Partisan, York 04-2021

Since it was the time of only outdoor dining, Partisan already had people at their two outdoor tables when they just opened at 9am. As we had a train departing around 9.20am, they were actually very nice about accepting my order by phone before they opened at 8.30 just to have it in time while we walked there. Nonetheless it still took them until about 9.10am to get us the food, but it was only a few minutes to the train so no big hurry.

When they gave us the bag they did say we've put it in a 2 paper bags as sometimes 1 paper bag breaks. Unfortunately they didn't tell us just how liquidy the Eggs in Purgatory was and  we put it in our backpack in not a flat enough position, and so unfolding it on the train discovered the liquid has torn through the bags and all throughout the backpack. Spicy tomato isn't the best thing to stain your items. I even clogged the train sink trying to wash it all out...

- Partisan Breakfast (two fried eggs, M&K herb sausage, smoked bacon and black pudding, vine tomatoes, home fries, mushroom, homemade smoky beans, sourdough toast and butter) £13 - excellent mushrooms, crisp salty bacon, sausage was fine. Bread a bit thin on the cut;
- Eggs in Purgatory (baked eggs, spicy Nduja sausage infused tomato sauce, topped with fresh parmesan and basil, served with Haxby bread) £13 - actually a really nice simmered rich tomato sauce, although not spicy. Sauce was everywhere.

Tricolor, York 04-2021

On a freezing York night with no indoor dining allowed, there was a pretty long line to Spark:York and it's outdoor seating formation with heating. Luckily people are let in by availability of their table size and so 2 was quite fast in the end - minimal freezing time.

All the ordering must be by phone which was a little annoying, but I suppose made necessary to stop people from walking around. 

As it was around 10pm, many places were out of food or already closed. Some weren't open at all due to the local restrictions. Tricolor or pizza were the only options and Colombian food definitely won for me. 

Nice arepa with chunks of pulled beef brisket. Hot vegetable empanadas, with a very mild filling. We ordered sweet fried plantains but they didn't have any, and so gave us plantain chips (crisp and salty, no sweetness at all) and a replacement of chilli mango chicken wings instead (some mango but no chilli).

A nice meal but nothing too special. I would go back for an arepa again though.

Ice Cream Rescue, York 04-2021

I'm unclear if this reformed old Ambulance is called Ice Cream Rescue or Ryeburn of Helmsley, but the flag saying UK Champion Diary ice cream drew me in. The menu showing which were the award winning flavours was very helpful too.

I tried mint choc chip (gold medal) and balanced it with some wild blackberry sorbet. I think they were good without being outstanding. To be fair they aren't flavours I normally choose so maybe that was part of it.

It was a little while ago and not so memorable in my mind. Would probably go for the chocolate and strawberry next time.

Stam & Maria Greek Street Food, York 04-2021

After getting a galette from Krep and with a plan to eat outside in the Museum Gardens, I couldn't resist also picking up a souvlaki from the well rated Greek food stall that reviews seem to mention lots of queues. On this bright sunny day there were only a few people in front but a lot of people sitting on the tables in front eating already.

They don't do lamb which I'm used to from Melbourne or pork that I'm used to from Greece. But chicken is always available at these places too and is the star of the show here, with the layers of meat cooked to a lovely char colour on the spit.

Chicken gyros wrap - gyros, pitta bread, tzatziki, tomato, onions, chips, signature sauce £6 is a bargain for such a large serve. The chicken was very tender and flavoursome. Wrapped in were lots of fries with paprika. Served piping hot. Absolutely delicious.


KREP Artisan Crepes & Galettes, York 04-2021

The Shambles market in York didn't really have much that interested us in the way of crafts and odds, but a well rated crepe/galette place certainly got a bit of attention. I wasn't sure if we wanted to spend one of our few meals on it as I often find crepes underwhelming and galettes to be average outside of a proper sit-down place in Brittany/France. However this place seemed to have a handle on things and had some nice smells wafting too.

We tried Truffe - mushroom & truffle duxelles, cheddar, local free range egg, black pepper, dijon mustard £7.5. I wouldn't call it necessarily a traditional galette that you would find in Brittany. t's cooked with a heap of delicious cheddar that crisps up reinforcing the buckwheat shell, smeared on top with butter, with a mild mushroom and truffle flavour, and some mustard on top.

Whereas the Briton galettes are crisp and simple to allow the buckwheat nutty flavour to come through, this one has bursts of flavour throughout by the cheese. It's exceptionally tasty and maybe better... (at least to our non-French tastes).