Brook’s storms back from floods and a pandemic

I’m certain I’m not the only one still finding it odd, coming out of the pandemic and attempting to pick up life where it left off. Two years is a long time to press pause especially at this age – I can’t afford to hang around. Re-emerging and engaging with the world for me means sitting round a table with friends, eating and drinking and chatting, and whilst it’s always a thrill to find a new place to do these things, there’s nothing like somewhere you’re familiar with and you’re pretty certain is going to do the business.

I’ve been longing to go back to Brook’s so I prime the chums I’ve been promising to take. During lockdown I made a mental list of the places I’d go when we could – if it ever ended, and when Observer food critic Jay Rayner raved about it my resolve to return hardened. My first visit in February 2020 was a week before catastrophic Storm Ciara coursed through the Calder Valley, flooding and closing them down, the kitchen completely submerged and the elegant dining room ruined. Storm Dennis was fast on Ciara’s heels, wreaking more havoc.

Fast forward. The handsome, light-filled dining room is back in one piece. It’s a fine, warm summer night and we’ve got the act together and what fun it is to hear the chums’ dulcet tones, that familiar voice wafting through the open door “what’ll it be, missus?” – the missing years dissipating like mist helped along by a very fine Controcorrente Vermouth Bianco – and off we go.

The menu features “Bites”, “Small” and “Large” and I’ve forgotten of course that the small plates are substantial enough for anyone with a decent appetite and it puts me on the back foot (more later). They’re all around a tenner and jump off the page: tempura asparagus, burnt onion hollandaise, toasted pumpkin seeds and smoked duck breast with cherry jam and celeriac remoulade. I don’t mind telling you it’s hard to choose, even with four of us, but the prawn toast is an absolute winner, and nothing like I’ve ever ordered from the takeaway which by the time it gets to your mouth is greasy cardboard – but here it’s light, crunchy, packed with flavour and a honey and gochujang mayo bringing a sweet kick.

Cured sea bream is subtly ceviche and the wild garlic and almond sauce has me running a finger along the bottom so as not to miss a scrap. It’s an absolute stunner too – all the colours of the sea and about as far from it as you can get. Another head-turner is a dish of beetroot – earthy, red and golden, nicely spiced, with capers dotted about and with a swirl of black garlic hummus and a handful of chervil. Bargain of the night (£8.50) and a contender for best dish is chargrilled ox heart, dark and sticky with potato puree shot through with Baron Bigod, the meat giving way to the fork with a tangle of crisp shallots on top for crunch.

Regular readers will know that the next thing I’m going to say is that I’ve over-ordered – turns out we didn’t really need four “Large” plates but here they come. A dish of pappardelle with burrata, peas, broad beans and asparagus sings of springtime in Sorrento but needs one big pinch of salt to bring out the best of it. Skate wing with braised leek doesn’t – it’s perfectly seasoned, the brown shrimp beurre noisette giving it sweetness. A simply cooked hunk of hake with baked Roscoff onion and garlic cream with a sweetcorn fritter elicits murmurs of delight from across the table, but my lamb belly with polenta and spinach comes home with me in a box after a couple of mouthfuls – it’s faultless but I’m overfaced.

Despite setbacks which would have most folk running for the hills, owners Lauren Midgley and Greg Foggo have held their nerve and it’s paid off; if they can survive floods and pandemics, they’ll probably be fine with a plague of locusts. They’ve kept talented chef Dan Maskell too, who is mostly self-taught but blessed with a natural creativity. All too often a place fails due to lack of continuity. Chefs come, they go. Not here.

The dessert menu is mercifully short but we still manage to order a sharp rhubarb ice cream sandwich which reminds me – in a good way – of those Walls wafers you used to get in the ’70s, and a magnificent torta della nonna (grandma’s custard pie) which proves the power of Instagram (saw it, had to have it: result).

Through sheer will and hard work, Lauren and Greg have recreated a cool, stylish space. There’s an air of sophistication but by no means is it formal – the vibe is warm and friendly and it’s matched by near-flawless food and sweet service; plates, small and large, lean towards rustic in the best possible way – there are no foams or reductions here, but rather they brim with colour, flavour and vitality. It’s a joy, the chums loved it and hell it’s good to be back.

Brook’s, 6 Bradford Road, Brighouse HD6 1RW, 01484 715284, www.brooksrestaurant.co.uk. Open: Wednesday, 5.45-10pm; Thursday, 12-2pm and 5.45-10pm; Friday and Saturday, 12-2pm and 5.45-10pm; Sunday, 10am-5pm; closed Monday and Tuesday.

Welcome 5/5

Food 5/5

atmosphere 5/5

prices 5/5