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The West Park Hotel Harrogate Restaurant Review

West Park Hotel Harrogate Review – Photos by The Provenance Inns & Hotels Group, Words by YFG’s Jemima Parsons

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Oof, isn’t summer such a wonderful time of year?! Spirits are running high, everywhere is lush and green and those all-important vitamin D levels aren’t looking too bad. As such, you’re looking for a way to celebrate. Lacking time to lounge on a beach in Bali, a staycation is in order! Let me kindly suggest Harrogate for a little relaxation time, and more specifically the West Park Hotel and Restaurant.

The West Park is part of the well-regarded Provenance Inns group, who pride themselves on using the finest quality local ingredients to achieve culinary excellence. The contemporary boutique-style restaurant and hotel has 25 stunning rooms inside the old Victorian coach house, so you can enjoy a luxurious 4-star stay alongside being well wined and dined.

Walking into a sea of tasteful yet opulent teal furnishings, complimented with cosy lights and dark wood, West Park certainly offers a luxurious dining experience. With a charming traditional-meets-boutique feel to the place, you can expect excellence in customer service with exciting menus and contemporary cocktails.

The West Park Hotel Harrogate Review - Restaurant Interior

Visiting the popular restaurant on a busy Friday evening, we could have forgiven the staff for taking a little longer to take care of us. However, from the moment we walked through the door we were promptly taken to our table, the friendly and attentive waiters ensuring our orders were taken with perfect timing. Despite the restaurant being busy, the space felt neither crowded nor too loud. The atmosphere had the relaxed buzz of people enjoying quality food and making the most of their weekend, while the clever placement of mirrors and ambient lighting made the restaurant feel spacious – along with the view over the 200-acre Harrogate Stray parkland.

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We decided to start our meal with a tipple from their tempting drinks menu. The menu was extensive with many unique and intriguing cocktails, ranging from your traditional G+T to concoctions inspired by Mexico, Kentucky, the Mediterranean and, of course, Yorkshire. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I went for the ‘Harrogate Garden’ cocktail: a delicious mix of white vermouth, elderflower liqueur, lemon and raspberry jam. It was pink, tart and sweet, and definitely a good choice to start off the evening!

The West Park Hotel Harrogate Cocktail

While we studied the a la carte menu, mouths salivating at absolutely everything it said, we were bought a complimentary beetroot and feta appetiser. After the sweetness of the Harrogate Garden, it was refreshingly earthy, beautiful colour and the perfect little mouthful to get us suitably excited for our starters.

I ordered the Pork Cheek starter, the pork served with parmesan creamed potato, red wine and rosemary granola. Oh. My. Word. Harrogate is worth visiting for this dreamy dish alone! As something of a parmesan creamed potato virgin, I can definitely say it’s now one of my favourite things. As for the pork… it was COMPLETELY melt-in-the-mouth-delicious. The gravy lifted the whole dish and the granola was the addition I never knew my potatoes needed. All that for a thoroughly reasonable £7.50! West Park has got this one spot-on.

Pausing to sip from a well-sized wine glass filled with Pinot Grigio Montevento, Italy, the only criticism I can find is that the starter was so good the main could hardly beat it. I was wrong. Having ordered the Stone Bass on the recommendation of our helpful waiter, I was served a decent portion of the fish on top a bed of tomato Tarte Tatin, with tapenade, fennel and garlic aioli. Every aspect of the dish had its own highly distinctive flavour, each of which perfectly complimented each other. The fish was the perfect choice for a mild summer evening – light and flaky but suitably filling. Tapenade is not my usual choice, but the mild flavour paired with the crispy skin, flaky meat and aioli which was a little ‘kapow’ to the taste-buds, together created a stunning dish.

West Park Harrogate Review stone-bass dish

Looking around at those dining near us, I could see many happy faces as people cleaned off their plates and many expectant eyes as waiters appeared with diner’s immaculately presented food. Taking my legs for a quick stretch before ordering dessert, I happened to pass by West Park’s impressive awards cabinet including an AA Rosette-awarded in 2017. West Park certainly deserves its accolades, the food, service and atmosphere all made for a fantastic evening.

After the generous portion sizes of the first two courses, I wasn’t sure where I would find room for the tempting chocolate mousse with passion fruit curd, chocolate cookie crumb and white chocolate ice cream I had ordered for dessert. However, when the mousse came it was so beautifully presented, like a little piece of modern art, that I tucked straight in. Again, this dessert is perfect for the summer months, the airy mousse and sharp passion fruit curd a fantastic finale to West Park’s celebration of locally sourced, high-quality ingredients. There was plenty of cookie crumb and delightfully creamy ice cream, but it was so darn good I forgot my full stomach and cleared the whole thing.

West Park Hotel Harrogate Review Chocolate Mousse

I would 100% recommend a visit to The West Park Hotel and Restaurant. The whole experience felt luxurious, opulent and almost a little OTT (in the best way possible!), and I can find no fault in any part of our evening. West Park has done an excellent job creating a contemporary hub in Harrogate for locals and travellers alike to let their hair down and enjoy the finer things in life without breaking the bank.