The Pipe & Glass Inn is a former 17th century coaching inn standing on the site of the original gatehouse of the Dalton Estate in East Yorkshire. It took less than 4 years for the current owners to achieve a Michelin star which is reflected to this day in the quality of the food on offer.
We booked an overnight stay in one of the garden rooms, the Mint room, which is just a short walk through the gardens and herborium with it’s delightful range of home-grown herbs which are used in the kitchen.
This was the second time that we had stayed at the inn, and in the same room. It is a wonderfully appointed room with large king size bed (if not larger), a small seating area with a table and two chairs, a large contemporary mirror over the desk/dressing table. The large cavernous bathroom has an inset roll-top bath, twin sinks and a walk-in shower. The whole room is disabled friendly from the car park to the door.
It was a special anniversary celebration for us so we ordered the optional charcuterie platter and a bottle of chilled Taittinger champagne on arrival. What a delight and well worth skipping lunch for knowing what was ahead of us. A delightful afternoon was spent sipping the bubbles and looking out over our very own private garden.
Our table was booked for 7pm and we wended our way the short walk from our room to the pub’s main entrance. We were greeted with a warm smile and shown to our table. The restaurant room was candlelit with a few other diners already tucking in.
The menu is a delight and offers a choice of seasonable food (see the menu below). We both went for the same choices of starter and mains; Filey Bay whisky cured salmon, pickled samphire, radish, crowdie, oyster and lemon balm fritter to start, and Barbecued rump of Yorkshire Dales lamb and crispy lamb belly, summer vegetable and Yorkshire fine fettle tartlet, nettle and mint puree, beer and barley jus to follow.
The food cannot be faulted in any way, the salmon in the starter had so much flavour and, although I’m not a great fan of oysters, the fritter was amazing. The lamb main was succulent and cooked to perfection. We accompanied the mains with a side of buttered new potatoes and a dish of broccoli with hazelnut pesto.
The Afters board offered us a wide choice of desserts and I, foolishly, went for the Five reasons to love chocolate. Maybe this was a bit of a mistake given the richness of the thing but wholly enjoyable none-the-less. Mrs Wanderer chose the Elderflower and buttermilk panna cotta, macerated strawberries and honeycomb and enjoyed it immensely.
Breakfast in the morning is a pre-booked affair with guests choosing what they want the night before. Anything and everything is on offer from a full English, to kippers, to fruit and porridge. On our previous stay chef had decided that the mushrooms and tomatoes in the breakfast should be sprinkled with thyme. We were not fans of this and, on this occasion when I booked the stay I specified that the herbs be left off. Fair play to them this was adhered to and the breakfast was superb, cooked to order after we took our seats, and piping hot. Excellent.
All-in-all this was yet again an excellent stay and one that we are sure to repeat. Well worth a visit just for lunch also.
The Willoughton Wanderer 
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