For years we have stayed at Judges Country House and always loved the ambience, the food, the dinner and excellent service and friendship. Judges is located in Kirklevington which is outside of Yarm, a charming small village that has really changed into an upscale locality over the years. When wandering into town we spotted MUSE and loved the menu, so changed our dining plans for dinner with Will's sister and sister-in-law. We all fell in love, despite the fact that the place can be a bit noisy, the food quality and service is some of the best in the area.
The wine list is varied and very reasonable. We started with a dry but creamy Marsanne/Viognier from Xavier Roger 2017 and then moved onto a yummy red Touriga Nacional 2016 called Smoldering Siren from Stellenbosch in South Africa. Jammy and rich, it was perfect with all the superb food.
Sam has taken to beers on this trip as beer and wine is allowed at his age throughout Europe, and I have to say, he has been quite adult about his consumption(unlike us lushes!).
The Muse offers a huge variety of local farm-to-table style dining and Will & I started with a delightful Asparagus Spears with Truffle Mayonnaise, Slow Cooked Crispy Hen's Egg(breaded and baked and delish) with Parmesan Crisp. The dish was really a salad taken to the greatest heights and I was thrilled after all the heavy food we had been eating. Gill & Carol both raved about the Twice Baked Spinach & Cheddar Souffle with Parmesan Cream and Samuel has become a Halloumi freak, so he ordered a small side of the grilled cheese as a starter.
Mains were simply divine here with Duck Confit on Moroccan spice quinoa with sweet potato, broccoli, salsa and Madeira Jus. It was nice to have veggies rather than tons of carbs, and I think that Muse really tries hard to break away from the traditional heavy English food, but keep with tradition in a modern way. The JackFruit Curry Pie with summer salad, sugared almonds and Bombay potato salad was a hit as was the Glazed Salmon with Roast Apricots & Herb Couscous, rainbow chard & asparagus. The Lime & harissa marinated chicken breast was moist and came with grilled sweetcorn, creamed corn, pomme dauphine and spring greens with a BBQ sauce. For dessert I had the Peach & Apricot Mille Feuille with Passionfruit Gel, Almond Tuile and Peach Ice Cream that deserved an award. Sticky Toffee Pudding, Pecan Pie and Tiramisu cheesecake all got raves, and how wonderful it was to have dessert and not feel as if we were completely bloated.
We shall surely return to MUSE when back in Teeside, Yorkshire!
