EATING OUT: CHASE BAR & GRILL, YORK MARRIOTT

On Monday I celebrated turning twenty six (realising you're well in to the overs category on X Factor is a sobering thought), and to help me celebrate in style I was kindly invited to stay at the Marriott Hotel in one of my favourite places; York! Not only did we get to stay in a beautiful Grandstand Room that overlooked York Racecourse, but we also got to sample the delicious food at the hotel's restaurant, The Chase Bar & Grill. 

After a perfect day hitting the shops in York City Centre and spending some (all) of my birthday money on some new Autumn wardrobe essentials, we headed down to the restaurant and were shown to our table, over looking the hotel gardens and racecourse in the contemporary designed dining room. Here's where things get really good! 

After perusing the menu for some time, we decided to skip starters and make sure we saved room for some of the desserts that our waitress Maddie recommended. We weren't left waiting for some food for long though, as she quickly returned after taking our order with a board of homemade Yorkshire puddings (literally one of our favourite things ever) with a delicious chutney and some herb butter on the side. These were absolutely delicious and just the right amount to keep us going until the main courses arrived.

For the main courses we both went for meat options to see how the restaurant lived up to the 'Grill' in it's name, and we weren't disappointed! Dan chose the Rib Eye Served with Confit Tomato, Rustic Chips and a Pink Peppercorn Sauce. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and Dan informs me that the sauce was tasty and smooth, the garnish was really nice and all in all a delicious meal. I opted for the Lamb with Lamb Hotpot, which was absolutely amazing! My dish consisted of a gorgeous lamb hotpot that literally melted in the mouth, topped with sliced potatoes and diced carrots, alongside two perfectly cooked lamb cutlets and a side of pickled red cabbage. Needless to say both of our plates were cleaned. 

Finally we moved on to desserts, and I instantly knew which I would be going for after hearing Maddie's recommendations! I chose the White Chocolate Ganache which was quite honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten. This was served with mini white chocolate panna cotta, vanilla ice cream and frozen raspberries. Yum! Dan went for the Sticky Toffee Pudding complete with fresh strawberries and clotted cream, which he seemed to wolf down in minutes (a good sign).

We couldn't fault a thing at the restaurant, with everything from service (thank you Maddie and Sam!) and knowledge of the dishes to the overall appearance and taste of everything we ate. In fact the entire stay at the hotel was just perfect. The room was beautiful, the staff throughout were lovely, and my birthday night was topped off when we watched a beautiful firework display from our balcony from across the racecourse! 

I usually opt for a hotel that is very central in York, only being a few moments walk from all the attractions and shops, but staying here at the Marriott has given me a whole new perspective on things! The hotel had a bus stop right outside, and for just a few pounds we got return passes in to the City Centre each day. This saved us from trying to find somewhere central to park, and also saved us from getting soaked when the heavens opened! Staying just outside of the centre meant that we didn't have the hustle and bustle on the streets when we were trying to sleep at night, and we were in beautiful grounds too. 

I think it's fair to say we will most definitely be staying (and eating!) at the York Marriott again soon!

Have you stayed at the York Marriott before?