Pearly Cow — Restaurant in England

Wow, eventually! We were going up to York on our staycation this year to visit my stepson and his fiance on the occasion of her promotion to md. We wanted to celebrate and Lewis recommended the pearly cow. We booked a table for 4 some weeks before but on the train up Paul got a confirmation for a table for 2!! Oooo. We tried to call the restaurant on the train up but no one answered the phone. We had to wait until we got to the Churchill hotel across the road to physically go and check our booking. Stress that wasn't needed was soon allayed by their confirmation of a booking for 4 and he showed us the table we would be seated at. That was the only negative experience with them. We arrived and were seated at our expected table. The reception was very professional and we were instantly put at our ease. This was not the pearly cow show. This was, as expert restraunteurs, OUR show. Everything sorted and relaxed. The boys knew what red wine to go for, Barolo obviously 🙄. But the girls wanted a dry white wine. The waiter was good in recommending a wine and sought the advice of the bar manager who sent a sample of the pinot grigio which everyone loved. The food is so perfectly presented. For starters we had the scallops, an oyster, tacco and salmon. I wish I could figure out how to put up photos on Google because they were so pretty. All 4 of us chose a different cut of steak, but every one came how we asked it to be cooked. Their butcher must be amazing because the steaks were sublime. The only thing WE did wrong is order 4 chips. There's a great potion and because the steak was the main show we left quite a lot. Apart from me the others had the beef fat chips which they adored but could not finish. Our service was efficient and discrete so we felt focussed on OUR event. The 2 girls had creme brulee for dessert and expresso martinis. Great crunch on the brulee by the way. Paul and I wanted to pay the bill for us all and before the meal there was some , no we'll do and not you won't. I got the manager alone and asked her to bring the bill only to us which she efficiently did so. What a meal. Ambience lovely, service professional, food superb. We even had a box of left over steaks for their 2 boston terriers. Thank you pearly cow...

The most disappointing £126 I’ve ever spent in my life.

Considering we’ve eaten at some top Michelin star restaurants in the likes of Dubai & London, whilst also enjoying a McDonald’s most of the time. I think we’ve eaten at a fair share of ups & downs over the years.

Anyways, the actual restaurant & look of the place is lovely. Really enjoyed the atmosphere also.

Onto the meal. After waiting 25 mins before drink orders were even taken. We finally got a drink 35 minutes into our meal. After that we waited another 10 minutes to ask what we even wanted for a starter. Which then led to another 15 minute wait for COLD tacos. (Not complaining about the cold part as we were aware that’s how they were served)

After that we waited 45 minutes for a steak which was rare after requesting it to be medium (blood all over the plate) & also we waited for the fish of the day which took me 45 seconds to eat, about 3 mouthfuls of not that high quality food just felt like a real disappointment considering we’d been there for well over an hour.

After asking the waiter what had taken so long for a steak which takes 10 minutes to cook and some re heated fish. The answer was that “there was a function going on in the other room”.

Whilst I can appreciate a busy event taking up the chefs time. Time after time I will stand by my judgment that if you can’t cook for 2 people why would you cater for anything more?

So many restaurants nowadays love the idea of filling up restaurants past the point of the chefs ability.

My point of this whole experience -

If you’re happy to wait over an hour for just the mains & 2 drinks then it’s a lovely place. But it’s a no from me. Bang average at best.

Ps- Had to go McDonald’s after to feel...

Tough review to write.....I want to be fair but also want to be honest....and when reading this bear in mind it was half term and they were very short staffed but it wasn't great and when you're spending £300 on a meal and drinks you need it to be great....(that's without even having starters!)

Positives, Tom the bar man is amazing and made the best martinis, he really cares about his customers enjoying their drinks. He looked after us all night even though he was supposed to only be at the bar.

The cote du beof was cooked really beautifully and tasted amazing.

Negatives, it's very , very expensive and for the prices they charge the service doesn't meet requirements. We had to keep going to the bar in the other room to get drinks, we even had to get up to get our own bottle of water. No drinks are poured for you and there is no information given about the food and drink.

We had to ask if our table was ready at 8.30 even though we were booked in for 8pm.

There was a very long wait for all the food ( I think 50 minutes from our sourdough to our beef) There seemed to only be one man who was running around trying to serve 40 people. It was a shame. We were offered a free dessert at the end of the night to say sorry about the service but we were too full and not really dessert people.

We asked to take our left over beef home for our dog and were told they would have to check with the manager about health and safety....what is the world coming to?! Thankfully the manager said yes 😊🤣

I'd really wanted to love this place after seeing it on instagram but unfortunately we...