Drum and Monkey, Montpellier Gardens, Harrogate,


On a sunny day you can not beat having a walk around a town like Harrogate. It is a bit of a spiritual home to ma as I spent so many years in one form or another going from venue to venue working here and there as a Jobbing agency chef and waiter. As a spar town it has always been designed to be like this, form its very early days and now as a conference centre as well it just seems so right. You see its big grand hotels and smart shopping streets and with the sun in the sky it become the prefect place to window shop stop and have a coffee in it many varied cafes and just watch the world go by.

And what a selection of restaurants bars and cafes to choose from. You can get in that one town considering its size almost any kind of food for any kind of budget you can imagine. Leeds might boost to be the London of the north and Harrogate is the Kensington of the north. You have every variety of places to eat, Harrogate must be the restaurant capital of the north.

And in its centre you have what must be one of the longest t running restaurants that I know that has not changed its ways since I first came to Yorkshire, some thirty plus years past. It has stood the tests of time of boom and bust and still is going strong. It has a classic and almost perfect quality to it that make you feel at ease and very special. It is traditional and modern at the same time. A perfect blend to me of what a restaurant should be, it is The Drum and Monkey.

If you do not know, The Drum and Monkey is a seafood restaurant right in the middle of Harrogate. Just of the roundabout next to the crown hotel. It is tucked away but so central that it has a discreet nature about it that does not scream at you, I am a restaurant come in and eat, it only suggests it. It is not a landmark like Betty’s tearoom on the hill for all to see and join the long queue waiting to get afternoon tea. It is discreet and understated.

I am not saying that it is nor well know, it must be after all it always busy and I would say it is wise to book no matter what time of year or what day. Also if you do go the food has always been fresh good quality and not outrageously expensive. The menu is a blend of what I would call the classic and the modern. A balance of the two, perfect for the town that has a grand past and a dynamic future.

So if you find your self in Harrogate and are looking for a place to eat then I recommend the Drum and monkey, I do not think you will be disappointed.

Drum and Monkey,
Montpellier Gardens,
Harrogate,
North Yorkshire,
HG1 2TF
Tel:01423 502650
Open Monday to Saturday 11:45 to 2:45 and 5:45 to 10pm

http://www.drumandmonkey.com/


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