I don’t know if you have walked down Swinegate recently, but if you have you might have seen the fabulous doorway of Forage Restaurant festooned in summer flowers.
The restaurant is just as pretty inside though with lots of greenery, fairy lights and a cosy candle on each table.
Forage serve “contemporary European cuisine cooked over fire”, using “locally sourced and foraged ingredients to add exciting, fresh, and eco-friendly flavours” to their menus. We chose from the lunch time menu, but they have an a la carte menu, children’s menu and they serve Sunday lunch. The dishes are served as small plates, which are ideal for sharing.
The lunchtime menu is priced at £15 for two small plates, so we ordered six between the three of us. Add in a Yorkshire Pecorino Stuffed Flatbread and Confit Potatoes with a Wild Garlic Emulsion and it was a veritable feast! (I even brought some home). The dishes are brought as soon as they are ready so you dig in as soon as they are on the table, it’s a very sociable affair.
My favourite dish was the Coffee Rubbed Pork Chop with Wild Garlic Kimchi. I was curious as I hadn’t tried anything coffee rubbed before but this was delicious. I loved the pork with the Korean influence of the kimchi – a flavour extravaganza and one I would certainly return for.
Another highlight was the Onglet Steak Tacos with Shirazi salad, pickled chilli, harissa, coriander and lime. This was delicious, especially the sour cream dip and a squeeze of lime!
I am not keen on seafood but my friend is and she ordered the Crab Bon Bon’s in a Smokey Huhammara Sauce, which she raved about.
She also ordered the Flame Grilled Prawns with Herb Zhug.
I enjoyed the Halloumi with Peppered Honey, Khadafi Pastry and Pistachio.
The Forage Fried Chicken was delicious.
Here is a photo of the Confit Potatoes with a Wild Garlic Emulsion.
Finally my friend opted for the cheese board (by which point I was stuffed!). I can’t remember all the cheeses but the one on the left was a good strong Harrogate blue. Served with crackers and chutney.
Forage is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. The staff member who served us was welcoming and very knowledgeable about the dishes we were served. It was a lovely, relaxed afternoon sampling some exciting dishes that were a little out of the ordinary.
We were invited to visit and review Forage. As always, all opinions are my own.
