The Abbey Inn, Byland: 19th century Yorkshire pub overlooking Byland Abbey owned by Michelin chef Tommy Banks releases new sample menu

The historic inn was first built by monks in 1845 and was originally used as a farmhouse and converted into a public house by 1853. Tommy Banks and his family have spent the last few weeks carefully refurbishing the building, ensuring they preserve and highlight the Grade II listed building’s original features.

The heritage pub opens out to the gothic ruins of Byland Abbey, a 12th century monastery, which was founded as a Savigniac abbey in 1135 in the small village of Ryedale near York. The Abbey Inn was recently opened by the Tommy Banks Group and it opened its doors to the public for the first time on Thursday, May 25, 2023.

Tommy said: “One of my main goals in opening a third place is to continue my mission for championing hyper-local, sustainable produce. We’ve been rearing our own cattle, sheep and pigs for a while now, and The Abbey Inn allows us to get one stop further in our journey to complete carcass balance and true nose-to-tail dining.”

Sample menu at The Abbey Inn

The Head Chef Charlie Smith has worked for the Group for more than five years across The Black Swan, Roots, York and Made In Oldstead.

The menu includes reimagined classics with their signature Oldstead style, using ingredients from the nearby farm and garden, including their own meat, reared a mere mile away from The Abbey Inn.

For those dropping in for a drink, they can choose from bar snacks from £3.50 to £12.50, such as the Pork Pie with Oldstead Piccalilli, Pork fat fries with fermented ketchup and BBQ beetroot sauce, a Charcuterie plate including a coppa and Lomo made from their own rare-breed pigs, as well as the Ploughman’s that showcases some of the area’s best produce and suppliers.

For starters there is the Smoked baby beetroot, ewe’s curd and rhuboshi, Oldstead Dexter tartare with fermented peppers and bone marrow, and Glazed Herdwick lamb rib with yoghurt flatbread and fermented carrots. Prices vary between £10.50 and £14.

Mains include The Byland Burger; the patty is made up of Dexter chuck brisket and short rib, topped with bacon and chicory jam and served alongside pork fat fries. A vegetarian Hen of the Woods burger is also a highlight, as well as Halibut cooked over charcoal with Charlotte potatoes, yoghurt whey and chamomile sauce. Prices vary between £20 and £27.

The pub’s Sunday Roast includes options of Pork with pig cheek toad in the hole and Salt-Aged Dexter Beef with braised oxtail toad in the hole - both served with seasonal vegetables, duck fat roast potatoes, brassica cheese and gravy.

The dessert menu features Carrot and chicory tiramisu and a seasonal tart, with The Abbey Inn soft serves. Using homemade soft ice cream from Jersey cow’s milk and locally foraged ingredients, the ever changing flavours include, Douglas Fir with lemon verbena and white chocolate, strawberry and sweet cicely and York cocoa house chocolate and rye cookie.

As well as the family’s curated premium canned wines, Banks Brothers, The Abbey Inn provides a concise, 30-bin wine list showcasing producers from lesser known regions. The pub’s cocktails, led by James Banks, highlight produce grown or foraged in and around Oldstead like the Byland Spritz featuring Oldstead ‘Campari’, Rhubarb Schnapps and Marigold Distillate and the Abbey Inn Summer Cup which features a homemade bramble liqueur.