|
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
| Home > Testimonials |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews for Le Caveau
Which Good Food Guide 2005: Le Caveau, Skipton As its name suggests, Le Caveau is a cellar restaurant (a 'super little place') tucked away beneath a shop in the centre of town. Stairs descend to the stone walls and barrel-vaulted ceiling of the diminutive dining room. Although the building may be centuries old, the seasonal carte - bolstered by blackboard specials - moves with the times, supported by traditional values. Richard Barker uses well-sourced local ingredients: venison (served with spiced red cabbage and a redcurrant and port jus) and beef (sirloin steak with a pink peppercorn sauce) from the Yorkshire Dales, and cheeses from Skipton's market. Blueberry frangipane tartlet, or dark chocolate truffle cake tempt at dessert. Service is good humoured and unstuffy, and prices on the wine list rarely stray over £20. House Duboeuf is £11.95. CHEF: Richard Barker. PROPRIETORS: Brian Womersley and Richard Barker. OPEN: Tue to Fri 12 to 1.45, 7 to 9.30 (Sat 5.30 to 9.45). CLOSED: 25 Dec, first week Jan, first week June, 2 weeks Sept. MEALS alc (main courses L £7 to £15, D £10 to £18). SERVICE: not inc. CARDS: Amex, Delta, MasterCard, Switch, Visa. DETAILS: 30 seats. Private parties: 30 main room, 10 to 16 private rooms. Vegetarian meals. No smoking. Music. · · · · · · · ·
Which Good Food Guide 2004: Le Caveau, Skipton This pint-sized restaurant in the centre of this unspoilt market town is reached by careful descent of a flight of steps. Inside, the napery is all stiffly starched, but the staff are just the opposite, marshalling visitors around the confined space with friendly efficiency. Richard Barker uses as much local produce as he can lay his hands on, turning it into successful dishes such as plump and well-timed scallops with a timbale of Savoy cabbage and tarragon sauce, followed perhaps by a very fresh, generous serving of sea bass with lemon butter sauce. Other reference points have included spicy Moroccan vegetable tagine, lamb shank sauced with white port and mint, and indulgences such as Tia Maria cheesecake with Baileys creme anglaise to finish. The English and Continental cheeses have included a blue goats' cheese from Croatia, which must surely be a first for Skipton. Exemplary value distinguishes the wine list, which darts about the globe in search of interesting flavours and kicks off with house wines from Georges Duboeuf. CHEF: Richard Barker. PROPRIETORS: Brian Womersley and Richard Barker. OPEN: Tue to Fri 12 to 1.45, 7 to 9.30 (Sat 5.30 to 9.45). CLOSED: 25 Dec, first week Jan, first week June, 5 to 21 Sept. MEALS alc (main courses L £8 to £16, D £10 to £16.50). SERVICE: not inc. CARDS: Amex, Delta, MasterCard, Switch, Visa. DETAILS: 28 seats. Private parties: 30 main room, 10 to 18 private rooms. Vegetarian meals. No smoking. Music. · · · · · · · ·
Which Good Food Guide 2003: Le Caveau, Skipton French name notwithstanding, this restaurant epitomises Yorkshire hospitality. A vaulted cellar between a bank and a building society, it has a convivial atmosphere, and the no-nonsense seasonally changing carte is like a breath of fresh, moorland air. It offers half a dozen choices for each course, supplemented by blackboard specials. Traditional values don't preclude nods to current fashions, as in a starter of toasted goats' cheese on black pudding with plum chutney, or in Gressingham duck breast on red cabbage with red onion, apple and a hint of cinnamon. But the limits of sensible good taste are never transgressed, add on a cold November day a couple of reporters were warmed first by the welcome, then by parsnip and Parmesan soup followed by lamb casserole, and roast cod. Hot home-made puddings might include blackberry and apple crumble or a strawberry vacherin. The succinctly annotated, skilfully chosen wine list has just three bottles over £20 and offers exceptional value. Four wines are available by the glass, ranging from £2 to £2.85 (for Chilean Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon), house wines are £9.50, and there are useful half-bottles. CHEF: Richard Barker. PROPRIETORS: Brian Womersley and Richard Barker. OPEN: Tue to Fri 12 to 1.45, 7 to 9.30 (Sat 5.30 to 9.45). CLOSED: 25 Dec, first week Jan, first week June, 2 weeks Sept. MEALS alc (main courses £9.50 to £15). Set 1 £7.95 (2 courses), Set D Tue toThur £13,95. SERVICE: not inc. CARDS: Amex, Delta, MasterCard, Switch, Visa. DETAILS: 30 seats. Private parties: 30 main room, 10 to 16 private rooms. Vegetarian meals. Children's helpings. No smoking in dining room. Music.
· · · · · · · ·
Guestbook entries, notes & letters
The Editor Dear Sir LE CAVEAU RESTAURANT, SKIPTON, N. YORKS There is one word that describes what makes a successful restaurant - consistency. If one goes out to dinner to relax and enjoy the occasion one has to be confident that it will be as good as it was on the previous visit. On our latest visit we decided to choose from the blackboard menu. We had as a starter scallops served with a timbale of Savoy cabbage and tarragon sauce. The scallops were plump and well cooked, but the timbale was over seasoned slightly. The main course was sea bass and was outstanding; a very generous portion of fish, which was very fresh, on tarragon scented potato cake, with a lemon and butter sauce. As stated, the fish was superb and the potato cake perhaps superfluous. We finished with a strawberry vacherin; the strawberries were English, ripe and with plenty of flavour, sandwiched between two rounds of good meringue. Among the cheeses on my husband's plate was a very unusual, and pleasant, Croatian blue goat's cheese. The reason that made me choose all the dishes from the blackboard was the wine list, on which I found the Isabel sauvignon blanc of Marlborough. This wine came first in the wine challenge of Wine magazine two months ago and it is good to see Le Caveau is moving with the times and updating its wine list accordingly. Yours faithfully HA · · · · · · · ·
Now that we are back on dry land, I just want to let you know how very much we all enjoyed our celebration meal at Le Caveau. I knew from the advance menu you sent that we were in for a very special treat and my expectations were completely matched by the reality. The food was outstanding: imaginative, beautifully prepared and cooked to perfection. It is a very long time since I have tasted food of this quality - and certainly never in Buckinghamshire. I hope you will continue to delight your clients palates for many years to come. Thank you for your hospitality. Vive Le Caveau! GG. Thank you for making our wedding day special. The atmosphere was relaxed, the food was excellent (as always) and the staff were friendly. We had a brilliant day and are glad you agreed to cater for our day reception. Thank you again! MH. Thank you so much for looking after us so well on Saturday 10th July '04. The food and the service were faultless - attentive but not fussy. We appreciate all you did and look forward to visiting again. With very best wishes. PJ. Just a short note to say thank you for such a lovely evening last night. The food was excellent as always as was the wine. Best wishes for another 5 years. RS. Thanks very much for looking after us the other week. My girlfriends parents thought they had gone to heaven! Kind Regards. MW. Just a brief note to say how much we enjoyed the gourmet night at Le Caveau last week. Our thanks to you and your staff for making it such a splendid evening for us. Best Regards. DP. Just a little note to say thank you very much for the excellent food and service which you provided for us on our wedding day and for helping to make it such a special occassion. Yours sincerely. NE. Just a little note to thank you all so very much for a very, very good and memorable evening, hope we didnt upset anybody with our singing. Food and drink were both excellent. Our compliments to your chef (even though we told him once or twice?) Anyway thank you for making Hilary's hen night a good one! LHJ. We want to thank you and your staff for your contribution to the wedding of the new millenium so far! The reception was exactly as we wanted. Sorry for the delay in thanking you. Being married is such a time-consuming business. With very best wishes. MR. We would just like to say a very big thank you for a wonderful evening at Le Caveau. The combination of exquisite food and wines, and impeccable service in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere created a perfect evening for a special birthday celebration. Thank you so much for making it an evening we shall all remember. With kindest regards and very best wishes. RB.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
tel:
01756 794274
e-mail: