(ad – pr) York has plenty of landmark buildings to mark your way round the city, many of which are gradually being repurposed away from the intended purpose toward more modern applications. Most recent amongst these is the former post office building on Lendal which has been sadly out of use for a good few years, leading to myriad rumours about its future, which now houses Miller & Carter’s first foray into York. This steakhouse brand is well established across the country and has significant backing from its owners which look set to allow it to compete strongly on price and it’s clearly committed to the city given the scale of investment into the building, I was happy to accept an invite to Miller and Carter York to check things out.
The old post office has been subjected to a drastic transformation inside with the removal the counters opening the space up to make an enormous dining area, tastefully broken up by screens and foliage with the kitchen and bar along the long back wall where I previously recall sending off documents and buying stamps. Such mundanity is firmly in the past now though, although tasteful remnants of the previous purpose remain such as signage inside the entrance. As one would expect, the menu here is meat-heavy with a broad selection of steaks and not masses in the way of vegan dishes. The starters hit the usual notes of scallops, wings, baked camembert and so on but we decided to dedicate our calorie allowance to the main event and dived straight into ordering the “Butcher’s Block” as well as indulging in a few extras.
The steak sharing experiences on offer at Miller and Carter York are great ways to make a sharing meal into more of an event and offer good value, when we visited you could get hold of a chateaubriand and sides for two with a bottle of wine thrown in for £100, great value for a premium cut. The sharer we went for comprised ribeye and rump steaks to share as well as a brace of fillets and slow cooked brisket with bone marrow. With lobster tail and scallop on the side, this is one of the most extravagant orders I’ve placed in some time! One of the signatures at Miller & Carter is the serving of a wedge of lettuce as is apparently traditional stateside so one’s required to choose a dressing for that as well as steak sauce. Admin complete, we were soon chomping through lettuce dressed with honey, mustard & bacon and vinaigrette which were both light and enjoyable though, in truth, not why we had come.
Shortly after beginning to crunch our way through some lettuce, the main event did its best to cram itself onto the table, taking up every inch of available space and very much looking the part. We had greens and chips for sides to augment the fried onion loaves that came by default and were richly sweet. Scallops were presented in a small pan with a few token pea shoots and a chunk of lemon, not the most refined presentation I’ve ever seen but still delicious. Similar things could be said of the bisected lobster tail which was a touch overcooked but still a rare treat. As far as the meat itself every thing ticked the right boxes with the steaks being uniformly well prepared, each one cooked appropriately for the cut and perfectly tender while showing signs of having been well rested. Chimichurri sauce had plenty of body while béarnaise was well executed with a nicely pungent shove of tarragon. At £80 to feed two there’s very little to argue with here, adding in the exclamation points of lobster and scallop bumped the reckoning up a little but with a glass of wine each we only hit £130, great value for so many high-ticket menu items.
Regardless of one’s opinion on the changing use of buildings I’m happy to see the old post office back in use and, truth be told, it needed an operator like Miller & Carter with deep pockets to do the place justice. There’re other specialist steak joints in York who lavish enough care on their meat to make every piece a unique experience but there’s no arguing with the value on display here. Combined with a truly historic setting Miller & Carter York make a strong case for repeat custom.
