Rustique, York ~ I really like food: Shake Shack, London

All seasoned York foodies probably already know about Rustique but I thought I really ought to dedicate a post to it because:

a) It is amazing value
b) For anyone new to York/just visiting, it is a must-do
c) I chose it as my meal out on my graduation day which in my mind says a lot!

Me and James after my graduation

So, having been to Rustique probably more than any other restaurant in York, I was well placed to choose my "all star" menu for graduation. I always order off the set menu because it is amazing value (£14.95 for 3 courses and it's quite a big choice for a set menu, plus it doesn't have silly small portions like other set menus I have ordered from). After much deliberating, my all star menu consisted of:

Chicken liver pâté for starter:

It's so creamy and rich but not overwhelmingly so - when I ran out of bread I ate it on its own and it was just as delicious! The red onion marmalade goes very well with it too.

I then followed this with beef bourguignon and mashed potato:

Normally this is amazing, but sadly this time the sauce wasn't as thick as it usually is - I wondered if perhaps they hadn't reduced it as much? A shame it happened on my final trip there (for a while at least!) but it's as usually so good I wrote it off to how busy they were over graduation and decided not to be sad!!!

I then had the only pudding I have ever tried there, because I always know I would regret it if I went for something else. I always describe this crepe as "so good that you close your eyes with joy when you eat it"!
It comes with vanilla ice cream, banana and caramel sauce.

Absolute heaven!

Here are some of the other starters, mains and puddings that my family went for:

The crab cake with sweet chilli salsa

Mushrooms cooked with garlic and cream which I know my friend Clare loves!

My mum's crepe stuffed with seafood, pesto, cheese and a white wine sauce which very nearly made my all star menu!

Christopher and his steak frites

Cheesecake

The pot au chocolat - not pain au chocolat as James once ordered when attempting to speak French!

We even got champagne which surprisingly wasn't the cheapest one on the menu!!

I should also probably give a mention to the dauphinoise potatoes which came with my dad's main (he had the Brittany style chicken) as they were one of the nicest things I have ever tasted!

Rustique is amazing and you definitely wouldn't regret going! It's also really nice as a lot of the waiters there are French - it adds to the authenticity. Definitely book in advance though as it's quite small so gets full very quickly - I have never been there with it not being full. They're actually opening a new one just near Jamie's Italian too although I'm not sure if it will be exactly the same menu. Exciting though!

Here are a few more photos for the road... they are from various other visits with friends.