Chris Blackburn was looking for a place to go and a place to recommend. He’s just found it at 1885 The Pub in Stainland, West Yorkshire.

Where do you go on a Saturday night for great food that won’t break that bank and isn’t a high street chain? Ideally the venue needs to have a certain amount of class about it, but at the same time have an ambience that will make this the perfect meal out with friends.

It seems a regular dilemma I face, and although I read about such venue’s all the time, the mind just goes blank when put of the spot to think of somewhere. But now things might be different.

This venue is deserving of a place in my phone book and it could indeed become a regular haunt.
For many years 1885 The Restaurant has nestled high above the towns of Halifax and Huddersfield in the rolling hills of Stainland. It’s a restaurant with a great local reputation that has gained a following from regular clientele thanks to the excellent quality of food found here.

And it’s that reputation that the owners have now taken into 1885 The Pub, situated right next door to the restaurant. 1885 The Pub is minimal in décor but at the same time stylish. It’s not fussy but does include all the features you’d expect in a traditional British pub – an open fire, bar stools, big wooden tables and, of course, a great selection of beers and lagers and, ultimately, great British pub grub.

Owning a restaurant and a pub has allowed the owners to offer food that is high in quality taste and flavour, presented in a quirky restaurant way but charged at pub grub prices.

What’s interesting is that they market 1885 on their website as a venue for pub grub. Interesting because it’s pub grub that is normally associated as the poor relation to gastro pub food. But have things changed? Have too many high street chains used the gastro term to death, so much so that gastro is no longer viewed as a step above the rest?

Whatever the answer, and whatever you want to call it, the food at 1885 is simply superb. With £14 for a wooden plank packed full of duck, chorizo, chicken liver pate, Parma ham, sticky ribs, Cumberland sausage and coleslaw for two, it’s a delight, and at £7 per person, a bargain. And that’s just for starters.

On to the main – and what can’t be ignored is a 21-day matured 10oz rib eye steak priced at just £15, accompanied by homemade chips (round of applause for making their own chips) onion rings, mushroom, tomato and pepper sauce. This isn’t a steak that requires the action of the animal itself to chew your way through it. It’s a steak of high quality that melts in the mouth.

Other highlights include their ever-changing pie of the week and that old pub classic scampi and chips, to name just a few.

Getting a table at 1885 The Pub was easy. A quick phone call on a Thursday night for the following Saturday and we were in. Should I tell you to ask for the table next to the open fire? No probably not, I want it for myself! You see, for all the reasons above I can see myself being a (very regular) regular visitor at 1885 The Pub. It’s very well priced and the quality is superb. What more could you want from a fantastic Yorkshire pub?