The Wild Swan at Minskip: We tried out the lunch at a Yorkshire pub which has been at the heart of the village for almost 200 years

The Swan is a pretty pub and one that has been at the centre of village life since 1832. The last time I visited was over five years ago, just as Karl and Amanda Mainey, two of the county’s highly respected operators, breathed new life into it. What, over time, had become a run-down boozer was transformed by them into a beautiful pub, freshly painted, spick and span, with an outside beer garden, a great menu, and a soaring reputation. Eventually, the Maineys sold up purely to focus on their other property in Bilton in Ainsty, and the Wild Swan is now in the new hands of Alex Bond and Stephen Lennox. There’s a reasonably new chef in the kitchen, too, with Paul Murphy formally at the Timble Inn and one of Yorkshire’s most famous restaurants then owned by Frances Atkins, the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge.

I always book the bar for pub lunches, I love the hustle and bustle of diners and drinkers and all that goes with that. Still, on this visit, the cosy bar was empty and looked a little forlorn, so I agreed with the member of staff who greeted us and apologised profusely to eat in the bright, modern restaurant room where there was at least a little more life.

The Swan, remarkably, is open daily for lunch, which in the current climate is astonishing with its heavy demand for staff. Still, today there was just one young man out front, and as the kitchen is partially in view from the restaurant, peeping in, I only saw two chefs, but as the place is far from packed, they should be able to manage, I think.

They also offer their main dinner menu at lunchtime, plus a lighter lunch menu with some tasty-looking hefty sandwiches on it. The starter and main menu comes with a spread of the requisite comfort foods with chips a-plenty for me, and woven in are a few flashes of creativity from Paul too.

For starters, I surprised myself as salad is usually the last thing I would have expected to eat today. But this one sounded promising, with an eclectic gathering of charred corn, guacamole, pickled cabbage and pinto beans on a blue corn taco. The salad presentation was without affectation, just a delicious hefty pile of great ingredients. I know I would have loved this salad rather than simply liked it had it not been so fridge-cold, which, of course, slightly deadened the flavours, unfortunately.

Nothing could deaden a scrumptious, bubbling, lava-hot baked Camembert with red berries, pecans and honey. Unfortunately, the promised fresh bread wasn’t, it was a little dry but still scooped up the molten cheese wonderfully.

If I couldn’t have the fish and chips, the steak frites were not getting past me. Here, Paul offers tender, sliced bar steak with skinny fries, peppercorn sauce and a house salad. The fries were fabulous; I loved them and so enjoyed dipping them in the peppery sauce. The steak was cooked a lovely rare as I had requested, it was tender and succulent but wasn’t the promised slices, and as tasty as it was, my knife wasn’t sharp enough to cut it into the neat slices the kitchen could and should have done so easily.

A deep bowl filled with a pan-fried seabass, fat mussels in their shells, sea herbs, basil and lemongrass also had an insanely good butter sauce and showed real skill from the kitchen. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin and soft flesh. The sauce was so buttery that it kept separating into pools but was fine; with a quick whisk of the fork, it came back together. This was the best dish of the day.

As usual, I bowed to the pudding choice from across the table. I had already eaten more than enough for lunchtime, and the toffee pavlova he chose would indeed have incapacitated me. Not him, though. He trenched his way through the deep bowl, seemingly not with meringue but more a biscuity crumb - if it was meringue, then it’s not a method of making, I know. Nevertheless, the sauce was sticky and rich, and the ice cream and whipped cream were utterly decadent. He loved it.

Sure, a few tiny points on the food slightly missed the mark here, but I am being picky. However, one serious point many restaurants and pubs forget is when offering your main menu at lunchtime; we pay the same as in the evening. So, having builders banging and braying somewhere in the building during service is annoying. And if a chef is on show, I will always take them more seriously if they are dressed professionally and at least wear an apron. I am just saying.

The Wild Swan is a lovely place and so well cared for. The food is good, and the service is warm and friendly. It has some lovely touches and will undoubtedly be a great success if they just keep their eye on those smaller details.

The Wild Swan, Main Street, Minskip, YO51 9JF Tel: 01423 326334

Food: Mon to Thurs: 12-3pm & 5-8pm, Fri & Sat: 12-9pm, Sun: 12-6pm