Every time I try and start this blog I’m stumped for words. I simply want to write Wow! Over and over again because that’s what I said on repeat every time I tried a dish at Skosh. In fact we’ve ended up going back for a second visit before I’ve written up the first! That’s never happened before. It seems that a particular theme of great places to eat this year is the soundtrack. Just like at Lyles earlier this year, Mr Frivolitea’s face lit up at the music choices. It could have been our own playlist on shuffle. Skosh is a relaxed and friendly place to spend the evening. The beautiful design and open kitchen gives a real excitement and buzz.
This places delivers little plates of joy. You can tell that head chef Neil and his team put their all into every single dish they serve up. It’s no wonder everyone is talking about Skosh.
And the cocktails … well you can’t go to Skosh without trying one. On our first visit Mr Frivolitea had a rum, pumpkin and ginger cocktail with beautiful sugar work. It was like drinking a big hug on a winters evening! On our second visit we both had the spiced rum, pineapple and lemon cocktail. It was so so good!
What is great about Skosh is the concept of small plates means you can get lots of different things and then you go back for a visit 3 weeks later you still have new things to try.
The sourdough bread with Gunpowder spice and locally made butter. The gunpowder spice gave hits of different spices at different times.
The Sea trout cured in molasses with peanuts and lime was definitely one of my favourite dishes. I could eat many times and still get excited by it. The lime flavour in the dish was through a marshmallow of lime with a hint of lime powder on top!! I mean marshmallow and fish. It’s a pretty mental combination but it made me grin from ear to ear.
Mr Frivolitea ate one and simply exclaimed ‘that makes me very happy’. The sweetness of the molasses, the zest of the lime, the crunch of peanut and the freshness of herb – the perfect marriage.
Another particular hit was the Skosh fried chicken, smoked garlic and lemon thyme emulsion and fermented slaw. The flavour in the chicken was incredible and the emulsion pretty addictive. If only they could sell it by the bucket…
The venison tartare brought back memories of the tartare at L’enclume for me. It was expertly done. The pickled kohlrabi gave a lovely freshness to the dish, the ginger cream gave a nice bit of heat and was like a light mayo bringing the whole dish together. Last but not least the Pakora scraps were a fabulous twist to the dish giving a lovely hint of spice.
Vegetarian dishes at Skosh are given real care and attention, we particularly enjoyed the beetroot, leek and apple with basil ricotta and green tea. The buckwheat with the beetroot gave a lovely texture to the dish. The vadai with Fadmoor carrot purée, curry leaf and mustard seed are packed full of flavour.
A particular favourite of mine is seafood of any kind and there are a number of dishes to choose from at Skosh. We particularly liked the monkish tempura with burnt apple, celeriac and yuzu and the baked hake, cauliflower, dukkah and miso dishes.
When you have finished a selection of ‘mains’ you then have a really difficult choice. Do you go for savoury ‘afters’ or sweet ‘afters’.
On our first visit we went for sweet and had a fantastic dish: pineapple cream with yoghurt, black sesame and long pepper. This was exquisite. I love pineapple and this did not disappoint in flavour.
On our second visit I went for savoury. They had on the menu mince pie with whipped young buck cheese, when a girl from Newtownards sees Mikes Fancy Cheese (from Newtownards) on the menu she chooses it!
This is a place that you MUST visit. Then visit again and again. I can”t praise this place enough. It’s what we’ve been waiting for in York for a long time and Neil has delivered it in style.