Sam and I have been trying for ages to get into Skosh. But ever since Jay Rayner’s glowing review, “clever, delicious and often brilliant” and his endorsement that one of his dishes was the best dish of the year it’s been absolutely impossible to get a reservation. So we decided to make a special occasion of it and book months in advance to celebrate our wedding anniversary with a much longed for dinner at Skosh.
First Round
All the dishes at Skosh are small plates, that are meant to be shared. Our waiter recommended 7/8 small plates per couple. Once you order your plates, the kitchen decides in what pairings and orders they should be brought out. We ordered 8 plates, for example, so had three rounds of servings (a set of 3, then 2, then 3 again).
In the first round of small plates, we had the house sourdough with acorn dairy butter and gunpowder spice (£4). It made me want to have a little pot of gunpowder spice sitting on my kitchen worktop. Then we dived into the crispy saddleback pork with gooseberry ketchup (£4.50). I’m not a massive gooseberry fan, but I found this ketchup tart and delightful – it perfectly cut through the pork. The pork reminded me of a scotch egg, without the egg (in the best of ways). Lastly, we finished out this round with onion seed lavash with ricotta and basil (£4.50). A lavash is a crisp flatbread, and whilst it didn’t bring loads to the table flavour-wise, it served as an excellent scooping tool for getting as much of the decadently creamy ricotta to my mouth as possible.
Second Round
Our second round of plates was definitely my favourite round. It brought tears of joy to my eyes. This is not an exaggeration. I’d go back to Skosh again and again for it.
We plunged into the ‘B.L.T.’ (£5.50) with aplomb. Their version of a BLT was a tomato filled brioche, topped with crunchy bacon bits, served with an amazing bacon jam and bbq lettuce. I’m not sure why I don’t chargrill my own lettuce at home. It was so simple but divine. The bacon jam was the perfect salty, moreish complement and the tomato brioche was light and packed with flavor. It is a winning dish.
The Skosh fried chicken floored me. Who knew a simple fried chicken could be served with such skill and delicacy?
The Skosh fried chicken (£6) was served with a brown butter hollandaise. The batter on the chicken seemed to be mixed with nuts and seeds and the chicken was bursting with juice and flavour. At my first bite of the brown butter hollandaise, I turned to Sam and exclaimed “this must be what heaven tastes like”. The chicken and the hollandaise complimented each other perfectly, and I eagerly scoffed them both. When there was a bit of hollandaise left over once we had finished with the chicken, I finished it off with my spoon. I have no shame.
Third Round
We paused to digest briefly before the third round of small dishes arrived. Sam swooped in on the chargrilled octopus (£8.90) before I’d even had the chance to contemplate what I was going to eat first.
The octopus was cooked in tandori spices and served with a pickled lime puree. It was the kind of lime pickle that you dream of always having on hand to spread over poppadoms. Whilst Sam tackled the octopus, I requisitioned the cauliflower manchurian (£4.50) all for myself. I’m not sure how or what the cauliflower was cooked in but it was spicy, crunchy and spectacular. We finished off this course by confronting the towering okonomiyaki (£10) together.
Okonomiyaki is a type of savoury Japanese pancake, and Skosh topped theirs with piles of crisp potato chunks that tasted like decadent fried gnocci, tons of parmesan and shaved truffle. It was such a luxurious dish, and the perfect way to end our savouries.
Dessert
Never one to say no to a treat – and it was a special occasion after all – I had the mango lassi with saffron custard donut (£3.50). It was a perfect lassi and the donut was delicious, but I could have done with loads more, to be honest. Whilst Sam had the heartier dessert: a 72% chocolate slice with fennel ice cream and black olives (£8). I loved the personal touch that they put on our dessert – it was nice to see them acknowledge our anniversary. I would never have thought to combine dark chocolate and olives, but it actually went together very well. Personally, I don’t like fennel and could have skipped the ice cream, but Sam enjoyed it.
Skosh impressed me endlessly. I’d go back in a heartbeat and contemplated booking in my next session already.
The menu changes weekly as they try to cook locally and seasonally.
Please never take the Skosh fried chicken and brown butter hollandaise off the menu. Please?
Skosh is located at 98 Micklegate, York YO1 6JX.
