Burlington Restaurant
Devonshire Arms Bolton Abbey Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 6AJ
Probably the finest dining in the Yorkshire Dales is at the Burlington in the Devonshire Arms – an elegant experience that's the perfect coda to a night away in the country. The menus are seasonal, naturally, but we like the fact that you're sampling meat and game from the Bolton Abbey Estate herds, as well as salad, veg and herbs from the kitchen garden. And we especially like the fact that there's nothing silly about the cooking which – while all perfectly modish and contemporary – has a reassuringly firm grip on reality. Braised lamb shoulder, morels and broad beans doesn't muck about and gets straight to the seasonal point. There's a bit of theatrics here and there (cloches raised dramatically at table, a shot glass or two of concentrated flavour), but the fancy cooking hasn't gone to anyone's head, which makes for a more relaxed affair all round. Men do have to wear a jacket, and there are antique tables and art from Chatsworth in the dining room, but that would be to give the wrong impression of a restaurant that is above all a welcoming place to eat. The wine list, incidentally, is a corker too.
