Pushing on for ten years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to a small bistro on the corner of Merchantgate to check out the food offering. Corner Grill House was doing good things at the time, with unpretentious dishes showing off superb produce and friendly service in an extremely intimate environment. I’ve stayed in touch with owner Radek since then and he’s been good enough to demonstrate for me at York Food Festival on a few occasions as he’s found his profile growing. While it was a nice space, that original corner location was always going to be a limiting factor and as Radek grew his reputation and the business new premises were, in retrospect, inevitable and so you can now find Corner Grill House on King Street. Slightly confusingly it’s no longer on a corner, but why mess with a winning brand eh?
Previously home to an Indian restaurant, the new location is a much larger space than the space Corner Grill House previously occupied and has been subjected to a meticulous renovation that’s turned it into an invitingly lit and super-stylish dining space. The breadth of the wine list is obvious from the number of bottles adorning the shelving around the room and with stylish but understated furniture all this comes together to produce a lovely calming dining room with a real sense of occasion. The menu features plenty of traditional dishes but makes a feature of the selection of steaks as well as featuring a number of rich starters that catch the eye. We decided to go for broke and over-order to make sure we got a broad selection of what was on offer, taking home the leftovers of course. I’m never quite sure why people are embarrassed to ask for this, do you think chefs enjoy seeing their hard work scraped off a plate into the bin?
A sharing board of three starters gives plenty of opportunity to make inroads into the starters with lamb kofta, garlic prawns and baked mushrooms forming an appetising trio when served with generous amounts of bread and side salad. I’d happily recommend any of the three that we enjoyed, all generous and rich with no weak spots on the board. The kofta was tender and with a well balanced spicing that didn’t threaten to overwhelm its companions, while the baked mushrooms didn’t skimp on the cheese, which had just started to caramelise on top for an extra punch of flavour. Prawns were given extra appeal from a creamy, white wine and cream sauce with a fresh dusting of parsley lightening things to complete a satisfying start to the meal.
The theme of over-ordering continued with main dishes as I wilted under Radek’s suggestions to try three things and we agreed on ox cheek, pork tomahawk and sirloin steak. We opted for chips to accompany the steak and a salad to go with the pork, though of course they were distributed between the plates at our whim anyway. Ox cheek was accompanied by creamy mash and a generous quantity of small onions with some parsnip crisps for texture and pea shoots to temper this rich dish. Ox cheek really rewards a long, slow cook and the preposterously soft and unctuous texture this example delivered was outstanding. Butter-rich mash brought more luxury and sharp pops from the pearls of onion punctuated the richness neatly. I’m a competent home cook and know how to do justice to a decent cut of meat, something which can be mysteriously lacking in some restaurants. The evidence here puts Corner Grill House firmly on my trusted list with the sirloin cooked perfectly and obviously from a quality supplier. Pork matched up well with a rewarding depth of flavour and tender consistency that stood up for itself against the quality of the steak well. A bold Malbec from the well-appointed wine list was perfect to accompany all this
Corner Grill House has always been a reliable spot to enjoy cuts of meat that are prepared with care and cooked to realise their potential and the King Street location just serves to even further elevate the experience thanks to the relaxed ambience and characterful interior. Service is worth a mention too as the balance of showing attentiveness without pestering was perfectly hit too. It’s been a pleasure watching Radek grow this business over the years and it has a real spring in its step now that should sustain it for many years. We were very full and happy as we strolled home replete with leftovers.
