Very interesting menu, everything was quite technical/complex for food sourcing, ingredients, preparation & cooking, while most importantly, it all tasted very good! While nothing wrong with the service it did vary between the different staff presenting each course, some better than others. The wines were very good. Overall it was something different and no complaints for price, food or drink. We were sat at a table of 2 in the window and it just did not have the comfort and ambience you would expect (neither the chair or the window bench seat with a cushion behind). For the food & drink we would go again.
John the baker Roberts
Exceptional food and wine the service was outstanding and the atmosphere was
Rob8591 J
Set in what used to be a public house the set up was tastefully done and the service was exemplary (lots of staff). We opted for the tasting menu and the wine pairing. A split decision on the experience. I thought the food did not match up to the price tag or the sales hype. The food was nice (as were the wines) but for this sort of experience and price you want to be blown away (wasn't). This is now a well populated market in Yorkshire and there are better.
Frank S
Well, what a fantastico visit to Roots we just had. The city was crazy busy on a Saturday night and the rain was bucketing down. Soaked, flooded but then well-fed in a luxury restaurant. The pescatarian tasting menu was top class. Stand out dishes were Cod/Razorclam/Dill (why always dill?) and also Monkfish/Beetroot/Cherry. One of the desserts was also straight from the Banks' playbook - Potato/Chicory Root. Yes, that was the dessert and one of the stickiest and most delicious imaginable. It was Michelin Starred brilliance. Thanks to everyone who works there for a terrific evening.
V5665SEandyl
We had the tasting menu- exceptional at the time. However, of the party of 6 , 5 fell with very bad food poisoning later that evening. We identified the problem as the fish course of the menu which didnt smell that fresh when it was served. One of the group decided not to eat it- funny that they were the one that wasnt sick. S..t happens when you are eating good food, however Roots response was to deny all blame when we contacted them to let them know. In fact they asked us to provide them with a stool sample- pretty difficult to scrape it off our bathroom wall!! We werent looking for a refund, more of an apology and a sign that they'll keep a more careful eye out next time they serve the dish. Pretty poor going for a place that is reliant on its reputation. We wont be eating there again.
Karen M
A great Tommy Banks restaurant. Can see why it got its star! Staff were lovely and well informed. Gave great detail about the courses The place is great. Ambience and surrounding excellent The food was good although we weren’t too keen on a couple of courses but hey, it’s a taster menu. You don’t have to live every one of them! Would definitely come back and highly recommended
jane s
Absolutely fantastic service alongside beautiful food. Would highly recommend this restaurant. Great to hear produce is locally sourced and often made in house
amandabR1485SE
I can’t comment on the food because sadly I will never know. We had travels over 250 miles and book a hotel for this restaurant for a special birthday. To say we were excited was an understatement. We were given a warm welcome on arrival and shown to our seats where we were offered water whilst deciding on our drinks order. We ordered pre dinner cocktails which the waitress managed accidentally to spill all over me. She was apologetic and I understand accidents happen. I was not offered any help as I rushed to the bathroom to sort myself out. I was soaked through to my underwear and it was apparent I couldn’t stay. The floor manager said we could come back later that night but I had only packed one suitable outfit plus it was well over half an hour each way journey time from our hotel and I needed to shower. Once we had our coats and the taxi had been ordered the staff disappeared, there was no eye contact or interaction. My husband was very unhappy with the way it was handled and the floor manager, who was clearly out of her depth didn’t even offer to pay to clean my outfit or reimburse the taxi fares. She briskly asked me to tell her what I wanted, as I pointed out I shouldn’t be telling them what I needed them to do to salvage the situation, they should know. I was very upset and unfortunately crying because the experience was something we had both been looking forward to with great expectation but was it was an unmitigated disaster.They couldn’t wait to get us out of there even though our night had been ruined. I was freezing when I got back to the hotel. We ended up having to purchase sandwiches from a coop. The staff and especially the manager need training for such future eventualities. They shouldn’t be left to flounder due to lack of training and/or experience. We have emailed but the response has been quite disappointing although an offer to pay for cleaning has been made. It has felt that whilst they have become very successful they have forgotten that their customers have been planning, organising and building up to the event of dining with them with great anticipation. I was left feeling irrelevant. So to sum up we paid the best part of £20 in taxi fairs for a sip of tap water and probably the most disappointing night ever and it never needed to be this way with better training and great customer service/support. Could and should do better.
Adam1702
We came with naturally high expectations with Roots being a Michelin star restaurant and having never tried one before. This being a special occasion for us, a ten year anniversary and a trip to York for the first time. To preface the bad review, Roots contacted us after our booking and said that customers were entitled to a complimentary wine tasting menu the night we booked, usually costing £75pp. Naturally we were delighted and emailed back to confirm we would like to make use of the offer. When we arrived, our server was abit awkward and perhaps new to the role. Nothing wrong with that in principle but none the less suprising for the calibre of restaurant. She attempted to ‘guess’ which booking we were, chosing a Dutch name, which we arent, which made things a little strange. But I get the concept. We then sat down and were presented with the drinks options menu, which wasnt explained to us. She came back and when we explained about the offer and email we had received, was very vague and did not confirm nor deny if we were getting the complimentary drinks, which made for a confusing time. The word complimentary was being used vaguely as well, as naturally it could used to suggest all the wines complimented certain dishes, which they do. We tried to get clarity but she continued to confuse us with ambiguity. The food itself was good, and we had a variety of kitchen staff and waiters serve us over the course of the evening - each explaining how the dish was put together in detail. My minor comments would be that as we were served each drink with each course, we had no idea of the ABV of each wine, and it wasnt on the menu. Our server also laughed at us when I asked if Syrah was the same as Shiraz, something I’d heard before, then said she would need to check with the others. Again, I’d expect a little more knowledge at this level but thats a minor gripe. To re-iterate, the food was good, but the service was odd all night, hence the review. Another minor gripe from us as a couple was that we didnt enjoy being sat ‘facing everyone’ in the room, as were others. In a kind of ‘board room meeting’ style rather than backs to each other as per normal. The bill came, and as expected, the £150 additional drinks were on the bill, despite the offer, email exchange and deliberate conversation with server at start of the meal to get clarity. The server then immeditaley came back over within seconds of dropping the bill on the table ‘is everything OK?’ to which we explained and then she said ‘oh I dont know how that got on there, I’ll just go get my manager to take it off’ … She came back with an amended bill but the service charge at 12.5% had not been amended to reflect the £150 less. We mentioned this to her and she essentially said ‘Well you got your drinks for free’. Not wrong factually but still suprising in tone and manner. It left us leaving the restaurant confused and feeling like cheap skates, even though we were the ones that were contacted with the deal / offer. A slightly sour feel to an interesting anniversary meal filled with unique dishes ! Not sure we would go again.
Jon F
Over the food was pretty good with a couple of outstanding courses and the service was very attentive. Sadly the overall experience ended on a low when the bill arrived - it included the standard 12.5% service charge on the complementary wine flight. Charging a service charge on the value of what the wine flight (£75 pp) would have been had it not been complementary seemed a tad “odd” to say the least? We choose not the mare the evening by having a “discussion” on how 12.5% of nothing amounts to anything more than zero; however, it was a disappointing end to what had otherwise been a generally enjoyable experience. So the moral of the evening, be wary of those bearing gifts comes to mind!
What an awesome tasting menu experience: blew us all away and we will return x thanx Jessica for your attention and attentiveness and making us laugh between courses x wanted to be able to pick a favourite course:but couldn't: every course was perfect and mind-blowing x highly recommended
Sherpa23551634465
I loved this place. Great food, nice style. Not cheap but wonderful. I want to only give you one dish: I see root vegetables in a dessert. I am suspicious. No need. Superb. Come here, you are in good hands.
Cruiser716166
A fantastic menu as well as the accompanying wines ! The staff were very informative . Nothing was too much trouble. My partner took ill on Thursday during the meal and we were both rushed off in an ambulance and I’d like to thank the restaurant for allowing us to return to enjoy what would of been a very special experience for my partners retirement . Thank you and we will re book. Amanda and Gary
Andrea B
There aren't enough superlatives to describe just how amazing this experience was. Every dish was layered with flavours, beautifully presented, and just felt incredibly special. I've never tried, or even heard of, some of the ingredients before, but there wasn't any pretentiousness, and the restaurant was so welcoming, with the staff being knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. It was simply fantastic.
AnotheranonDerby
The staff were excellent, the welcome was really good and the time between courses was perfect. (There have been some reviews criticising the time it takes, but my wife and I found it about right and certainly similar to other fine dining, taster menus we have had.) The individual dishes served were also excellent. However, I have knocked the overall rating back to four stars because, in my personal opinion, and others may disagree, the menu was unbalanced. There were several courses in a row that were creamy/cheesy/fatty/rich, where one of the key parts of the description of the matching wine was "it will cut through the richness". In my mind a menu shouldn't totally depend on wine to balance the richness in a menu. That, and the fact that the barman went awol, which delayed the cocktails at the start, are the reason for only four out of five.
Very interesting menu, everything was quite technical/complex for food sourcing, ingredients, preparation & cooking, while most importantly, it all tasted very good! While nothing wrong with the service it did vary between the different staff presenting each course, some better than others. The wines were very good. Overall it was something different and no complaints for price, food or drink. We were sat at a table of 2 in the window and it just did not have the comfort and ambience you would expect (neither the chair or the window bench seat with a cushion behind). For the food & drink we would go again.
Exceptional food and wine the service was outstanding and the atmosphere was
Set in what used to be a public house the set up was tastefully done and the service was exemplary (lots of staff). We opted for the tasting menu and the wine pairing. A split decision on the experience. I thought the food did not match up to the price tag or the sales hype. The food was nice (as were the wines) but for this sort of experience and price you want to be blown away (wasn't). This is now a well populated market in Yorkshire and there are better.
Well, what a fantastico visit to Roots we just had. The city was crazy busy on a Saturday night and the rain was bucketing down. Soaked, flooded but then well-fed in a luxury restaurant. The pescatarian tasting menu was top class. Stand out dishes were Cod/Razorclam/Dill (why always dill?) and also Monkfish/Beetroot/Cherry. One of the desserts was also straight from the Banks' playbook - Potato/Chicory Root. Yes, that was the dessert and one of the stickiest and most delicious imaginable. It was Michelin Starred brilliance. Thanks to everyone who works there for a terrific evening.
We had the tasting menu- exceptional at the time. However, of the party of 6 , 5 fell with very bad food poisoning later that evening. We identified the problem as the fish course of the menu which didnt smell that fresh when it was served. One of the group decided not to eat it- funny that they were the one that wasnt sick. S..t happens when you are eating good food, however Roots response was to deny all blame when we contacted them to let them know. In fact they asked us to provide them with a stool sample- pretty difficult to scrape it off our bathroom wall!! We werent looking for a refund, more of an apology and a sign that they'll keep a more careful eye out next time they serve the dish. Pretty poor going for a place that is reliant on its reputation. We wont be eating there again.
A great Tommy Banks restaurant. Can see why it got its star! Staff were lovely and well informed. Gave great detail about the courses The place is great. Ambience and surrounding excellent The food was good although we weren’t too keen on a couple of courses but hey, it’s a taster menu. You don’t have to live every one of them! Would definitely come back and highly recommended
Absolutely fantastic service alongside beautiful food. Would highly recommend this restaurant. Great to hear produce is locally sourced and often made in house
I can’t comment on the food because sadly I will never know. We had travels over 250 miles and book a hotel for this restaurant for a special birthday. To say we were excited was an understatement. We were given a warm welcome on arrival and shown to our seats where we were offered water whilst deciding on our drinks order. We ordered pre dinner cocktails which the waitress managed accidentally to spill all over me. She was apologetic and I understand accidents happen. I was not offered any help as I rushed to the bathroom to sort myself out. I was soaked through to my underwear and it was apparent I couldn’t stay. The floor manager said we could come back later that night but I had only packed one suitable outfit plus it was well over half an hour each way journey time from our hotel and I needed to shower. Once we had our coats and the taxi had been ordered the staff disappeared, there was no eye contact or interaction. My husband was very unhappy with the way it was handled and the floor manager, who was clearly out of her depth didn’t even offer to pay to clean my outfit or reimburse the taxi fares. She briskly asked me to tell her what I wanted, as I pointed out I shouldn’t be telling them what I needed them to do to salvage the situation, they should know. I was very upset and unfortunately crying because the experience was something we had both been looking forward to with great expectation but was it was an unmitigated disaster.They couldn’t wait to get us out of there even though our night had been ruined. I was freezing when I got back to the hotel. We ended up having to purchase sandwiches from a coop. The staff and especially the manager need training for such future eventualities. They shouldn’t be left to flounder due to lack of training and/or experience. We have emailed but the response has been quite disappointing although an offer to pay for cleaning has been made. It has felt that whilst they have become very successful they have forgotten that their customers have been planning, organising and building up to the event of dining with them with great anticipation. I was left feeling irrelevant. So to sum up we paid the best part of £20 in taxi fairs for a sip of tap water and probably the most disappointing night ever and it never needed to be this way with better training and great customer service/support. Could and should do better.
We came with naturally high expectations with Roots being a Michelin star restaurant and having never tried one before. This being a special occasion for us, a ten year anniversary and a trip to York for the first time. To preface the bad review, Roots contacted us after our booking and said that customers were entitled to a complimentary wine tasting menu the night we booked, usually costing £75pp. Naturally we were delighted and emailed back to confirm we would like to make use of the offer. When we arrived, our server was abit awkward and perhaps new to the role. Nothing wrong with that in principle but none the less suprising for the calibre of restaurant. She attempted to ‘guess’ which booking we were, chosing a Dutch name, which we arent, which made things a little strange. But I get the concept. We then sat down and were presented with the drinks options menu, which wasnt explained to us. She came back and when we explained about the offer and email we had received, was very vague and did not confirm nor deny if we were getting the complimentary drinks, which made for a confusing time. The word complimentary was being used vaguely as well, as naturally it could used to suggest all the wines complimented certain dishes, which they do. We tried to get clarity but she continued to confuse us with ambiguity. The food itself was good, and we had a variety of kitchen staff and waiters serve us over the course of the evening - each explaining how the dish was put together in detail. My minor comments would be that as we were served each drink with each course, we had no idea of the ABV of each wine, and it wasnt on the menu. Our server also laughed at us when I asked if Syrah was the same as Shiraz, something I’d heard before, then said she would need to check with the others. Again, I’d expect a little more knowledge at this level but thats a minor gripe. To re-iterate, the food was good, but the service was odd all night, hence the review. Another minor gripe from us as a couple was that we didnt enjoy being sat ‘facing everyone’ in the room, as were others. In a kind of ‘board room meeting’ style rather than backs to each other as per normal. The bill came, and as expected, the £150 additional drinks were on the bill, despite the offer, email exchange and deliberate conversation with server at start of the meal to get clarity. The server then immeditaley came back over within seconds of dropping the bill on the table ‘is everything OK?’ to which we explained and then she said ‘oh I dont know how that got on there, I’ll just go get my manager to take it off’ … She came back with an amended bill but the service charge at 12.5% had not been amended to reflect the £150 less. We mentioned this to her and she essentially said ‘Well you got your drinks for free’. Not wrong factually but still suprising in tone and manner. It left us leaving the restaurant confused and feeling like cheap skates, even though we were the ones that were contacted with the deal / offer. A slightly sour feel to an interesting anniversary meal filled with unique dishes ! Not sure we would go again.
Over the food was pretty good with a couple of outstanding courses and the service was very attentive. Sadly the overall experience ended on a low when the bill arrived - it included the standard 12.5% service charge on the complementary wine flight. Charging a service charge on the value of what the wine flight (£75 pp) would have been had it not been complementary seemed a tad “odd” to say the least? We choose not the mare the evening by having a “discussion” on how 12.5% of nothing amounts to anything more than zero; however, it was a disappointing end to what had otherwise been a generally enjoyable experience. So the moral of the evening, be wary of those bearing gifts comes to mind!
Restaurantji Recommends
What an awesome tasting menu experience: blew us all away and we will return x thanx Jessica for your attention and attentiveness and making us laugh between courses x wanted to be able to pick a favourite course:but couldn't: every course was perfect and mind-blowing x highly recommended
I loved this place. Great food, nice style. Not cheap but wonderful. I want to only give you one dish: I see root vegetables in a dessert. I am suspicious. No need. Superb. Come here, you are in good hands.
A fantastic menu as well as the accompanying wines ! The staff were very informative . Nothing was too much trouble. My partner took ill on Thursday during the meal and we were both rushed off in an ambulance and I’d like to thank the restaurant for allowing us to return to enjoy what would of been a very special experience for my partners retirement . Thank you and we will re book. Amanda and Gary
There aren't enough superlatives to describe just how amazing this experience was. Every dish was layered with flavours, beautifully presented, and just felt incredibly special. I've never tried, or even heard of, some of the ingredients before, but there wasn't any pretentiousness, and the restaurant was so welcoming, with the staff being knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. It was simply fantastic.
The staff were excellent, the welcome was really good and the time between courses was perfect. (There have been some reviews criticising the time it takes, but my wife and I found it about right and certainly similar to other fine dining, taster menus we have had.) The individual dishes served were also excellent. However, I have knocked the overall rating back to four stars because, in my personal opinion, and others may disagree, the menu was unbalanced. There were several courses in a row that were creamy/cheesy/fatty/rich, where one of the key parts of the description of the matching wine was "it will cut through the richness". In my mind a menu shouldn't totally depend on wine to balance the richness in a menu. That, and the fact that the barman went awol, which delayed the cocktails at the start, are the reason for only four out of five.