The Pine Marten

After reading the reviews and having a few recommendations from friends, I was looking forward to trying out the Pine Marten.
We had booked for early dinner on a Saturday night but it was only about half full. There was a great outside area that looked lovely in the sunshine, although I was worried about our two year old jumping in the pond so we stayed inside.
The menu looked good and they had a decent selection of drinks. Service was ok, but they did lose a couple of drink orders that we had to chase up. I had the rack of lamb, it was tasty, well presented and the accompaniments were nice. All except the parmentier potatoes. Several of us had the same things and they appeared to be small cubes of slightly tasteless boiled potatoes that hadn’t been fried at all. We queried this and the word came back from the chef that this is how they area prepared. I’m not a chef but any other time I’ve had them they’ve been more like small cubes of fried, crispy potatoes, much tastier.
Would visit again, particularly for a drink in the sunshine, but I would recommend other places in Harrogate before the Pine Marten for food.

Absolute stunning building hidden away near the top of Valley Gardens. Great entrance, happy staff and a decadence of opulence. The gardens are relaxing, well maintained, koi carp pond and amazing seating. This is a must for historic purposes. I felt very welcome and wanton for the food to follow. The sun is shining in Paris of the North :-)

Can you tell it was pay day recently? So much decadence probably isn’t good but I’m in the mood now. Let’s go out on a high and hot trot to the Pine Martin.
We have yet another fantastic looking venue here. It is stone and ivy and all things nice. That should be a nursery rhyme surely? In all seriousness it packs a punch from before you even set a foot inside.
This is a hotel and eating establishment with a brilliant country feel. Well I won’t be staying here but after seeing the menu the food just looked too good. Again the sharing platters are excellent there. Greek influenced and super tasty. For the main courses you can go for a pizza, pasta or grill but I thought the salads sounded great and the goat’s cheese salad was beautiful. Tasty cheese and a nice selection to go with it. Now that is my kind of salad.
The wine menu needs a special mention. This is a well rounded and selected collection of wines and they’d compliment any meal.
Go and give yourself a pat on the back. This is a place I’d travel to more often than not.