YOU’VE heard of the Hairy Bikers but what about The Hairy Lemon?
This popular Mediterranean restaurant in nearby Halifax certainly has a name to remember and it was with great curiosity that we drove the short journey down the Ainleys and into neighbouring Calderdale.
To be honest, we decided on The Hairy Lemon as a venue for our night out, out of pure mischief and simple curiosity about the very unusual name.
Parking up in the town’s Lord Street – just a two minute walk from the central Bull Green roundabout – we soon spotted the sizeable restaurant which was reasonably busy for early on a cold winter’s Tuesday evening.
The Hairy Lemon’s choice of name was inspired apparently by its namesake in Dublin, a favourite with the original owner’s wife who hails from the Irish city. Current co-owner Matthew Monaghan decided to stick with the name and it’s certainly one you’re not likely to forget in a hurry.
So what could we expect from a restaurant with such a memorable name? Well, it’s basically a tapas style dinery with a welcoming and spacious contemporary interior and very pleasant relaxed atmosphere.
Inspired by the Mediterranean, it offers an extensive choice of tapas dishes from all over the region including Greece, Spain and Cyprus.
For tapas novices, there are two ways to do this. Either order individual dishes from the extensive menu or choose three dishes each for just under £10 and any extra dishes you might fancy.
To get things under way, we decided to choose our three dishes each and an extra Greek salad.
After much debate we settled on our nine dishes which proved a great mix of tastes from around the Med and allowed all three of us to dip in and try a bit of everything.
Our choices read like a who’s who of Mediterranean cuisine: houmous with pitta bread, filo pastry triangles filled with Fetta and Halloumi cheese, Beef Stifado, grilled Halloumi cheese, a vegetarian butter bean casserole topped with Fetta, Pan Catalana bread topped with tomato, olive and garlic paste, garlic and herb mushrooms, Pollo Al Ajillio creamy chicken with white wine and garlic and Patatas Bravas, delicious deep fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce.
We all tucked into the dips and breads first before embarking on our tour of the Med.
