CULINARY excellence has been in short supply in Leyburn for a while.

With the longstanding and notable exception of Jonathan Harrison’s estimable Sandpiper and, for a top notch Indian, Saffron, the town has been short of really good places to eat.

We don’t intend to be rude or dismissive about the numerous pubs and cafes (the Bolton Arms and Penley’s Cafe for example) that can turn out serviceable grub but that is how it has been in this town for many a year now.

To find something special when the Sandpiper was fully booked meant a trip to Middleham, East or West Witton.

There was a little Italian called Giovanni’s just down from the Market Place which always looked as if it might be a undiscovered gem but everybody told us it wasn’t and so we never went.

Giovanni’s changed hands almost a year ago and the new owners, Sarah and Michael McBride, retained the name and, for a time, the fairly basic pizza and pasta menu while gradually introducing more modern British fare.

A re-branding and re-opening took place earlier this year. The McBrides held a competition among customers to see if they could guess what the new name would be. With due respect to the competition winner, a certain Andy Ballagh of Harrogate, he didn’t have to be a genius to guess correctly. The prosaic name fits with the current obsession to give pubs, bar and restaurants deadly dull does-what-it-says-on-the-tin monikers - hence numerous Basements, Attics, Lofts, Lounges, Libraries. If all else fails, there always the street number, like Thirteen.

At least when Ralph Wilkinson opened a pub/wine bar in Darlington and couldn’t think of a name, he had the wit to call it Number Twenty2.

So we don’t like the name but pretty much everything else about Thirteen was rather good.

Chef Michael McBride, formerly of the Blue Lion at East Witton and the Black Swan at Helmsley, performs minor miracles in almost exclusively locally-sourced produce in what we guess must be a pretty miniscule kitchen. Wife Sarah discharges the front of house duties with efficient aplomb. We thought the food well above average for the price.

We were a foursome with friends Philip (D&S Leyburn correspondent) and Karin (newly-elected Richmondshire District councillor for Leyburn, no less) and on arrival we realised that a foursome quickly makes Thirteen appear busy. There are only eight tables as far as we could see and they quickly filled up on what was a chilly late spring (I cannot call it summer) evening - which seemed a good sign. Maybe it was the half-light of evening but the decor seemed a bit subdued.

The menu is sensibly proportioned (six starters, seven mains) and the four of us were able to give it a good run through.

Stand-out dishes were a beautifully salty and densely-textured ham hock terrine (or pressing as the menu description would have it) starter served with a pineapple relish and parsley salad (£6.25 – Philip and Karin’s choice) and the rib-eye steaks (£16.95 supplied by R&J butchers at Kirkby Malzeard) Karin and Sylvia had for their mains. Served absolutely spot-on rare for Karin and medium for Sylvia, they were juicy and robustly flavoured and served with perfect-order twice cooked chips, a little mixed leaf house salad and a onion confit butter which Sylvia would have preferred served separately rather than dolloped on top of the steak.

Sylvia also enjoyed her lip-smackingly fresh pea soup (£4.95) and I was quite taken with my starter – roasted mackerel fillet (£6.50)served on top of some rather tame stewed rhubarb. It has to be said that although good, it wasn’t a patch on last week’s mackerel and leek starter combo at the Tontine.

Philip was happy with his simply roasted and tender chicken breast (£13.95) which was served with creamiest of mashed potato, a delicate truffle sauce and a linguine of carrot and courgette.

My roasted saddle of lamb (£15.95) was served with a beautifully presented and substantial potato terrine (a variation of dauphinoise), shallot puree, peas, broad beans and a glistening rosemary jus. The lamb was sweet, new season tender with a nice layer of flavour-enhancing fat.

Philip and Karin shared a “lovely” chocolate torte with orange caramel and salted popcorn (£7.25) but I couldn’t tempt Sylvia with my verbena arctic roll (£6.95) mainly because the ice cream element was frozen solid to the consistency of permafrost. It did thaw out a little with time but I think my taste buds were locked on to the memory of the Birds Eye original of my childhood.

The bill was £134.40 for the four of us and that included a drinks tab amounting to £32.45 (£19.50 for a bottle of Italian fizz, £9 for two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc and £3.95 for a glass of house red).

FOOD FACTS

Thirteen
13 Railway Street
Leyburn, DL8 5BB
Tel: 01969 622951
Web: thirteenatleyburn.co.uk
Open: Monday and Wednesday 5.30pm to 9.30pm; Thursday, Friday and Saturday noon to 2pm and 5.30-9.30pm; Tuesday and Sunday closed. Couple of steps for the disabled. Limited vegetarian options.

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 8 Service 9 Surroundings 7 Value 8