Petros and the Cross Keys, Nafferton: The unusual Yorkshire pub and restaurant combo with 'oddly appealing' menu

I know it’s just outside Driffield, I know it has a duck pond and a couple of pubs, I know legendary East Yorkshire poet Dean Wilson wrote a fabulous poem about it (‘Let’s go to Nafferton, I’m a slave to gratification’) and I know the train to Brid stops there. But that’s pretty much it.

I have been to Nafferton, but only a couple of times and not for long. And, while its name may be mildly amusing, I’ve never found the village particularly odd.

So, when a friend mentioned a half pub/ half restaurant operating in the village, I thought I’d best check out this hybrid hostelry to see if it rates high on the odd-o-meter.

Is it a great innovation designed to overcome the financial perils of modern catering or the result of an intense family feud in the style of that episode of Steptoe & Son where they divide the house in two? Either option would be interesting, but I secretly hoped it’d be Steptoe, purely for the entertainment factor.

On arrival, you find that Petros and the Cross Keys is a perfectly schizophrenic building and is, indeed, a twofer. Located on a corner, the Cross Keys faces east while Petros faces south. From the outside, they appear to be two entirely different concerns. But they share a name, a website, management, clientele, a cellar and, most significant, a door.

The Cross Keys is a very nice, longish traditional village pub; step through the doorway next to the bar, however, and you enter Petros, a more modern, two-room restaurant. Two hostelries under one roof with a name that encompasses both while also managing to sound like some sort of ancient Greek quest. Exactly as I was hoping - odd.

The menu is also a bit odd. Much trad English, with plenty of Mediterranean sprinkles and distinct Greek interlopers. It feels like a menu of necessity, rather than choice. Like when something sells well or is requested by the locals, it stays on the menu forever. This gives it a somewhat lop-sided feel, but in an intriguing and (here’s that word again) nicely odd way.

On our visit, the specials offer the most appealing options but (to add to the lopsidedness) six of the eight starters and mains are fish and seafood. This lends an unexpectedly heavy piscine lean to what’s on offer.

While we sample starters of black pudding and portobello mushrooms (rather anaemic mushrooms and surprisingly bland black pudding topped by a disappointingly solid-yolked poached egg) and king prawns pan fried with onions, garlic and chillies (‘not bad, but nothing special’ was the verdict from across the table), let’s enjoy a brief parenthetical exploration of how Petros and the Cross Keys came to be.

It seems that, in 1998, East Yorkshire lass Jackie Trew (granddaughter of much-missed Hull comedian Norman Collier, fact fans) met Petros Fakiolas while on holiday in Corfu. Following further liaisons during subsequent visits, Jackie and Petros became a couple. Petros moved to the UK, where he spent several years learning the catering trade at now-defunct, then-popular North Ferriby restaurant Medici.

Eventually, Jackie and Petros – seeking a business to work together - took on the Cross Keys at Nafferton and decided to knock through into the shop unit next door/ round the corner. (I think one room of Petros used to be the snug of the pub.) Thus, some 14 years ago, Petros and the Cross Keys came into existence and has continued to serve regulars and occasional visitors very merrily ever since.

Now we’re up to date, let’s return for the mains. Mussels linguini (spelled linquinni on the specials board. Not sure if this is a mistake, a Greek spelling or a deliberate reverse mondegreen) was - like the prawn starter - entirely adequate, but nothing more. ‘A bit dry’ came a judgemental voice opposite.

Better was my souvlaki. A proper representation of the Greek favourite, skewered chunks of chargrilled chicken and onion supplemented by a serious serving of tzatziki, chips and salad. Enough to satisfy your appetite in one course alone.

Puds had to do some heavy lifting to help elevate the meal to notable. They didn’t do bad. Limoncello and white chocolate cheesecake was seriously boozy and lemony and chocolatey. Not often all three come together in a dessert.

Even better was triple chocolate brownie pie. That’s a brownie in a pie. With ice cream. If you don’t find that appealing in the extreme, you need to take a hard look at your life choices.

I like Petros and Jackie a great deal. They’ve made themselves a successful business (or two businesses) and a happy life in Nafferton. They’ve saved the village pub at a time when so many are closing, and the restaurant is busy. No-one has any complaints.

Except me.

I would have liked the menu to have been entirely Greek (as this was the best of the food on offer) but I understand the economics of running a restaurant in a small Wolds village probably preclude this option. And I think some of the dishes need tweaking to give them more flavour, but everything is working for them so why would they change things on my say so?

My opinion doesn’t count for much in these circumstances. And nor should it. The fact this pub/ restaurant hybrid has been open for a decade-and-a-half without me sticking my oar in proves that my views are neither needed nor welcome. If you’ve eaten at Petros and the Cross Keys, you’ll have reached your own conclusions; if you haven’t, I would (with above caveats) encourage you to try it. If only to top up your oddness tank.

Petros and the Cross Keys, Nafferton, East Yorkshire, YO25 4JW

www.petrosandthecrosskeys.com

Tel: 01377 256349

Food served: Weds to Sat 3-9; Sun 12-2

Welcome 4

Food 3

Drink selection 4

Atmosphere 4

Prices 4