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| Image courtesy of Ox Pasture Hall because it was too drizzly to snap a pic of the outside! |
Recently, I went for a little night away with my friend Radhika from Radhika Recommends to Scarborough, as she was invited to review Ox Pasture Hall and she kindly invited me along for the ride! We spent the day exploring the seaside town, somewhere I used to visit a lot as a child, and you can read about what we got up to here. After a long day of train nightmares (we had a 2 hour delay and then our train stopped just outside Scarborough!) and walking in heels (why do I do it to myself?), I was really glad to have such a lovely place to call home for a night waiting for us!
The Ox Pasture Hall Hotel is located around a ten minute drive from Scarborough, so you are away from the hustle and bustle of the seaside town. Set within seventeen acres of land, the boutique country house hotel has beautiful views of the North Yorkshire Moors and boasts four (well deserved) stars. It is the perfect setting for a relaxing girlie weekend or romantic break and Ox Pasture Hall is even a popular wedding venue. When we arrived at the hotel, there wasn't anyone around to check us in, but we were happy at the offer of a long-needed cup of tea. The lounge area was homely and cosy, perfect for a relaxed drink. Brewed up, we were then shown to our luxury suite.
I immediately felt at home due to the decor. Everything was tasteful, luxurious and well maintained. The suite boasted a large living area with TV and snuggly sofa, a bedroom area with twin beds, another TV and dressing table, and then a large bathroom with a separate bath and walk-in shower and double sinks. The room was beautiful, homely and spacious, but the real wow had to be the views. From the living area, we could see over the 17 acres of woodland, and from the bedroom there were views of the charming courtyard.
Before we headed down to the hotel's Courtyard restaurant, we quickly nipped out to shoot some outfit photos for Radhika's blog in the gorgeous grounds before it got dark, as well as taking some snaps of the room before we dived on the bed (spoiler, it was COMFY!). We went down to the restaurant, which was tastefully decorated with fairy lights which added a gorgeous ambience. There was also relaxing music playing in the background, I could have fallen asleep there and then if I wasn't so hungry.
We were kindly offered a bottle of Prosecco to go with our 3 course meal, and then came the choice of what to have. We both opted to dine from their Bistro menu but there is also an á la carte menu. We both chose the mushroom soup for starters, which arrived as a generous portion with various breads. The soup was wonderful, easily the best mushroom soup I've ever had, being creamy and well flavoured. I had to tactically stop halfway through as I know I struggle with a 3 course meal. This is the kind of soup I would happily eat for lunch at home, and I'm definitely going to try and recreate it as it was beautiful.
Next up was the main, which arrived with barely enough time to take a drink between the time that we'd finished the starter. The service really was impeccable: professional but still friendly and approachable. I chose the Pork Belly, while Radhika opted for the Goat's Cheese Gnocchi. My pork was tender and soft, with a slightly crunchy crackling. Served on a bed of mash, with gravy, both sautéed apple and apple sauce, and cabbage and bacon, the dish was beautifully presented and the flavours complemented each other well. I love a dish with lots of variety, and this definitely fit the bill. The only downside for me was the cabbage and bacon as I found the bacon made it too salty, but overall I was extremely impressed.
By this point I was getting full but I couldn't turn away dessert. There were so many amazing options but in the end I went for the citrus cheesecake, something that I wouldn't usually order. Radhika had the Chocolate Tart which I would have loved but I knew it was going to be too much for me. My dessert arrived like art on a plate. The cheesecake was lemon with passion fruit coulis which complemented the lemon well. This was served with lemon tart ice cream, which was a creamy lemon ice cream on a bed of biscuit crumbs. This worked wonderfully, and was almost like having two desserts, with both this and the cheesecake being in similar, manageable portions. The dessert was rounded off with a garnish of fresh raspberries and something I'd not seen before, that I could only describe as posh edible paper, with freeze-dried raspberries. Everything worked really well and I was so glad I'd deviated from the usual chocolate that I'd usually order.
We were well and truly stuffed by this point, so we decided to head up to bed. The waiter was more than happy to provide us with a selection of caffeine-free teas, as I wanted a warm drink but don't drink caffeine after a certain time. Radhika decided to make the most of the bath while I snuggled down in bed and watched some TV as Sunday night is one of my favourite nights for TV at the moment (it's Poldark and Victoria on at the moment, the latter of which I'm actually watching as I write this post). Unfortunately I did struggle to sleep as I have been having problems sleeping in general lately, especially when I'm away from home and around other people, but the bed was really comfortable and when I did get off to sleep, it was glorious.
I woke up the next day bright and early (to a drizzy view over the grounds) as we knew we had a busy day planned. As I'd gotten too comfy to move the night before, I knew I had to have a morning shower because no way was I not going to try out the huge walk in shower with it's large shower head. I took with me the Lush Olive Branch shower gel as I was feeling autumnal, so I started the day with it's aromatic, woody olive scent. The temperature was perfect, nothing worse than a shower that goes cold the moment you've applied conditioner, am I rite? The only downside to having such an open shower was the fact that because I wasn't washing my hair, I had to keep part of my body out of the water, and that side of me that wasn't under the water got quite a bit colder than it would have done if it were a closed shower.
There was no time to dwell as we had to make our way back down to the Courtyard restaurant for breakfast, something I was very excited about! There was a table dressed to the nines with cereals, fruit, croissants and juices. I opted for a bowl of muesli topped with a medley of tropical fruit and some cranberry juice. Tea was a given, and I wanted to give the Full English a go. Actually I panicked and ordered that because I didn't have chance to look at the menu because I was getting some juice, but I thought it would be good to compare to other hotels and a home-cooked breakfast.
We'd booked a taxi which arrived just as we'd finished breakfast and handed in our keys far too soon. I didn't want to leave the idyllic countryside and our beautiful suite. On the whole, our stay at Ox Pasture Hall was brilliant. The rooms were spacious, luxurious and clean, the staff were friendly and accommodating, and service was perfect. Although the hotel is a little further away from Scarborough, it was easily accessible by car and not at all expensive by taxi. It provided a quiet retreat, the perfect escape and I wouldn't hesitate to go back in the future to relax and recuperate.
Have you been to Scarborough?
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