Meredith A.
Yelp
What a lucky surprise this was! We needed a place to eat before a concert in a tiny Yorkshire Dales town, and gave this a try based on Trip Advisor reviews. I'm SO glad we did! We booked earlier in the day, and got a table for 5:45 pm on a Friday. It did start to get quite busy when we left at 7 so definitely book! Service is leisurely, and very professional, so know that if you're in a hurry. And I'm pretty sure their owner is French, I spoke to him on the phone and his accent is delightful.
The fun thing about Rustique is that they are in what I'd call a former alley, that has been enclosed and given essentially a skylight roof. So there's an "inner" restaurant that looks normal, and an "outer" restaurant where you're still technically inside, but it feels like you're outside. Like being on a patio with walls and a glass ceiling. All the fun of al fresco dining without being really cold - oh, English summers, how sad you make me. Anyway, Rustique has a set menu on Friday and Saturday until 7 pm (and until 9 pm the rest of the week) that is brilliant. 2 courses for £13.95 and 3 courses for £15.95. For the quality of the food that you get, it's an absolute steal!!
I started with lovely, velvety carrot orange soup and some bread (soup of the day, it changes, but is always Vegetarian). I loved it, as did my mom. The men in our group both got the Basque egg (sausage, chorizo, new potatoes, egg and peas cooked with paprika). That was a fantastically creative and beautifully presented dish. If you want a heartier appetizer, we'd all recommend that. I then moved on to the Loup de Mer, sea bass over creamy sweet potatoes and lemon-dill sauce. Fantastic, flaky fish. Sweet potatoes plentiful and silky in your mouth. And we got a side of green beans at the server's suggestion - they were absolutely amazing. I feel silly raving about a side of green beans but they were superb - clearly cooked in loads of butter, but worth it!! The men got the beef stew (can't spell bourginion....borginiongnnnn....argh) and loved it as well.
Dessert was a creme brûlée that was the first I've had to not be overly sweet and cloying - VERY hard shell on the top that was a delight to crack with spoons. Dad and Mom split a caramel banana crepe that looked divine and they loved it as well.
We both couldn't believe our luck at finding this place. It's an absolute gem and a steal for the price. I'd come back here anytime, I'd even go out of my way for it! Certainly the next time we're in the area, we're coming back - my parents have already requested it on their next visit.