Should we never eat out on Monday evenings?
There are certain restaurants that refuse to open on the dreaded day, ‘Monday’ and for good reason.
Why should they employ waiters, barmen, etc.. to sit around doing bugger all, while getting paid when there are no punters coming through the doors?
Taking this fact into consideration, we were not expecting The Cross Keys public house to be open and had to screech the brakes on the car when we sailed past it noticing lights, cars and a spark of activity.
Having dropped our long-haired pooch at the dog groomers we were faced with an hour and a half of boredom and so attempted to find somewhere open on a Monday night.
Parking up we entered what looked like a building from medieval times (as many are here), and made through the porch area opening the door.
Several tables were full of people frolicking in pub debauchery but stopped dead when @bingbabe and @slobberchops entered.
You could audibly hear the combined movement of a dozen neck muscles simultaneously shifting direction as all attention focused on us.
I had a sudden vision of the scene from, ‘An American Werewolf in London’. East Marton is in Yorkshire as is ‘The Slaughtered Lamb’.
Had we taken a wrong turn? I was quite sure there was no full moon out there but did a quick check to make sure.
The middle-aged bar-lady was also gawping and it was a little uncomfortable, to say the least.
I approached the bar to find said bar-lady still unrelenting in eye movement without even a flicker of a blink.
‘Do you serve food’, I said with a nervous stammer.
It was as though I had turned a key. The general banter conversation of the pub resumed and I found out very quickly that food indeed was served, even on Monday’s.
Most of the pub was empty, and so we walked through several rooms to a large empty one overlooking the Leeds / Liverpool canal.
There was none of this, ‘you must sit here’ bullshit that you get at some places regardless of how empty they are.
I noticed on the menu, there was an acronym. ‘RP’.
Looking closer revealed this was ‘Reduced Portion’, though it says, ‘Reduce Portion’.
For someone like me with the appetite of a Sparrow, this was a welcoming sight, especially as I was not that hungry.
Ordering the ‘RP’ Whitby Scampy at £5.25, @bingbabe followed my lead by choosing the ‘RP’ Homemade Cross Keys Chicken Curry at £5.95.
The waiting got a little tedious as we were on a slightly tight schedule but after a 25-minute wait, the food arrived.
If this review doesn’t sound too promising so far, here’s where it improves.
The portions were a little small, but that was to be expected. The regular ones would likely have been too large for me.
On the square plate, I counted 5 pieces of Scampi. I'm not expecting them to be caught fresh from Whitby harbour as that is far away on the east coast, but blimey they were good.
The chips were a little on the chubby side for me, but doused with a drenching of malt vinegar they went down well.
A little coleslaw and veg finished mine off. As usual most of the mound of veg was rabbit food but I have come to expect this everywhere.
I did have a little taste of @bingbabe’s curry and it was equally delicious. Maybe it is ‘home-made’ just like they claim it to be.
Call me a sceptic but most of the time, I’m in disbelief and figure that it’s really ‘home-supermarket’ food.
Next visit, I will be getting that curry. She finished it off well before me despite being glued to Facebook all the way through the meal.
Shortly before we left a huge contingent of other pub-goers swamped the large room we were in.
I could hardly hear myself speak but it's good that someone else thinks of eating on Monday's beside us.
If I could criticize, well just make the damn place a little more welcoming to outsiders. I wasn't exaggerating about the tale at the start of this review.
At £17.45 including drinks, The Cross Keys was a fabulous find and I would gladly enter it in @tasteem’s ‘Blind Date’ contest if it was running.
You see, the last time I was in this pub, was around 1992, and it was a Blind Date.
Restaurant Information
The Cross Keys Inn
The Cross Keys, Bank Newton, East Marton, Skipton BD23 3LP, UK
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Your weekly choice
Hmm, Only the curry really attracts attention. :)
Thanks for sharing with us via Tasteem: https://tasteem.io
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Thanks!, that curry was awesome, it makes a change for me to do a positive review, there are so many average and crappy places around here. :)
Oh, that's a tantalising ending! Where's the rest of the story?
Ah.. see @meesterboom's question, it all ended in tears ;(
Oh dear :( You've recovered well, though :)
I had several of these Blind Dates around this time period, all failed!
I think blind dates are quite a difficult proposition - you've no idea if you've got anything in common, never mind whether there's the elusive mutual fancying. I've had some tragic blind dates in my time, one of my friends still eats out on the stories. Best if someone's seen you at a mate's house and asks your mate if you'd like to go to a party. But I guess it's different for lads :)
Maybe I'll do a Blind Date special. I have revealed quite a lot about my life already. It's all for my daughter..
Aw, love the way you talk about your daughter :)
Blind Date Special would be grand, maybe even run a contest!
Sounds like a fun place. There are several places near me that are closed on Monday's as well.
The Reduced Portions are a good idea. It would be great if more places offered those.
Yeah, would be good if it caught on. The food needs to be good though.
Nice post. I love your sense of humour and your writing. Those pictures inside they are gorg. As for the food I'll agree with you on this one, I think @bingbabe's curry looks like I could just finish the whole plate lol.
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Thanks, I try to entertain as well as inform. I used to send the reviews to the pubs and restaurants via FB but think better of it these days!
Nay they are better off here where we can enjoy them. I mean I'm not even on fb anymore.
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Spicy and yummy food
How did the blind date turn out?
Monday's are dead up here because Tuesdays are student night or some such tosh
I first noticed this closing thing when I was working in Sunderland over a year ago. It's started happening here now.
The date? She was a tasty redhead, but during conversation I realised she had dated a local dude I knew who was a singer in a band. How that conversation came about beats me. I never got second date :(
A bizarre conversation but a useful one! There are many I never got second dates with but it was all down to fate and its eventual ploy to destroy me after first letting me believe I had become a god.
Or something like that at least :OD
Thank you for entering our <Your weekly choice > Contest . Thanks to @slobberchops, Tasteem has become a more attractive guide. We upvote your post, wish you the best of luck in winning our Contest!
That curry does look pretty fantastic! As a matter of fact though your beloved Heinz bottles and sells malt vinegar here in the states. The place down the street from us that we go to frequently for Perch on Friday's has it right on the table next to the ketchup and mustard.
Woo.. my information is sadly around 23 years out of date. I searched Smitty's and other stores for it in vain! Does anyone use it there?
I will toss some on my fries occasionally while I am enjoying my perch. I have a feeling it probably isn't as popular as it is there, but there have to be some that enjoy it otherwise they wouldn't make it available!
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I love scampi. That's definitely one to remember if I'm planning to visit my Yorkshire relatives.
The film clip is hilarious - I haven't seen the film but maybe I'll try to dig it out.
It's was a great find but just be careful.. no Mondays, or other evenings with a full moon!
aWWOOOOOOO!!
Nice place, the food is presented well and looks good.
Do you think almost everyone in there were regulars and old friends and the site of you two strangers is what stopped the conversations and commotion? That was too weird.
The pub is out there in the country in a small village. They could have been regulars but the pub culture is dying here TBH. If they don't serve food they close, and get put up for sale.
I enjoyed reading this review :D
@slobberchops, 5 pieces of scampi ?, .. what that a starter ?, ... they look like nice ones though.
'RP' is not rest in peace, though this could be a secret vampire covenant and as first time diners they were giving us a little rope.
A second visit could well spell death, but 'RP' is Reduced Portion. Good for me and other bird like appetites.
A local pub for local people, you should probably be thankful you weren’t on Tuesdays menu.
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Yes, no outsiders..!