellent.

All in all, it was a lovely meal. The dishes were modern, quirky and fun, but also tasted – and looked – really good.

The bistro offers two courses for £22.50 and desserts for £5.95. The meal, including a couple of glasses of wine and an extra bowl of spot-on fat cut chips, came to £69.70 – not a cheap night out, but we didn't feel the bill was over the top given the quality of the food. Fairhursts Bistro is hidden away, but well worth discovering.

 

FOOD FACTS

Fairhursts Bistro
Middleham Key Centre, Park Lane, Middleham, North Yorkshire, DL8 4RA

Email: guy@fairhursts.co.uk
Tel: 07407-111806 or 01969-624668 

Food: ****
Ambience: ****
Value for money: ****
Service: ****