THE great British barbecue summer. Don’t bank on it.

A stunning, sultry day, then a stunning late afternoon sulky soaking. The rain was enough to prompt Friday night grillers to wearily wheel the BBQ back into the garage and reach for their takeaway menus.

For those considering the climb up the moors to take up Lord Stones’ weekly outdoor cook-up, it was clearly enough to scare them off on a recent Friday.

Each summer Friday this lovely venue, which sits above Carlton in Cleveland on the winding back road to Chop Gate, scraps its evening menu and pares back to a simple offering of barbecue and salads for £12.95 a head.

It’s a brave move to pull off – how do they know how much to prepare, how many staff to pull in, how much meat to grill? They don’t take bookings on these nights.

There can be fantastically busy, packed sunny evenings – and we were told there had already been some so far this year – and then there can be wash-outs, as last week.

But as it turned out, the night wasn’t washed out. The rain stopped as suddenly as it started, and by the time we arrived, towards 8pm, everything had dried up as if the downpour had never happened.

It had though, and there were only a couple of other couples in the roomy, semisubterranean dining room, which cultivates the illusion of being built into a hillside – a little like a Baggins’ hobbit hole.

Staff were very welcoming and careful to explain that normal service had been interrupted by the earlier shower, although the coals were still hot and they’d warn the kitchen two hungry diners were still in the mood for food from the barby.

A good pint of Theakston’s Black Bull Bitter backed up the welcome, and it was actually a nice change not to have to agonise over menu choices. After the wait we’d been warned of, we were told our food was ready on the vast gazebo-sheltered barbecue we’d walked past by the entrance.

We made our way out and, with more pleasant chatter, we waited a little longer before each being served a sausage, burger and skewer of pheasant – all sourced from the estate.

Back inside, we helped ourselves from a table of coleslaw, potato salad, green salad and ciabatta-style rolls.

The burger, made from flavourrich Belted Galloway beef, was excellent; the herby sausage similarly tasty; the pheasant though was overdone and a little rubbery. And yet it all had not really been warmed through enough and was either pre-cooked, or left over from the anticipated rush that never came. It’s as if the barbecuing had been a bit of a charade, the wait completely unnecessary.

We’ll put it down to, erm, the weather.

The salads were fine and fresh, but not exceptional. Where there could easily have been jars of locally made chutneys and relishes (I’d be surprised if the shop didn’t sell some), there were plastic sachets of standard sauces. With meat as dry as this kebab, I needed some relish.

After another pause that was again puzzlingly just a little too long, we were served our Eton mess desserts (£4.95).

Lots of fresh strawberries, lashings of cream and gooey meringue, served in an attractive glass bowl. You can’t go wrong with that.

Two courses, two pints and a fizzy water landed a £44.30 bill.

You’ll be wondering why there is a question mark instead of the all-important score for food at the bottom of this page. It is probably an unprecedented step for the column, but I feel it would be unfair to pass judgement on this otherwise excellent establishment.

We will come back to sample the neat menu of familiar fare given interesting-sounding twists – such as black pudding Scotch egg (£4.95), potted Gloucester Old Spot pork with toasted onion bread, sticky toffee apple and crackling salad (£5.95) and pigeon salad with lardons, black pudding and walnut dressing (£5.95).

Steaks are served from the fancy Josper charcoal oven (from £16.95 for a 10oz rump), while chicken, lamb, duck, lemon sole and risotto main dishes range from £9.95 to £16.95.

I’m confident the kitchen will do this lovely place justice with great food.

It has had an impressive rebirth in the last year or two.

Originally built in the late Eighties, it closed as a walkers’ and bikers’ café stop in 2011.

Last year it had an expensive transformation under Urra Estate owners John Reeve and his three sons.

Significantly extending the stone building, which is tastefully built into the hillside, they have added a shop and camping facilities, including posh wooden “pods”

and semi-permanent tents scattered across the central area of the160-acre site.

The views after dinner from the edge of the moors, just a short walk from our table, were stunning – we could see for miles across the Vale of York. At our backs were the large ancient boundary stones that give the place its name.

Some clever landscaping and tree planting around the main site helps create an illusion that it has all been there for a long time.

And it’s very important it looks good – popular walking routes pass by, including the Cleveland Way, Lyke Wake Walk and Coast to Coast.

Inside, it’s a no-expensespared job too, with masses of oak for furniture and fittings.

The décor manages the balance between dual purposes of busy café by day and somewhere smart to eat in the evening.

It would no doubt be lovely when the woodburner is blazing and it’s a cosy refuge from the frozen moors ... and when the barbecue – with all its risky connotations in our unpredictable climate – is put away for the winter.

Lord Stones Restaurant and Grill

Carlton Bank, Chop Gate, North Yorkshire, TS9 7JH
Telephone: 01642 778482
www.lordstones.com
Food served: Wed-Sat, 6pm-9pm in the restaurant; 9am-5pm
seven days in the café.
Fine for the disabled.

Ratings (out of ten)

Food quality ?
Service 7 
Surroundings 9
Value 7