Almost immediately upon publishing my guide to the best brunches in York, I received a message from Sutlers suggesting that perhaps I’d overlooked them and that I should pop along to check out what they had to offer. I’m always happy to check out places that haven’t made it into my schedule yet, so happily accepted and popped along to break up the monotony of a Monday morning.
Sutlers is a bar and kitchen that emphasises its spirit offering alongside its independence and dedication to fresh ingredients. In all honesty, the evenings have always seemed a bit too focussed on the drinks trade to appeal to me, hence not prioritising for a visit thus far, but the restoration of the former Army & Navy store is a pleasant and comfortable place to be over breakfast. Adding immeasurably to the ambience when we visited was the presence of Audrey, sporting the softest fur I’ve yet to find on a pug (admittedly from a rather small field. Pug fur rating isn’t activity I pursue often).
Having checked out the menu in advance, there was no great discussion as we ordered the skillet breakfast and eggs royale. Our server brought across some coffees to keep us company while the kitchen got to work and the usual Monday morning deliveries took place around us. On their website, Sutlers make a point of highlighting that the food is fresh and cooked to order so there can be a little bit of a wait for dishes to make it out of the kitchen. We weren’t in any hurry to get stuck into the rest of the Monday so were happy to go with the flow as we enjoyed our coffees and Audrey’s company.
When food arrived, we’d not been waiting long enough to cause irritation. The eggs royale that Grace had plumped for hid its toast under lustrous looking hollandaise and generous quantities of warm smoked salmon. The sauce packed in flavour and the textures mixed well to make up a generously flavoured and portioned dish.
My skillet breakfast perched a superheated skillet on a chopping board alongside some toasted bread. As usual, my enthusiasm for food overtook my concern for the heat resistance of my mouth, but when I’d gotten over the shock of the minor burn (I had been warned, my fault) I enjoyed the dish very much. Deceptively rich with kidney beans packed into the tomato sauce alongside the chorizo. It’s also always nice to see details such as good quality butter being taken care of too. As far as the presentation goes, when presented with something at the table this hot, I’d rather have it on something that more effectively limits the chance of burning oneself and offers somewhere to more easily balance a knife and fork. Still, I emerged unscathed and enjoyed the food.
Sutlers is definitely deserving of a place on my list. I won’t even hold against them the need to revisit that piece so soon. To be honest, even if the food didn’t warrant a return visit, I’d be making one anyway to say hi to Audrey, but thankfully it does anyway.
