The Black Swan Helmsley Dining


The Black Swan Helmsley is a 500 year old four-star boutique hotel featuring a three AA-Rosette restaurant and an award winning tearoom and last week, my husband and I took a visit to see what all the fuss is about. During our trip to Helmsley we stayed at The Black Swan for one evening and was lucky enough to sample their three course a la carte menu in their Gallery restaurant. The A La Carte menu is said to showcase the best of fresh and seasonal produce found in Yorkshire with a cosmopolitan twist.

My husband and I were blown away with the artwork and finishings in the restaurant. It was clean, elegant and the staff were impeccably dressed. We were escorted to our table and greeted with the politest of manners and everything that night have an exceptional attention to detail.


As a vegetarian I always find it difficult dining out. Some places are more than willing to accept vegetarians and others are not. I cannot count the amount of times I have visited a restaurant and the only thing they have had to offer was a veggie burger or quorn lasagne - both of which can be delicious but when you're wanting to celebrate or looking for something special, neither of those sound attractive. Luckily, The Black Swan has a special vegetarian menu with an array of choices. For the first time, I didn't feel left out. For starter I opted for the cauliflower fritters and they were cooked to perfection. The batter was light and fluffy and not too oily, the cauliflower had the perfect crunch and the Cumin Creme Fraiche complimented the dish and brought it all together. My husband chose a fish dish with caviar and to this day has not stopped talking about it with a grin on his face. 


For main I chose the bulgar couscous with petit pois, courgette, pickled beetroot and garden leaves and my husband went for the Grouse. My dish was lovely and had an incredibly fresh taste, like the vegetables had been handpicked from the garden only moments before cooking. The couscous was just the way I liked it and I loved the edible flowers placed around the dish for presentation. My only criticism is that lacked something 'meaty' like mushrooms or a meat style substitute like halloumi. I did love the dish, but I found it so light and felt like there was something missing. My husband loved his Grouse and all the accompanying ingredients of turnip, kale and pearl barley.


The last and definitely my favourite dish of the night was the chocolate dish that both my husband and I chose for dessert. The chocolate dish consisted of a chocolate tart with pieces of honeycomb, praline and a sweet passion fruit sorbet. I usually stay away from chocolate dishes as I find them too heavy after such a big meal but this dish was had just the right amount of chocolate and the passionfruit helped cleanse the palette. I can't rate this dish highly enough, it was the 'piece la resistance' to an exceptional three course meal. I couldn't fault it.

If you fancy visiting The Black Swan Helmsley for a gourmet dining experience, check out their six course dining meal offer.  One night stayed priced at £235.00 for a couple includes a glass of prosecco and homemade scones and jam on arrival, a six course customised Tasting Menu at dinner, an overnight stay and a full breakfast in the morning.

Have you dined at The Black Swan Helmsley?


*This meal was complimentary


SHARE:

19 comments

  1. The food looks amazing, my mouth is watering thinking about it. Great review and would love to visit in the future x

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an amazing looking place to dine, I have never been, but after reading this I would very much love to. x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a veggie too, and I know what you mean about a lack of choice in many resturants! Glad you had a lovely meal!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks out of this world. It's so nice to see vegetarian food that doesn't look boring.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That food looks amazing! Glad to hear there was a more extensive vegetarian menu than some places offer

    ReplyDelete
  6. All of those dishes look so delicious, and that weekend package sounds like absolute heaven!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such delicate little dishes, they look amazing! Glad that they had more exciting veggie meals than quorn lasagne!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh wow this looks divine! I have recently gone veggie - I've always preferred veggie options on menus anyway. The cauliflower fritters look yummy but I do agree that the couscous looks like it needs something else

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks very post. Great photos and a lovely review x

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not a vegetarian, but wow, all the dishes look amazing. I hope you enjoyed your stay at the hotel, if the room was as nice as the food, I am sure you did. x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow this place looks lovely and I am so pleased they still provided you with inspirational meat-free food. £235 is a really good price for everything that's included!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I haven't dined here but it looks so pretty so I'll definitely check it out :) x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now that is some amazing looking food you have right there x

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is making my mouth water, I love the look and sound of those cauliflower fritters.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh wow, this sounds like an amazing place. I must admit I love the sound of the desert!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Those aren't plates of food - they're works of art!! How did you bring yourself to actually eat them?! ;) x

    ReplyDelete
  17. The food looks amazing. To start with I thought the portions were small then realised they were part of 6 courses... aha!

    ReplyDelete
  18. The food look so tasty. feel like to taste for once in my life
    Human resources degree online

    ReplyDelete

© Forevermissvanity - A UK Lifestyle Blogger . All rights reserved.
Designer Blogger Template by pipdig