Longboat Inn York - Table Table Review

 As a family we're pretty good at eating out. We've always done it, ever since the children were little, and I think it's pretty much our only extravagant expenditure these days - since we can't go out in the evenings and all. Therefore luckily our children are reasonably ISH well behaved when we eat out - as long as it's not a super quiet place of course - and will sit patiently and wait for food, within reason. Therefore when we were invited to try out a restaurant as a family, I was up course well up for the challenge. It also prompted us to go to York for the first time in ages - not a place I'm usually a fan of since it's so touristy, but it's ok every once in a while. We actually parked at the Railway Museum and had a little browse around (which was fun) before going for lunch at the Longboat Inn - somewhere we've never been before. At this time of year there's every reason to celebrate, what with Spring arriving and all, so why not book a table for Easter! 

When we arrived at the Longboat Inn we were made to feel really welcome, which was blessed relief as only a few minutes earlier our pushchair has just SNAPPED in the middle of the street, bad times. Anyway, we were shown to our table by very friendly staff and had a read of the menus. I was shocked to see that kids can currently eat for £1.99 - unbelievable value.

Browsing the menus, there was a lot of choice so it was hard to know where to begin

Straight away, the boys were all over the Easter bunny masks, colouring them in and wanting me to decide whose was best. I very wisely declined to comment. There were also loads of other puzzles and fun activities for kids to do, and of course crayons were provided. I wonder if it might have been better to have had twisty pencils like Pizza Express do now, as the the crayons snapped quite easily.

What 7 year old doesn't like Horrible Histories? This went down really well with the boys, and I loved the themed names of the dishes too. Genius. The boys went for hot dog and poppin' chicken, and they LOVED the food...

We were pretty impressed with the new Spring menu, with loads of choices and very reasonably priced too. It was what some people might call "proper food" and we went for steaks - it is holiday time after all...

The hot dog went down a treat - as did the fries and beans. Perfect kids food.

The poppin' chicken was also perfect for my oldest son, who prefers to eat with his fingers at the moment, bit random but that's kid for you.

Baby girl actually had cottage pie from the menu which was just the right consistency for her, I mashed it up a bit with a fork, but she wolfed it down. Pretty standard for her, she loves her food.

Quiet times eating, always a good sign. We don't usually let them have coke by the way, it was a special treat. 

The interior of the restaurant was really calm, comfortable and cosy. Because of the carpeted floors, the sound from the children didn't cause a problem, and there was also space for them to have a wander around in safety without slipping on a hard wooden floor.

My husband ordered rib eye steak which came with a baked potato and sides - proper man food. He said the taste was amazing...

I ordered Steak Diane which was also really nice. I wonder if the chef could have got the pan a bit hotter before putting the steak in, as I think it would have sealed the outside a bit better, but it's probably down to personal taste.

Dessert is where things got really interesting. Littlest son ordered scary face ice cream which he loved - the idea was to make a face with the sweets onto the vanilla ice cream. Genius idea!

Oldest son ordered mini chocolate challenge, which he declared to be the most delicious thing he had EVER eaten, not bad praise... it consisted of chocolate brownie, marsh mallows and ice cream and choccy fudge sauce. Pretty much his version of heaven. I ordered tart tatin and a cup of proper tea, which was also amazing. 

All in all, I was really impressed and we will definitely go again next time we go to York. A combination of genuinely nice people serving us, £1.99 kids meals, delicious sauv blanc, steaks, baby food, awesome desserts, horrible histories stuff, puzzles and activities AND child friendly. What's not to like? 

Disclaimer - I was offered a free lunch with my family in return for an epic lunch, but all thoughts are my own.