My experience of the return of evening dining at Bettys tearooms in Harrogate

The formal looking card also mentions a “stylish French 75 cocktail inspired by the glamour and sparkle of the 1920s”, a pianist performing “live classical covers of popular contemporary music” and a bold claim that “Bettys has reimagined Evening Dining”.

Well, put that like, how could I possibly say no?

After five years away, the return of proper evening dining at Bettys café tea rooms is surely a sign that normality has finally returned after the dreadful days of the pandemic, whatever passes for normality these days.

I first visited this iconic establishment located on Parliament Street in 1988 and I am well aware that this family-owned Harrogate business lives by two watchwords – quality and consistency.

What I, perhaps, wasn’t aware of back then was just how much the ethos and elegance of this most Yorkshire of businesses is actually steeped in the Swiss roots that led to its foundation on 1919.

Having been around a bit since then, I now know that the town’s famous tea rooms are the closest thing it’s possible to get to the great continental cafes of ‘La Belle Époque’ still to be found in great European cities such as Vienna, Prague and Budapest.

Still, it has to be said, Bettys has, and does, move with the times when required, like any great business.

Innovation is never entirely off the menu.

The French 75, for example, is new and desirable, blending Collet Brut Champagne, Harrogate Tipple Gin, fresh lemonade juice and sugar.

I’ve already enjoyed a bottle of Harrogate’s very own Cold Bath Pilsner beer brewed in classic Bavarian style but somehow it seems rude to pass up on this particular drink.

My, what a fantastic cocktail.

The French 75 may be deliciously refined but it certainly comes with a powerful kick.

I gaze across the green of the Stray through Bettys wide windows.

The trickling piano refrain of Yesterday floats across the lovely room amid the quiet chatter of the restaurant and its comfortingly cosy and civilised fixtures and fittings.

Before picking a starter, mains and dessert, I spot with a slight shock that the new Evening Dining menu includes Sharing Platters.

Yikes! And there’s a Bettys Burger.

Rest easy. The menu does, in fact, live up to the billing and Bettys’ own long-held standards.

I ignore the Sharing Platters – the Yorkshire Charcuterie and the Burrata and Tapenade – and choose the Mushroom Pate.

Oh, and I also regretfully decline the Yorkshire Smoked Salmon Plate and the Smoked Haddock and Leek Rosti Fish Cakes.

The rich and favourful roasted mushroom pate is, to no great surprise, gorgeous.

For the mains, I cruelly overlook the Chicken Schnitzel, the Bacon and Raclette Rosti, the Haddock, Salmon and Prawn Gratin and the Fresh Fillet of Haddock with crushed peas and chips in favour of, drum roll, the Bettys Burger.

With the exception of the burger I had in Bolgona last year after a week of, admittedly, delicious variations of Tortellini and Tagliatelle, I never think burgers can ever exude any idea of class...until now.

Usually the meat is an excuse for the trimmings, the filling in the excesses of the bun.

Not a Bettys Burger.

It is possible to tell after one bite this is proper food, not a guilty pleasure.

Fantastic.

As I look around the packed room and the opening chords of Strangers in the Night begin, I can tell everyone around me is having a great time – in a quiet way.

One important thought.

A visit to Bettys is rarely about food theatre, except in the sense of a genius for stylish traditionalism.

But there in the dessert menu is some of that very modern trend of show offing on a plate and making a grand entrance.

Do not be temped by the Lemon Torte and Berries or the Swiss Chocolate Torte and ice Cream, no matter how tasty they look – and are, in fact.

You have to order a Bettys Gooey Rascal Sundae.

A tower of dripping loveliness in a tall glass, the name in itself says a lot.

It’s a rare but gloriously delicious example at Bettys of sheer indulgence, I’d almost say, excess if this wasn’t Bettys.

Naturally, I head towards the menu's calmer waters and tuck into the Affogato; vanilla ice cream and Swiss chocolate loaf cake with Bettys espresso.

Bettys may have, successfully, reimagined evening dining but tradition at all times, please.

Sample the Bettys’ evening dining experience in Harrogate and York from 6pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

To book a table, visit: https://www.bettys.co.uk/evening-dining