Restaurant review: The Hawthorn, Haworth

I first heard about The Hawthorn when they were awarded the best Sunday lunch by the team at Rate Good Roasts. Unfortunately they can’t make a gluten free roast (my partner is gluten intolerant) so we booked to go on a Saturday instead.

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Haworth is in West Yorkshire, near Bradford, and is famous for being the home of the Brontë sisters and its traditional cobbled Main Street. It’s definitely a touristy spot, so if you’re coming here to have a meal at The Hawthorn make sure you book in advance.

On our booking I put that we’d have our two small dogs with us, and when we arrived the staff had put a small dog bed out under our table and there were two biscuits for them as well. This is the most dog friendly pub we’ve been to!

I went for the crispy ox cheek to start after seeing Chris Blackburn (@yorkshire.pudd on instagram) recommend this. The soft ox cheek, crispy coating, and rich creamy truffle mayo were all a match made in heaven. I could have eaten a couple of servings of this for my whole meal and been perfectly happy.

Nick went for the soup to start, which is also a vegan and gluten free option. It was a tomato and pepper soup which was well seasoned and had a nice rich flavour.

For mains, I really struggled to decide what to order. I almost went for a steak because I was keen to try something cooked on their Josper Grill, but after seeing a lot of other people order burgers I decided to do the same.

The Swaledale beef burger was topped with cheddar, brisket, lettuce, pickled onion, tomato and nduja aioli, all served in a soft brioche bun. And it came with a side of fries. The flavour of the burger was exceptional, quite often burgers can be bland but this was far from it. And the brisket on top was a lovely addition.

Nick ordered the short ribs along with a couple of sides. The short ribs can be a starter, or you could order these along with some other items on their small plates menu to share. The short ribs were quite spicy with chipotle, pickled chilli and tomato salsa. They weren't too hot though, and along with two sides were enough for a main portion.

For sides, he ordered winter greens which came with smoked bacon, and fries with smoked sea salt.

We were both pretty full after all of this so I passed on dessert, but if I’d had room I would have gone for the sticky toffee pudding. Nick ordered the berry sorbet (which I had some of too) which was refreshing and came with freeze dried berries.

The Hawthorn has a seasonal menu which is updated regularly, and they use seasonal British produce including meat sourced from small farms across Yorkshire and the Lake District. The quality of the produce really comes through in the flavour of the food.

The service was also excellent, the staff were very attentive and helpful with answering questions about the menu. All in all, it was an incredible meal, and this is somewhere I’ll definitely be visiting again. It certainly helps that it was so dog friendly because with our two dogs being relaxed it meant we could take our time and enjoy the meal.

Gluten free meals are highlighted on their menu, but there are only gf options on the meals they serve Wednesday - Saturday. When I was booking I received some really helpful emails from Rachel about the gluten free options, and she explained that as they have a very small kitchen they aren’t able to provide a gf option as part of the Sunday roast offer.

There are a couple of vegan options on the menu, for example with their current menu there are a couple of options of small plates, and an aubergine chilli for main. The choice is limited, but I wouldn't let this put you off booking. The vegan options are reduced on a Sunday so book for a Wednesday - Saturday instead.

The Hawthorn’s roast dinners look incredible, and I’ll certainly be visiting again to try these. In January they won an award for the best Sunday lunch and they are quite booked up so go to their website and reserve your table now!