The Punch Bowl Inn

First visit here, having been to it’s sister the The Durham Ox at Crayke. Friendly from point of phoning to see if there was a table for 2 on Saturday night, rang on the Friday, success! On arrival nice warm atmosphere, had a drink in the bar to look at menu and order.
Good choice of pub type food from sandwiches, nibbles to full dinner.
Tables in various parts of the building gave a cosy feel to the pub.
Good service and good food. Will be back

A huge part of me left the Punch Bowl frustrated last night. Let me explain.
A lovely little pub in the village of Marton Cum Grafton, near Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire, the Punch Bowl could be a place where you could as easily just enjoy a quiet pint of local ale as you could treat someone to a fantastic meal.
And it so, so, very nearly is that.
I started with a pint of BREW #3, a wheat beer brewed in the Vale Of York by Rudgate Brewery. A very enjoyable drink I must say. Not too strong, with banana and clove tones to it. Very refreshing.
Polite service by the chap behind the bar was somewhat extinguished by his more curt and brash female colleagues. A shame, as it made you move from feeling welcomed to feeling like you were bothering them with your presence in one swoop.
The food was similarly frustrating. My beetroot and goats cheese tart starter was divine, however the «beetroot crisps» that were to accompany it were, well, more beetroot «folds» — no crispness to them at all!
My main was meant to be a rack of local pork ribs with fries and refried beans with a stack of local yorkshire slaw. No complaints about the ribs, they were succulent and full of flavour. However, the refried beans were nothing more than a combination of baked beans with some chopped tomatoes stirred in. Very weak. And the «stack» of slaw was some coleslaw in a small dish no wider than an inch and a half in diameter and an inch deep. Ironically, it was enough, but I wish places wouldn’t describe items as one thing and serve them up as another.
The meal was finished off with an apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream. This, in itself was lovely, no qualms at all.
I don’t want potential visitors to The Punch Bowl to be put off by this review. It really is a nice spot with the potential to be one of the area’s hidden jewels. Just needs a little tidying up of the finer points mentioned above.
The beetroot and goats cheese tart, pork ribs and Tarte tatin (along with the tasty ale and the service levels from the guy behind the bar) rescues this one to a three stars instead of a possible two because of the frustrations listed.