#walmgate

New Pub Crawl - Foss Crossing

The last few years have seen Fossgate and Walmgate really come up in the York Beer scene. This pub crawl takes in the best that this area of town has to offer, starting at York’s newest Craft Brewery and Tap Room and working up Walmgate over the River Foss and along Fossgate. An excellent mix of historic pubs and newer trendy bars.

You can download a pdf copy of the route from here.

Hi guys,

Not done a restaurant review in a while so I thought I'd tell you about a cozy little cafe/restaurant on Walmgate in the city centre of York. It was a couple of months ago when me and OH visited but as usual, distractions have meant that I never got round to posting this!

The Barbakan is a Polish cafe and deli in the day and restaurant by night. I pass it every day on my way home from work and it is always jam packed full of people. When my OH suggested we go, I jumped at the chance.

The restaurant itself is really nice with a lovely atmosphere. It was packed to the brim and I think there was a Christmas party there also. After perusing the menu, I had the mixed Pierogi (cheese and meat) to start

and OH had a stuffed pepper baked in the oven with a tomato sauce. 

I really enjoyed the starter and it was just what you wanted from a dumpling. Both varieties were well seasoned but I have to admit next time, I'll be choosing just cheese. It was just stunning. OH enjoyed his starter too, though he did say it was really filling! The stuffing was a mixture of pork mince, barley and vegetables and it was stuffed to the brim. For those with smaller appetites, this would suffice as a main meal.

For mains, I chose the hunters stew and OH had the pork shank. 

I will tell you now, I had food envy for the rest of the meal. Although the hunters stew, which is essentially a meat and cabbage casserole, was good (though maybe not quite to my taste as the cabbage was really pickled and tended to over power - and I love my pickles!), OH definitely picked the dish of the night. 

The pork shank was beautifully cooked with a crisp skin and so moist on the inside. The sauce, slightly sweet, was the perfect accompaniment and the extra roast potatoes we ordered were divine. Although it's been a couple of months since we actually went, I can still remember in vivid detail how beautiful it was. So many places do average roasts but this was truly amazing and worth making the trip for this one dish. 

As you can see from the photos, the portions were very generous and both me and OH were proud owners of food babies when we'd finished. So much so that we skipped dessert. It was a really nice meal that was slightly spoilt at the end when the air conditioning unit leaked all over us and the staff didn't notice but this was right at the end of our meal and we just moved to another table instead. 

Overall, I really enjoyed eating here. It's warm and cozy but when packed, not too crowded. The atmosphere and the quality of the food really makes this place and it's no wonder it's packed night after night. Definitely book a table if you're wanting to go in the evening.

Service: 4/5, Food: 4.5/5, Atmosphere: 5/5

Until next time.. x