The story
The Alice Hawthorn Inn serves modern British pub food at The Green, Nun Monkton, YO26 8EW, in York, and was rated Good in The Good Food Guide for 2026. The Grade II listed building dates from the old village pub, now with a dining room, a courtyard garden and twelve bedrooms.
The menu changes through the year and leans on Yorkshire produce. The kitchen calls its food a twist on pub classics, with dishes like heritage beetroot and cashew salad and seabass ceviche cured in lime with mango, tomato and coriander. Starters and mains rotate with the seasons, and Sunday lunch runs with roasts of sirloin, saddleback pork and chicken.
Beer battered haddock comes with triple cooked chips, crushed garden peas and tartare sauce. King scallops are baked on the shell with garlic butter, melted gruyere and cheddar, and a sourdough crumb. On a recent visit the autumn menu also brought slow-cooked beef cheek with cheesy pommes aligot, and a crème catalan with raspberries and praline shards. Sticky toffee pudding and banoffee pie finish the dessert list.
The dining room sits beneath oak beams, with flagged floors and Turkish rugs. Four bedrooms are in the listed building, and eight garden rooms were built from homegrown Douglas fir. The Barn suits private parties and small weddings, and the garden opens from the end of May.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
The medieval village of Nun Monkton must be one of the prettiest in Yorkshire, a picture-book collection of ivy-clad cottages, complete with a duck pond, a village green and the tallest maypole (88ft) in Britain. At its heart is the exemplary Alice Hawthorn (named after a famous racehorse), a Grade II-listed inn of old mellow brick with a grassy courtyard at the rear for outdoor dining and 12 newly built contemporary-style bedrooms. Inside are flagged floors, old beams and rough-hewn tables, though if that sounds rustic think again. This country inn is as neat and polished as a pin with Turkish rugs, button-backed banquettes and chairs upholstered in modern ‘Yorkshire tartan’. Current hosts John and Claire Topham are experienced hoteliers – for many years they ran the General Tarleton in Knaresborough and before that, John worked alongside the sadly missed Denis Watkins at the Angel at Hetton. They have made the pub such a go-to destination that it’s sometimes hard to score a table. Persevere, because our autumn seasonal menu was excellent, featuring the likes of heritage beetroot with goat’s curd, pickled cantaloupe melon and double-podded broad beans. A bright sea bass ceviche, cured in lime and combined with finely diced onions, tomato, mango and coriander, made for another superb starter. Generous mains brought a deep, rich, slow-cooked beef cheek, served with stretchy, cheesy pommes aligot and a big-hearted fish stew rich in mussels and clams with a tomato-based broth. For dessert, a prettily presented crème catalan with raspberries and praline shards was spot-on. Everyone is put at ease by the relaxed, personable service – as well as the wide-ranging, kindly priced wine list.
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