The Black Swan, Oldstead
Located beneath the White Horse in North Yorkshire is the small hamlet of Oldstead, home of one the best and well hidden pubs in the county. The Black Swan is an old sixteenth century building located on the Kilburn to Byland Abbey road at the junction of the back lane to Coxwold and serves some of the best pub food in the area.
The Black Swan, Oldstead, was bought by the Banks Family about eighteen months ago, and the family are no stranger to the area having farmed here for generations. The pub itself is a mixture of old and new with the bar being located in the original building complete with lovely fire place, flagstone flooring and low oak ceiling no doubt done at some time in the past by the local mouse man at Kilburn. The restaurant is located upstairs in a relatively new annex, but it has been very tastefully decorated and is a very comfortable room in which to dine. There is also additional dining space on the first floor of the original building, and a further annex with en-suite accommodation which is in the process of being refurbished.
However the most important thing about the Black Swan, Oldstead is the food and head chef, Adam Jackson, is to be congratulated for sourcing some of the best local produce and ensuring food leaving his kitchen is of the very highest standard. I can particularly recommend the sirloin steak which I believe is sourced from Roger Donaldsons of Huby, which on our visit was magnificent. Not one for having a sweet tooth, I opted for the cheese board, which is almost a main course on its own. There were six very tasty and unusual English cheeses from around the country which were delicious and were served with two varieties of Paxton and Whitfield biscuits. My partner was equally impressed by her chocolate truffle.
The whole experience at the Black Swan, Oldstead was excellent and because we had cut out a voucher from the Daily Telegraph, the main courses were half price.
The Verdict: Magnificent food in a lovely quiet setting
This entry was posted on Thursday May 29th, 2008 at 1:35 PM and is filed under Places to Eat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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1 Response to "The Black Swan, Oldstead"
John Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 5:10 PM
I recently stumbled across the nicest pub whilst on a walk near the White Horse. The Black Swan at Oldstead is in a lovely secluded spot about a mile from Byland Abbey.
We were welcomed by a blazing fire and friendly host and i was pleased to see a selection of cask ales including Black Sheep and Copper Dragon. Enjoying a well earned drink at the 'Mouseman' bar we glanced at the specials board, not just your average pub grub.
So impressed with our new find we decided to return a week later for dinner. The food was simply stunning! We have been back five times in total so far and never found a fault. The family who own the pub and the staff are friendly and efficient.
This not your average pub, the food is as good as or better then any of the top restaurants and hotels in the york area and you can still get a decent pint!