The Square and Compass is a large gastro pub in the centre of North Rigton, near to Harrogate.
The pub itself is a stone-built village pub that has been extensively developed into a modern pub but retaining much of the character of a traditional pub. It’s the type of place that you can make it what you want, from popping in for pint, to a casual lunch, to a more formal dinner.
We visited on a Saturday lunchtime to see what is on offer.
The menu is home to a good range of options, from a selection of burgers, their own pizzas, and a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. Children are catered for with smaller portions from the main menu. This is something that we believe is good as it helps remove the battle with the children and encourages the younger ones to try something that they may not normally.
We went straight for main courses with the crispy beef salad (£11.95) and their own hero burger (£11.95). The crispy beef salad was a Chinese-inspired salad of coated and fried beef, covered in a sticky glaze in a salad of bean sprouts, cucumber, tomato along with a good selection of leaves. The addition of coriander lifted the dish too. This is one of the lighter options on the menu and it worked well. A good combination of sticky beef and leaves. We had this with a portion of chips, not strictly necessary but it did help fill the carb craving.
The hero burger is billed as a showcase of local food heroes with Ryedale beef, sweet cured bacon, Wensleydale cheese and chipper jam mayonnaise. Chipper jam is made with chilli and pepper, amongst other ingredients.
The burger was succulent, the cheese and bacon toppings complimenting the burger. The side-order of chips were crispy, as you would expect, and presented in an enamel mug.
The mayonnaise was disappointing, being a little sticky and lacking in flavour – it didn’t deliver much of the chilli or pepper hit, just a level of sweetness.
Deserts start from around £6 with many being the more substantial style of deserts. We had the Yorkshire parkin with coffee ice cream from the specials board and the “bucket and spade”, a pretty substantial amount of ice cream/ the ideal portion size depending on your point of view.
The parkin came with a welcome dollop of compote on top. Parkin can vary with some with more ginger spice than others. This was a mildly spiced version, but a good parkin. It was not overly sweetened with the coffee ice-cream complementing nicely. The desert wasn’t a sugar-fest, as they often can be, leaving you regretting the decision to have a desert. A lovely finish to the meal.
The ice cream bucket was as it said on the tin, a bucket full of ice cream, cream, marshmallows, chocolate sauce, berries and waffle pieces. It was like a grown up knickerbocker glory, presented in a fun way. The chocolate ice cream was a star.
The main meal, desert along with soft drink was around £20 per head.
A lovely meal, speedy service and some great flavours on offer. The menu left you wanting to come back and explore it further.
