Hares Leap, Burniston, nr Scarborough
Located on the main coast road, from Scarborough to Whitby, this deli-cafe is a gem. Housed in a converted stone barn on a working seven-acre smallholding (the cute piglets frolicking in the neighbouring paddock may put the squeamish off their pork belly), it is perfect whether you're after a quick snack, you're staying self-catering locally and want to stock up, or you're looking for somewhere to linger over lunch. Virtually everything is homemade, from Hares Leap's own sausages to its smoked mackerel, and it shows. Through the week, there are sandwiches, pates, homemade soups and creamy, sophisticated quiches - of a proper egg custard consistency - to eat-in, as well as amazing-looking game pies, salads and cakes to takeaway. The rich, raisin packed, very subtly sour Yorkshire curd tart is recommended (takeaway, £1.50). On Sundays, lunch includes the likes of braised beef and vegetable pie, or local roast lamb and Yorkshire pudding, with sticky red cabbage, roasted vegetables and creamed potatoes (midday-2.30pm, mains £6.95-£8.95).
Cafe menu around £3-£9. The Barn, Flatts Farm, Coastal Road, Burniston, nr. Scarborough, +44 (0)1723 371607
Mr Moo's, Skipsea
Like many farmers, Stephen and Judith Foreman have had to diversify. In their case, into ice-cream. Using milk from their dairy herd (now kept at nearby Harpham), they make over 30 varieties of Mr Moo's using all-natural ingredients, including some locally grown fruits. It's quality stuff: fresh, thick and luxurious, not overly sweet, the flavours clear and well-balanced, the ice-cream studded with pieces of, say, crystallised ginger or apple crumble topping. You'll find Mr Moo's all over Yorkshire, but the Foreman's also run a showcase ice-cream parlour and coffee shop at their coastal HQ, Southfield House farm. The menu runs from simple cones to extravagant sundaes, and includes (judging by an Alpine Toasty, £4.20) a serviceable, if unremarkable, range of savoury snacks. The coffee shop isn't the prettiest but there is a pleasant patio with outdoor seating, and, after your ice-cream, you can stroll out through the farm to the seafront at Withow Gap. Interestingly, the path takes you past old WWI and WWII pillboxes and a small, disused Grade II nuclear shelter.
Kids' cones £1.10, adults from £1.70. Sundaes from £4.10. Southfield House Farm, Skipsea, Driffield, +44 (0)1262 469829; mrmoos.co.uk
Little Organic Bakery
Note: this is an edited version of the entry for ECO Catering, which has since closed. The same owners are now serving the same menu at the Little Organic Bakery (address below).
Katy Wheelwright's establishment produces some of the finest vegetarian cooking and baking on the Yorkshire coast. Using organic, Fairtrade and local ingredients, Wheelwright creates fantastic cakes (try the fragrant lavender scones, £1), soups and sandwiches, light, brightly flavoured savoury tarts, and, perhaps, her masterpiece: the herby cheesejack (£1.80). Yes, that's right, a dense, moreish savoury flapjack. It's an oaty, cheesy slice of genius.
Biscuits and cakes from 50p, sandwiches £3.20. 12 Wellington road
Bridlington, East Yorkshire, +44 (0)7853 303049, atnumber12.co.uk/#!the-little-organic-bakery
Jeremy's, Scarborough
Chef-owner Jeremy Hollingsworth has cooked in some very serious kitchens. He worked for Marco Pierre White for six years, back in the 1990s, when Marco was at the top of his game, and he was head-chef at MPW's Quo Vadis when it won its Michelin star. Since late 2009, he's been back in his native Scarborough, fighting the good food fight at this neat, attractive North Bay restaurant. It cuts quite a dash among the endless streets of guesthouses and hotels, and Hollingsworth is working hard to compete with the cheaper local restaurants and cafes. Note: the light bites menu which Tony reviewed is no longer avaialble; mains start at £15.
33 Victoria Park Avenue, Scarborough, +44 (0)1723 363871; jeremysrestaurant.me.uk
Francis Tea Rooms, Scarborough
Between a retro clothing boutique, neighbouring art gallery and this charming retro tea rooms, tiny South Street is Scarborough's fledgling trendy enclave. All vintage crockery, dainty embroidered tablecloths and art deco shop front, the Francis Tea Rooms hark back to a more civilised era, when ladies wore hats and took afternoon tea. The savoury menu (including five variations on rarebit) is pretty exhaustive, but the main draw here is owner Wendy Kingston's first-rate cakes and tray bakes; the lemon and ginger scones, the Yorkshire curd tart with whipped cream, and the speciality teas (all Taylor's of Harrogate, from £1.50-a-pot).
Biscuits/cakes from £1, larger snacks/meals £3.40-£8.50. 7 South Street, Scarborough, +44 (0)1723 350550; wix.com/francistearooms/home
Gibson's at No 25, Scarborough
Now, that is what you want to see in a deli: not just shelves laden with speciality food products, but a small team, out the back, busily making and baking things. Indeed, everything about Jackie Gibson's friendly deli - from its 28p jam tarts upwards - smacks of things done properly and with real pride. Made-to-order sandwiches, for instance, come on tasty organic baguettes. Elsewhere the counters are laden with the deli's own biscuits, cakes, quiches and pies. A smoky bacon and stilton tart (£2) is dense, gooey, full of real ingredients and has long, strong flavours. A slice of ground almond cake is beautifully moist, impeccably fresh and light. Take your haul down the road to the quiet Esplanade, a grand avenue of Georgian hotels overlooking Scarborough's South Bay and South Cliff Gardens. Park yourself on a bench, and tuck in.
25 Ramshill Road, +44 (0)1723 360022
Whitby
People describe Whitby as a port, but it is more useful to think of it as a huge open-plan fish 'n' chip shop; a town where the smell of beef dripping hangs heavy in the air, every second building dispenses hot, rustling chips, and every wall is crowded with folk eagerly tucking into their battered bonanza. Of the town's best chippies (many of them combined takeaway/restaurant operations), the Magpie Cafe (14 Pier Road, +44 (0)1947 602058, magpiecafe.co.uk) has the history and the queues - and, judging by this visit, a still justified reputation for seriously good fried fish - while Mister Chips (Mister Chips, Whitby, 68-69 Church Street, +44 (0)1947 604683; misterchipswhitby.co.uk), which majors on sustainable fish varieties, and Royal Fisheries (Royal Fisheries, 48 Baxtergate, +44 (0)1947 604738; fuscowhitby.com), part of the Fusco's empire, are probably its nearest rivals. Both Trencher's (New Quay Road, +44 (0)1947 603212; trenchersrestaurant.co.uk) and Graveley's (Graveley's Seafood Restaurant, Khyber Pass, +44 (0)1947 603500, graveleyswhitby.co.uk), which commands fantastic views out over the beach and harbour, are good eat-in restaurants, while Riverside Fisheries (3a Church Street, +44 (0)1947 600706), Whitby Gazette's current Fish & Chip Shop of the Year, is a good in-the-know pick, slightly off the beaten track.
Prices: fish 'n' chips, takeaway, around £5-£7, eat-in £7-£16.
Black Horse Inn, Whitby
Swerve the crowds on Pier Road, at this cosy, historic real ale pub - all solid, well-aged wooden fixtures 'n' fittings, bare floorboards and stained glass windows - where they serve a short, enjoyable, if slightly curious, "tapas" menu. There's a three-strong Yorkshire cheeseboard accompanied by a sparky, sweet 'n' spicy rhubarb chutney (£5.65), various olives, kipper, smoked salmon and Whitby crab pates, plates of smoked pork salami with a chilli salsa, tapenade and Melba toast and, for dessert, local goats' milk ice-cream (100ml tub, £2). Oh, and if you're the sort who enjoys a pinch of nasal snuff, be reassured that the Black Horse stocks a variety of flavours from Wilsons of Sharrow.
Tapas dishes from £2-£5.65. 91 Church Street, Whitby, +44 (0)1947 602906; the-black-horse.com
Sandside Cafe, Sandsend
As locations go, you will struggle to beat this glorified beach hut at Sandsend. You sit with the North Yorkshire moors at your back, the beach at your feet, and - running from Whitby's famous ruined abbey to equally dramatic cliffs in the north - a two-mile sweep of bay to ponder. The food is creditable mainstream cafe tackle. For instance, a Whitby crab sandwich (£5.40) comes on ordinary white sliced loaf (essentially, it's just a delivery mechanism), but it's fat and fully-loaded with arrestingly fresh crab meat, plenty of the good white stuff. The menu includes breakfast, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, pasties from Bob Ford of Glaisdale and, the pick of the bunch, Sandside's homemade cakes and fruit pies. The carrot cake, not only a big, moist wedge, but properly spiced so that it's on its way to being ginger cake, is notably good.
Snacks from around 80p, sandwiches from £3. East Row, Sandsend, +44 (0)1947 893916; sandsidecafe.co.uk
The River Gardens Cafe, Sleights, Whitby
Part of Perry's Plants - a quaint, idiosyncratic commercial nursery, that also comprises an 18-hole putting green - there has been a tea rooms on this site for over 100 years, and little wonder. On a sunny day, it's an idyllic spot, on the banks of the lazy River Esk, a few miles inland from Whitby, in the small village of Sleights. The cafe, a large wooden hut, produces simple, wholesome home-cooked dishes. A quiche and three salads (£5.50) is not particularly refined (being picky, the kitchen goes a bit heavy on the cheese in its quiches), but it's certainly tasty and a generous portion. You'll find Whitby scampi and crab sandwiches on the menu, local favourites like steak pies from the renowned Sleights' butcher, Radford's, homemade soups, and a good variety of colourful, appetising cakes, ranging from blasts-from-the-past, like coconut Bakewells, to a freshly baked cherry pie.
Perry's Plants, River Gardens, Sleights, Whitby, +44 (0)7785 573625; perrysplants.co.uk
Getting there
First TransPennine Express travel from Manchester to Scarborough, from £11.50 one way. East coast travel from London King's Cross to Scarborough from £11.15 one way.
This article was updated on 27 April 2012