We made the second trip to York in the mid-November of last year. Still there were many tourists but it seemed like less than those at our first visit. We had a lunch at Rustique, a French bistro, located on Castlegate. I tried
Tagine marocain de légumes - "Moroccan spiced vegetable tagine with mixed vegetables and pulses, cooked with tomatoes and ras el hanout spices. Served with raisin and herb cous cous and minted riata." I liked it because it had plenty of vegetable and beans and no meat and such a hot and soupy dish was nice on a chilly day. The flavor was really far away from what I knew as Moroccan tagine, though. Like the
chicken tagine that I had at Filmore & Union, this was a kind of tomato stew with mild flavors. Maybe authentic Moroccan tagine was like this. I was confused. I need to go to Morocco to understand a real tagine.
J had
Poulet façon Bretonne - "chicken breast cooked in Brittany style with mushrooms, leeks, onions, white wine and tarragon cream sauce served with Dauphinoise potatoes." It seemed simple, perhaps a bit plain. It could be as what the dish was.
For starters, I had
Fritot de brie - "breaded brie served with mixed leaves and mixed berry compote." J had
Boulettes d’agneau - "minced lamb kofta served with minted yogurt and pitta bread." Overall, the foods were ok, not impressive. The service was quick, which was helpful. Maybe the bistro was popular and convenience for tourists or a large group for party.
The lunch wasn't a highlight of the day anyway. The day's special was to visit York Minster. This time fortunately there wasn't a long waiting line to enter.
We joined one of their voluntary guides to learn some history and meanings of architecture and artifacts inside. The time for the tour was limited, though. There must be much more stories about the 800-year-old cathedral that took 250 years to build.
The stories can extend more than 800 years. Excavation works found that the Minster stood on parts of the Roman military headquarters building.
Visiting York Minstar was interesting and we should revisit for at least two reasons. One, we didn't had a chance to go up to the tower. Second, the Grand Organ was undergoing a major refurbishment, which will be ready for use in late summer 2020. We'll be back!
