Vennell's

The discreet aubergine-hued frontage on Masham's market square shows an unassuming face to the world, but what's going on inside is definitely worth the trip. The cream and tan interior is smartly neutral, with sections of exposed stone walls and plenty of bright art to inject interest. Jon Vennell's cooking suits the venue: his approach is resolutely unflashy and deceptively simple, relying on superb locally-sourced ingredients and confident technique to produce polished modern dishes. The concise menu shows a clearly focused mind at work in the kitchen. Starters might find pan-seared scallops with artichokes and cress alongside venison and foie gras carpaccio with parmesan wafers and soused vegetables, while mains could bring oxtail and mushroom suet pudding with a mini rib-eye steak, root vegetables and rich jus, or sea bream, pan-fried and teamed with beetroot risotto, confit chicken wings, and pea purée. Rounding things off, there might be an assiette of lemon, involving posset, iced mousse with pine nuts, lemon sponge and lemon curd, and to cap it all, a very palatable bill to aid digestion.