*** I was invited to The Three Cups Inn for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are forever my own. ***
Just a few miles outside of York is the village of Stamford Bridge, most famous for the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but home to some very cute pubs as well.
The Three Cups Inn in Stamford Bridge has fairly recently been taken over by Vintage Inns so my visit coincided with both their remodel launch and their special festive menu.
First impressions of the pub are very lovely. I love the basket of blankets so that you can wrap up cosily if you want to sit outside and all the little treats that make dogs feel welcome. The decor inside was very cosy and homely. Perfect for a village pub.
My guest and I settled in and ordered drinks from the Festive Menu. Fairly quickly, we found out that the drinks that we had ordered are unable to be made because the pub did not have all the ingredients yet due to having just been re-opened. In the end, I had the raspberry and elderflower G & T (£7.50) which was delightfully refreshing.
For my starter, I ordered the asparagus parcels from Festive Menu. The asparagus was wrapped in puff pastry and served with a slow-roasted tomato sauce and home pickled onions. I’m a huge fan of asparagus so this dish was never going to do poorly by me, but I was super impressed that it was also the vegan option. I don’t often get to eat pastry out as it’s not usually vegan at restaurants. My guest had the duo of pâté with coarse pork and Madeira pâté, duck liver parfait with a Bramley apple butter, blackcurrant curd, baby gherkins and sourdough bread. (£5.95) He mentioned that it was a bit bland, but perfectly satisfactory.
For my main, I had the roasted butternut squash tart, which was the vegan option on the Festive Menu. The butternut squash tart was filled with caramelised onions and spiced roasted chickpeas then topped with roasted seeds, drizzled with coconut sauce and served with sprouts. I thoroughly enjoyed my main. The only thing that I was missing was a side of potatoes. That’s purely my own fault – I knew the dish did not come with potatoes and I could have ordered some on the side – I need potatoes to feel like I’ve had a Sunday main.
For his main, my guest had the roast trio from the regular menu (£12.50). It consisted of a sirloin of beef, a breast of turkey and pork belly and crackling with lemon and thyme stuffing wrapped in bacon. It came with roasted potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, gravy, thyme-roasted carrots, roasted parsnips, beetroot, and broccoli. He mentioned that the potatoes were a bit lukewarm but that the rest of the meal was flavourful and good value for money.
For pudding, I had my last course from the Festive Menu: the Belgian chocolate brownie with with Irish liqueur ice cream. It was absolutely delicious and I definitely would recommend it. It was definitely more of a chewy brownie than a cake-y one and that is exactly the way brownies should be, in my opinion. My guest had the sticky toffee pudding (£5.95) topped with salted butterscotch sauce and custard. He mentioned that the dessert / pudding course was his absolute favourite bit of the day, so I’d say that dessert was an all-around winner at The Three Cups.
My meal was from the Festive Menu, so three courses were £22.95 which seemed really good value for money.
There were definitely a few wrinkles that The Three Cups still needs to iron-out in view of it’s re-model, but all in all, it’s a country pub experience that I would recommend. Particularly if you are a vegan or vegetarian, as the Vintage Inns always seem to go out of their way to make sure that the non-meat eaters have thoughtful meal options.
If you are traveling to Stamford Bridge from York City Centre, the #10 Bus from York Piccadilly (stop PA) goes directly to the village centre in about 20 minutes.
The Three Cups is at York Rd, Stamford Bridge, York YO41 1AX
What’s your favourite country pub? Can you recommend me another one that does great vegan food?
*** I was invited to The Three Cups Inn for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are forever my own. ***
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