Item 63: York

Location: York, United Kingdom

The return of sunshine to the UK has given us good reason to get outside. This time York was the destination.

It’s a medieval walled city with cobblestone streets, windy narrow paths of the Shambles shopping area and Devonshire tea rooms, York is the picture of old England. Why, the Saturday market even had the wife-beating Punch and Judy Puppet Show on for the kids.

After catching the train into town, we stopped for lunch at J-Baker’s Bistro Moderne. As a sucker for the restaurant’s claim of having a one-time Michelin-starred chef in the kitchen, I couldn’t resist but to see what they had on offer. Although we were one of the first tables to be seated we found out that it was good foresight to have made a lunchtime reservation as impromptu parties were turned away at the door. Passing up the three course grazing menu at the bargain price of £12, we opted for the day’s special of pig’s cheeks and squid on a bed of seaweed. And it was tasty. Even better, we received the celeriac whip as a complimentary entree anyway.

I came up trumps with my order of the Lemon Pop dessert. It came light and fluffy, with subtle pop-rock mousse on layers of strawberries, jelly and ice-cream.... Luckily the sun was out so I could walk it off in the afternoon. After grabbing our own coats from the cloak room – the staff were apparently too busy for the job - we headed out into the perfect weather.

A completely walkable town, it’s hard not to miss York Minster during the visit. After the indulgent lunch and with clear skies there was no excuse not to pay the five quid to climb the 275 steps to the top of the Minster’s Central Tower to get views of the city from above.

Item 63: York? CHECK!