(ad – pr) Thomas Carr at The Coast is a new restaurant in Ox Pasture Hall from Chef Thomas Carr who has previously held a Michelin Star for seven years at his two restaurants in Devon. Now though he’s relocated to just outside Scarborough and has set about making a reputation for himself in this part of the country, serving up seafood to a high standard in the surrounds of this luxury hotel and spa. Spas are not my natural habitat so I have to confess to unfamiliarity with Ox Pasture Hall, which houses the restaurant in question. Approaching this destination is a treat in itself as you meander through a forest, roughly following the line of the Derwent, with the smell of wild garlic pungent and earthy throughout.
Thomas Carr at The Coast is twenty something covers across two small rooms with view out across the hills and, thanks to the weather when we visited, large opening doors that bring nature just far enough inside to be part of the experience, making a delightfully calming space in which to dine. Our server was quickly at our side with menus and water, and wine for the passenger in short order while we settled in and contemplated the dishes that would make this Friday lunch rather special. The Tasting Menu that we were being treated to came in at £65 a head and had some real star ingredients to easily justify that price. Bread came to the table first with a trio of flavoured butters comprising tomato and basil and beetroot as well as a rather more unusual mussel butter that reflected the seafood theme nicely. With that to pick at, we had a treat from the chef arrive to kick things off. Sweet and buttery scallops with a hazelnut crust alongside brown shrimp with a watercress sauce and sweet hints of white onion and a little kick of wild garlic resolved into an light, well balanced and beautifully executed dish that set the tone very well.
Rhubarb-cured salmon came next, a dish that could easily fade into contemptuous familiarity but here accented by sharp hits of lemon with pickled rhubarb and salmon pate to serve as points of difference and crispy salmon skin for textural interest. This pushed the boundary of a familiar concept just enough to make it memorable without straying too far from what makes it such a rightfully common combo. Next up was a chunky piece of stone bass with crab and fennel, an easy combination to elevate into something truly special that’s done so here with panache. The fish was beautifully cooked with the flesh flaking and skin crisped and all the other elements were as confidently put together. Fennel with an aniseed tang lifted the adjacent portion of white crab while richer brown crab flavoured a rolled centrepiece to the dish and a bit of samphire gave it more of a touch of the sea.
Monkfish was next up in this parade of seafood greatest hits with a bacon sauce underpinning it in lieu of the more common pancetta or similar wrap treatment. Asparagus and baby leek gave a freshness and a splash of green to the place while texture was taken care of by a generous shard of crisped chicken skin. What really pushed this one to new heights was a lightly spiced piece of chicken sausage that livened up the plate even further, with a gentle Coronation chicken spicing that was in perfect harmony with the other elements on the plate. Dessert was anchored by passion fruit with textures of meringue and a crunchy base, a light and zingy finish to the meal.
Thomas Carr at The Coast is offering something quite distinctive, a seafood heavy set menu that doesn’t make heavy weather of being a “Seafood Restaurant”, with all the constraints implied there. Every dish showed off the quality produce to its greatest impact with original twists that added to the experience without starting to feel forced or contrived. It must also be said that £65 for a menu executed this well featuring such a broad spread of high end seafood is great value too, with service up to par too. This really deserves to find a broad audience and is well worth the drive from York!
