The Grange Hotel

A short walk from the Minster, The Grange is an elegantly proportioned townhouse dating from the 1830s. The interior has all the style and comfort of a country-house hotel - open fires, deep sofas, antique paintings, swagged curtains - while the Ivy Brasserie has a more modish design, the most striking feature a mural of horseracing. The cooking is a cut above the brasserie norm, the kitchen clearly a creative and skilful powerhouse. Pressed ham hock and guinea fowl is vivified by zingy pineapple chutney, and curried crab goes into a salad with apple, almonds and cauliflower fritters to make another lively starter. Braised beef cheeks with parsnip purée and bourguignon sauce is a gutsy winter main course, and at other times there may be a lighter dish of pan-fried salmon fillet with shellfish chowder, creamed sweetcorn and baby leeks. Grilled steaks are possibilities, and proceedings can close with lemon and thyme pannacotta topped with lemon curd, meringue and blackberry jelly.