Telephone: 01947 840 825
Address: 1 High Street, Staithes, North Yorkshire
Dinner for two, including wine and service, £60.
To say that Staithes in North Yorkshire would be great if it weren't for the seagulls is, I know, a little like arguing that the Leaning Tower of Pisa would be much better if it only stood up straight. The seagulls, who cling like moss to the cleft in the cliffs which shelter this delicious little fishing village, are part of the deal. But that doesn't stop me resenting the bastards for waking me up at 6am with their incessant hee-hawing call.
Ever the gastronaut, I lay in bed pondering the eatability of the seagull as an act of revenge. Later, I consulted Alan Davidson's magisterial Oxford Companion to Food . There is no entry for seagull. As he includes entries for puffin, aardvark and giraffe, one must assume that no one has ever attempted to prepare a seagull for the table. How useless a bird is that? Not only noisy, but inedible.
Still, the noise is more than worth enduring for the pleasures of the Endeavour, named, like so many things along this stretch of coast - boats, pubs, children - after Captain Cook's ship, which was built at nearby Whitby. The 200-year-old building, a lofty stack of rooms, was taken over only a year or so back by Brian Kay, a former Yorkshire TV producer, and his partner Charlotte Willoughby, who dreamt of running a small restaurant. Wisely, they have taken their cue from the restless seas at their door; the menu is stuffed full of fish dishes, prepared sensitively and sensibly from that day's catch. So there's lots of turbot and crab, lobster and monkfish, served up in their simple, homely dining room. There are meat and vegetarian options, but why would you, here, so close to the water's edge? Unless you are one of those difficult sods that everyone else has to make allowances for when they go out for dinner.
It isn't exactly cheap, but then good fish shouldn't be, given the state of the North Sea fisheries; we should increasingly be prepared to pay a premium to eat its contents. The Endeavour's food is distinctly good value. Starters are around a fiver, main courses from £12 to £16.
I began with a finely executed - and generous - risotto nero topped with pieces of lovely fresh squid. The rice had the requisite nutty bite and the squid was sweet and tender.
My main course, medallions of monkfish, was again cooked with a light touch, and prepared with a clear understanding that it could stand up to some big flavours, represented by a heavyweight bacon and rosemary sauce, and given an acidic edge with a few capers. If there is a fault, it lies in what, being a patronising London git, I will refer to as the provincialism of the vegetable side dishes. It wasn't that there was anything particularly wrong with them. I liked the leeks sautéed with prunes and the boulangerie potatoes, but there was too much, a kind of 'more-is-more' sensibility. Kay should have the confidence to plate up the right vegetables for each dish and leave it at that.
I finished with a brioche bread-and-butter pudding and a scoop of tart pear ice cream. These were two puddings, but I asked for them together, and they obliged. From the list of premium wines I chose a Hugel Gewürztraminer at £32, because I can't resist it, but there's lots of choice for £15 or less. They gave me a glass of their sweet, sticky home-made sloe gin and thus, pleasantly pissed, I stumbled upwards to one of the three comfortable bedrooms that are available from £55 and which, like the food, I can heartily recommend. As long as you take earplugs.
