The Box Tree in Ilkley, featuring Bolton Abbey
A weekend lunch at The Box Tree was fabulous. The restaurant was a charming house, which was originally a Yorkshire stone farmhouse dating from 1720, one of the oldest buildings in a small spa town, Ilkley, according to the restaurant. When we arrived there, first we were seated in an elegant waiting room, where we relaxed, looked though the menu, chose what we would like to have and had a drink (beer for J) and a couple of amuse-bouches while our dining table was getting ready. It was a thoughtful step to transfer our minds from our active morning walk in Bolton Abbey to an intimate dining experience.
Amuse-bouches were nice and savory. One was crunchy; one was creamy. They were so tiny not to give me a chance to think about what I was tasting!
We moved to a dining room that had antique-looking decorations, white table cloths and the diamond leaded windows that turned sunshine into gentle pale pink and green colors.
Bread was toasted sourdough. The bread wasn't "sour" but had a nice flavor. Two kinds of spreads: standard butter (I think) and Marmite-flavored butter. J loved the latter very much. He ordered another loaf of bread to enjoy Marmite butter!
His first dish was smoked haddock, potato, egg yolk and chive. Lovely!
Mine was Galantine of chicken and duck, pickles, pear and raisin puree, and crispy sourdough slices. It was rich and meaty but wasn't heavy. The sweet fruity puree went with the galantine very well.
My main dish was Panache of sea fishes with celeriac, baby leeks, avruga caviar, and sauce au Noilly. The dish was beautiful and delicious! I loved to have a lot of veggies and three kinds of sea fishes (one was scallop) in a dish.
J had duck with confit leg, turnip, spring alliums, honey and soy. It looked artistic. I believe that he enjoyed the dish.
We shared two kinds of desserts. Passion fruit and mango soufflé with coconut sorbet, and Lemon and vanilla Sable Breton with cream cheese and Yorkshire tea sorbet. Both were lovely lemony and refreshing.
The other dining room had a fireplace. It looked cozy. Although the restaurant has recently lost its Michelin star, the food and service we received made our weekend very special.
I am sure that our good walk around Bolton Abbey brought us good appetite for the great lunch. The ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery was surrounded by beautiful pastures with a lot of sheep. It also stood right next to the River Wharfe. We walked on a trail alongside the river.
Sheep, sheep, sheep. I love living in North Yorkshire!
