Wass, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: “Great pub food and proper Yorkshire hospitality” are the defining features of Rob & Gill Thompson’s whitewashed inn, a fixture in the village for almost four centuries. “Everything is a big cut above the average – highly recommended”.

“Abbey Inn occupies an idyllic spot opposite the ruins of Byland Abbey” – with “amazing views” thereof – and provides “a beautiful location, if a fair way off the beaten track”. Taken over by Tommy Banks and his family in 2023, it’s “not really into its swing” as one of the top-50 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll. Quibbles about the cooking last year have dissipated, and practically all accounts are of “excellent, fantastically tasty high-end pub food that outshines nearby rivals and comes thoroughly recommended”. Top Menu Tip – “Very much to-be-enjoyed fish pie, full of tasty fish; superb glazed lamb shoulder”.

“Amazing food and amazing service” inspires fans of the Banks family’s famous inn with rooms on the edge of the North York Moors, near their 160-acre farm, which won fame in 2012 when Tommy Banks became the UK’s youngest chef to win a Michelin star. Now their empire has grown, there is room for quite a hierarchy in the kitchen nowadays, with Tommy Banks working with Executive Chef Callum Leslie and Head Chef Alice Power to deliver their tasting menu at £175 per person (£135 per person at lunch). Despite the high level of expense, it’s a consistently well-rated formula. It’s one that’s being refined too – with fish, for example, no longer a feature (‘In our continued commitment to sustainability and hyper-local sourcing, our chefs have taken the decision to focus exclusively on land-based ingredients for our tasting menu… to bring together everything from our own farm and garden, foraged wild ingredients and preserved seasonal produce’).

From August 1 2025 it’s all change at this well-established country fixture, as Tom & Laurissa Heywood have transplanted ‘Pignut’ from nearby Helmsley into the premises of The Hare (which they have taken over from former owners Paul & Liz Jackson). The change was too late to capture feedback in our spring 2025 annual diners’ poll (hence it’s unrated), but both establishments have historically achieved very good ratings so the outlook is set fair. ‘While the original name has been retained as a respectful nod to the building’s heritage within the village’ the emphasis is on the sustainable features and local sourcing of Pignut championed by the Heywoods (the carpet is made from recycled bottle tops, and compost from the former Pignut has been mixed into the soil of the new one). The tasting menu is centre-stage, the number of courses might be 20, 15, or down to 12, depending on the season with menus that celebrate hyper-local, foraged ingredients, and a zero-waste philosophy to create an immersive experience. Customer engagement is to be centre stage and a Polaroid of the occasion to take away.