All change at the Manor but good value retained

Any pizza lovers out there? How would you love Fishfinger pizza (with an option of tartare sauce)? How about All Day Breakfast pizza – bacon, sausage etc with an egg in the middle?

These quirky and, frankly, bonkers temptations are among the pizza offerings on the extensive menu at the newly revamped Scalby Manor.

And, in the interests of this review, I had to try one ... but more of that later.

The pub is the latest to be converted by brewery Mitchells & Butlers from a Crown Carvery to a Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery. With the major revamp comes a new razzamatazz menu.

Thankfully, outside the grand 19th century manor house is unchanged, apart from the signage.

Inside, there’s new decor, a new carvery and a pizza servery, and smart, large seating booths along a wall.

The outdoor play area is retained, but the big draw for families – and there were plenty of kids on our Saturday teatime visit – is the extensive menu, and the pub’s space and child friendliness. If the little ’uns we saw are anything to go by, the icecream-machine–now-moved to a central position – is a major attraction.

With drinks in hand we took a table and perused the choices.

It’s a bright, photo-laden menu, and happily we were able to narrow it down slightly, having missed the all-youcan-eat breakfast time slot (before 11.30am) and with appetites unable to be satisfied by baguettes, wraps and quesadillas (the menu helps with pronunciation!).

The starters and sharers were tempting, so we promptly ordered two. The beer battered salt and pepper mushrooms were chunky offerings with a delightful blue cheese dip. The Mac n Cheese balls – macaroni cheese in a crunchy coating – came with a smokey bacon mayonnaise which lacked, I thought, much of a bacon taste.

In the past the Scalby Manor has been known for its top-value carvery. It’s even better now; a bit pricier but still good value.

My wife chose a small carvery and came back with lashings of meat, veg and gravy almost overtopping the plate. There’s a wide choice of meats; the beef and gammon were lean and tasty, she reported. The veg was piping hot and the gravy thick and tasty.

The menu was packed with burgers and other pub classics but I’d set my sights on a pizza, and decided to try one of the more unusual toppings, though there are plenty of “normal” ones. So my duck and hoisin sauce pizza, with cucumber batons, spring onions and shredded mozzarella, was a first for me. It might be a last – the fresh-dough base was lovely but the hoisin a little bland and the duck a bit scant.

Things got back on track, though, with the desserts. There’s a large choice, they all sounded wonderful, and our clotted cream and strawberry cheesecake, and chocolate brownie, put the seal on a filling and satisfying meal.

When we went, the revamp had been finished only a day earlier, and general manager Paul and his staff were clearly enthusiastic, and very efficient.

It’s not high-class dining, but it ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of people, especially for families, and the good value will keep it a popular choice.

Rating (out of 10): 7