The White Swan review
The ‘cosy rural pub is worthy of a return visit’ due to their hearty home-cooked food, according to this week’s review.
The White Swan, Newton Upon Rawcliffe
Set in a peaceful village on the tip of the North York Moors, the White Swan at Newton Upon Rawcliffe offers hearty home-cooked food in cosy surroundings. We popped by early one evening for tea and took comfort in the snug front bar, settling at a table next to the fire. Once you get a good spot here, it’s the kind of pub you don’t want to shift from.
As well as a traditional bar, there is also a spacious dining room, plus a smaller room at the back.
We opted to leave the starters this time and go straight for the main course – and oh boy I am glad we did. The portions were huge! Definitely good value for money. My partner ordered from the specials board the succulent pork steak with apple sauce, creamy mashed potato and seasonal vegetables. When it arrived there were not one but two decent-sized pork steaks along with two pieces of black pudding, plenty of mash and ample vegetables and mini pot of apple sauce. From the menu I ordered the bangers and mash. My plate was brimming with food, and lashings of onion gravy smothered three large sausages sat on top of a mountain of mash. We thoroughly enjoyed this because it was traditional food with no fancy sauces or trimmings, just good oldfashioned home-cooking. We also got a decent-sized gravy boat just in case we didn’t already have enough. My partner was happy as he nearly always asks for extra gravy. He polished off his meal, I just about managed all of mine but had to send a little back to the kitchen as I wanted to leave room for a dessert. Pausing for a rest in between courses we sat back and let our food settle. It was lovely not to feel rushed at all. Having had plenty of time to choose a dessert I ordered a trio of locally-made ice cream ‘with all the trimmings’. This arrived in a traditional sundae glass with a scoop of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream drizzled with strawberry sauce, a scattering of chocolate chips and toffee pieces topped off with a Flake. My partner ordered the fruit crumble and custard. The apple and blackberry filling was piping hot with a good crumble topping, and it came with a separate jug of golden custard. I could hardly move after we had eaten everything. With warm hospitality and quality home-cooked food this makes the White Swan a place worthy of a return visit.
Our rating: (8 out of 10) 8