The growing fashion for dining out on small portions of lots of different dishes has not gone unnoticed in the Stelfox household.
We’ve grown to enjoy Spanish tapas, Italian cicchetti, Turkish meze and Indian thali.
As we see it, instead of committing yourself to a starter and one whopping plateful of something else, it’s possible to try a cornucopia of flavours, textures and ingredients at one sitting.
It’s also the sociable (and slightly greedy) way to eat – sharing bits and pieces with your neighbour and helping yourself to theirs. And so the other evening we invited our neighbours to join us at the Murgatroyd Arms in Skircoat Green, Halifax (just up from the Calderdale Royal) for some Yorkshire tapas so we could do just that.
This classic stone-built village pub invented Yorkshire tapas four years ago and the winning formula of comfort food with a modern twist proved so successful it is still serving them up with a foaming pint of Timothy Taylor’s (or a Peroni for me).
The menu boasts dinky little baskets of more-ish fish goujons, belly pork with apple sauce, Yorkshire puds (the best bit of a roast dinner) with a slice or two of roast beast of the day, sticky honey and mustard-glazed mini sausages and more – all for £4.75 or £5.50 each. There are fat, dripping-fried chips that taste the way chips should; a tangy goat’s cheese tart with crisp pastry; teetering piles of beer-battered onion rings; deep fried oozing brie wedges and home made fishcakes, while side dishes are £2.75.
In short, there’s a lot of Yorkshire comfort eating with a few foreign interlopers that I’m not complaining about.
Between the five of us we managed to sample quite a few dishes and as our neighbours had enjoyed a large lunch that day and weren’t particularly ravenous we thoughtfully helped them out by finishing off whatever they couldn’t manage. Suffice to say, there were some pretty clean plates at the end of it. And no room for puddings.
I first ate at this pub shortly after its tapas menu was created. Today’s menu is slightly shorter and probably better for it. No doubt, the intervening years have taught the management what the punters enjoy. The goat’s cheese tart, goujons, Yorkshire pud and belly pork have become hardy annuals, but the chefs ring the changes with specials.
On the evening we dined I tried the mini sea bass fillet, which was bite-sized and delicious, and asparagus with poached egg, a particular favourite that almost hit the spot (unfortunately no-one had trimmed the woody ends of the asparagus). But I can forgive a small slip-up because everything else was more than good; it was satisfying, tasty and promptly served with a smile (thank you Olivia).
If small and tasty is not enough (but portions are considerably larger than traditional tapas) the pub has a main menu with steaks, gammon, homemade pies, fried fish and other solid staples – prices £7.95 to £13.50. (The pub also does a mean Sunday lunch and traditional cooked breakfast). But, to be honest, I’d go for tapas every time.
It has to be said that vegetarians don’t fare particularly well, but there are Linda McCartney sausages and a dish of mushrooms on ciabatta on the main menu. Dare I suggest that the chefs look at the enormous number of vegetables available to them and come up with a little more for those who don’t want meat?
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The Murg, as it is known locally, has a robust outward appearance and a comfortable modern interior. There’s not much in the way of outdoor space but plenty of parking on the main roads (don’t forget to feed the meter) and flat access from the pavement into the bar area for those with disabilities.
Booking is recommended if you want to eat at a peak time.
