Another Day in York

This is a continuation of the last blog post I did which was in danger of getting a bit too long, but since most of the places I went to in York deserved a mention it seemed wrong leaving any of them out entirely!

Pride of place for the day had to go to the magnificent beer selection in Pivni. I could probably have spent the whole afternoon in there but as it was I had to be content with a glass of De Molen Citra. This was a great single-hop IPA, really beautifully light without too much overbearing tropical fruit character, erring more towards the lemon and grapefruit end of the IPA spectrum, which I felt worked well with the lower (4.8%) abv.  If you are a beer fan and find yourself in York, then Pivni is a must visit, although if you come by traing I'm guessing you may find yourself stuck in the station. York Tap or York trap?

More wandering after lunch saw us ending up in the shop part of Trembling Madness, yet another beer paradise, and saw me leaving clutching a couple of carrier bags full of beer, including another El Dorado single hop beer, tying in nicely with the one I had at York brewery. More on those to follow. I also managed to pick up another sample of whisky, this time a spicy 13yo from Braeval, courtesy of Vom Fass. I'll be writing that one up soon too.

We had our evening meal at El Piano, something of a spread out chain - with the others being in Granada and Málaga. Good as the food had been so far this was the best we'd had. The variation in flavours that they managed was fantastic, and I had a meal that was 90% sourced from within 30 miles. Since I was in York I felt I had to revisit an old favourite from back in the lost days of my youth, I had a bottle of Black Sheep with my dinner. It's a beer that's quite common nowadays so probably not worth my input since I'm sure most people have tried it, but have a look at Matt's piece over on his blog, a great story (sort of) about the beer.

So that was York. It had been so long since just the two of us had some time away it was great to make the most of it in a friendly city that really fit the bill for us. Great food, great drink! I'm not sure where the next destination will be but it has a lot to live up to.

A Day in York

My wife and I had a couple of days up in York last week. Due to the kindness of grandparents being willing to babysit we were well and truly able to indulge ourselves with lots of great food and, of course, drink.

Pretty much the first port of call was Goji café, for a great burger and an Elphin Brook. Even given the wide choice of places to eat and drink in York we ended up going back to Goji the next day too, giving me a chance to try the Mytholm Mist Helen had the day before.

York brewery is well worth a visit, nestling nicely within a few minutes walk of the city centre. I popped down after lunch to do a brewery tour and it wasn't until I walked in that I realised I'd been there before. When I ran a pub for Castle Rock we'd had a day out in York and we called in there since the two breweries had a connection from way back in the set-up days of York brewery. The liquid accompaniment to the tour was a half of York Gold and one of El Dorado. While I was at the brewery I heard a rumour there that Jaipur was on tap at The Old White Swan, which made a post-meal drink location an easy selection. The lack of Jaipur was potentially a disappointment but it was made up for by the presence of Roc Fall, a new Thornbridge beer for me.

Whisky cravings were sorted out courtesy of Demijohn, the 'liquid deli' where I picked up a wee sample of 15 year old Clynelish which I am very much looking forward to trying - more to follow on that one! I also had a nip of an 8yo Caol Ila to ward off York's notorious ghosts.*

We had our evening meal at Ambiente Tapas bar. Ambiente is a modern, fashionable, sort of bar, and I thought the emphasis on sherry to accompany various parts of your meal was a real plus - I opted for an Oloroso as an apéritif, and while I was tempted to indulge in a PX with (or maybe just as) dessert I resisted in favour of the excellent white Rioja we still had on the go.

* My theory of whisky warding off ghosts remains unproven. However, since I wasn't harassed by any, I am going to carry on drinking it, hopefully to continue the protection. You can't be too careful after all.