New Malton, Malton

It was bad luck in 2012 for Malton to lose Ambiente Tapas Bar to York but good news for Malton to see the New Malton installed in the same premises.

Anthony Gilham and Gemma Williams took over the tenancy of this rambling corner site – like most of central Malton it’s owned by the Fitzwilliam Estate – and having gutted the place reopened as a squeaky clean dining pub.

It’s pleasantly done if a wee bit bare and clinical: cream walls, wood floors,  mismatch furniture are all fine; it just needs a bit more of a signature, a bit of patina that natural ageing will bring.

The menu is long: starters, light meals, mains, sandwiches. puddings and hot drinks. I often worry that a fat menu spreads thin but on our visit, Gilham managed to pull it off. Drop in for a lunchtime sandwich by the fire with the daily papers maybe prawn and crayfish with lemon mayo, or poached salmon with cucumber and dill mayonnaise or go the whole hog at lunch or dinner with starters of crab cakes with shredded mooli and pickled ginger; a charcuterie board to share;  roast artichokes and wild mushrooms salad with poached egg. Follow it up with calves’ liver, chicken and ham pie, sausage and mash or chickpea fritters.  Puds are predominantly British favourites.

All dependable stuff and sometimes better than that; I wrote recently in the Yorkshire Post that the mutton and pearl barley stew was a contender for my dish of the year.