For the past few weeks me and the chap have been planning a Sunday date. It started off as a hike on the moors, but the weather has been so bad here that we didn’t fancy a waterlogged wander in the cold. We opted for a sedate walk around Thornton-le-Dale instead. We then intended, again, to go for a hike on the moors the following Sunday, but both having received our vaccinations (hooray!) on the Saturday, we decided to give it a miss.

Last week was quite stressful and upsetting for me. I said goodbye to my beautiful dog who has been with me for 15 years, and generally just had the sort of depressing week that you have when something like that happens. Coupled with another week of British summertime weather, we didn’t even bother with trying to rearrange our hike and instead booked a table at The Old Lodge in nearby Malton.

The Old Lodge isn’t somewhere that’s ever been on my radar before, but given we’ve spent the last year in lockdown, that’s probably no surprise. It’s a beautiful place, the drive into it looks like you’re going into a small scale castle, and thankfully, for once in a very long time, the weather held off.

Having been unable to wear anything remotely nice for so long, whenever I go out now I don’t let the opportunity to dress up pass me by, so even though it was a Sunday lunch date, I was there in my bowler hat and sky high heels. There’s a whole lot of things in my wardrobe that need wearing so, overdressing is pretty much my plan for everything from here on in.

The place itself is beautiful, set in the most gorgeous grounds and with crystal chandeliers everywhere, it really does feel quite grand for a Sunday lunch. Given I’m still very conscious of being in crowds, it was nice to be shown to a spacious dining room, where, whilst there were other diners there, it still felt distanced and not at all overcrowded. We opted for the 3 course option, which is around £20 each and trust me, the portions are generous. I felt like I was rolling out afterwards.

I ordered my favourite starter, prawn cocktail, but the chap was very happy to find whitebait on the menu. I’ve never tried that particular delicacy, so he kindly shared some with me. It’s ok, but I’d still opt for the prawn cocktail everytime. The main event was a gorgeous roast beef with a huge Yorkshire pudding and plenty of veg. As I say, the servings were particularly generous, and by the end of dinner I was wondering how I would fit a dessert in.

I’m no quitter though, so the banoffee meringue tower it was. This doesn’t even need words, so I’ll leave it here.

We chatted and laughed throughout our meal, and both agreed that it was so nice just to sit inside somewhere and have a proper date that didn’t involve walking around the grounds of a stately home (as lovely a date as that is, after a while you start to crave variety), or huddling over our food in a cold outside venue.

After finally finishing the banquet, we took a little walk in the beautiful grounds, before heading off home. It was a really lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and something of a hidden gem in terms of Sunday lunch destinations, I feel. We both really enjoyed it, and it will definitely be on my list of places to return to again in the future. That was a nice end to what was a bad week, and hopefully gave me a nice reset for the coming week.

How was your weekend? Have you ventured into any pubs or restaurants yet?