T’Cure, Hebden Bridge: 'I ate at the Yorkshire restaurant with a gothic apothecary vibe - and incredible stews'
Amanda Wragg has never been a fan of themed restaurants… that was until she stepped into T’Cure in Hebden Bridge, a dining establishment that does all things stew and has a Gothic vibe.
Who doesn’t love a themed restaurant? Well, me, as it happens. In an attempt to make food memorable, it sometimes misfires.
We’ve all been to those places: serving staff in odd uniforms/get-ups; a Tyrolean place in Todmorden many years ago springs to mind.
The chef/proprietor serenaded bemused diners with a piano accordion during dessert, and I’ll never forget a place in Leeds trading on a gardening theme, complete with edible soil (served in plant pots) and sandwiches with deep fried flower fillings. It’s just weird. Stop it.
On a works night out, at an American diner at Meadowhall in Sheffield, servers were dressed like extras in Grease, with burgers, chips and tall glasses of cola balanced on trays, and every so often they’d jump onto your table and do a bonkers song and dance routine.
The whole thing was surreal, especially the walk through the deserted mall to the underground car park.
In the same way as it’s unadvisable to order a dish with the word ‘surprise’ in the title, avoid themed restaurants. Believe me. Nothing good will ever come of either.
Except I’ve just found an exception, although the good folk of T’Cure in Hebden Bridge will probably be a bit annoyed with my calling it themed.
I ask them how they’d describe the vibe, and after a pause they come up with ‘Gothic Apothecary’. There’s a lot going on. Not an inch of exposed wall, window ledge, table.
There are enough house plants to start a garden centre, chandeliers and neon signs and fairy lights, books, music magazines, stacks of vinyl, sheet music and a piano.
I might have walked by if a chum whose opinion I value said if it’s not on your radar, it should be. He didn’t give any indication of the sort of food to expect. It turns out to be stew, one of my very favourite dinners when it’s done properly, which this very much is.
‘Build your perfect menu’ says the blackboard.
‘Bases: choose one’ and there’s mash (with English mustard and horseradish) crushed new potatoes, parmesan polenta and dirty rice.
‘Stews: choose one’ from curried lamb, Tuscan black pepper beef, pork, mustard and apple, coq au vin and a couple of veggie/vegan options.
There are sides (including crispy lamb ribs and beer battered onion rings) and vegetables (braised red cabbage, tenderstem broccoli).
Dirty rice I now know is a Cajun/creole dish which gets its name from the vegetables that run through it rather than any other, less pleasing reason.
It’s a cracking dish when topped with the curried lamb, which is extraordinarily tender and fragrant.
I’ve chosen parmesan polenta as the base for Tuscan beef (sticky as anything and falling apart at the fork) and with the sides that arrive, immensely enjoyable; glazed carrots (sweet, soft) Bang Bang cauli which is tempura battered and as light as a feather, sweetcorn ‘ribs’, the sort you burn on a BBQ and are incredibly moreish and flavour intense.
These are comforting bowls of food on a chilly night, coupled with the welcome, which demands its own paragraph.
Regular readers will know how high a value I place on service. The offer might not be Michelin, but if you’re warmly welcomed and looked after, you feel valued.
I’ll cite the Nettle at Settle, Pellizco in Sheffield, Coin in Hebden: all impeccable. If owner & FOH Oliver Roberts at Normans in Kirkburton is the King of hospitality – and he is - I think I’ve found the Queen.
Louise Miller is half of the T’Cure team, and from the second you climb the steep stone steps into the building, the blast of warmth almost knocks you off your feet.
People talk about Julia Roberts’ megawatt smile – all I’m saying is you haven’t seen Lou’s.
I know it’s a cliché, but to be greeted like an old friend knocks on the head any misgivings I might have about this hobbit’s house.
She runs through the choices, suggests pairings (‘the beef with parmesan polenta is mega’) stops you over-ordering and because they’re unlicensed sends himself across the road to the brilliant Remedy Wine Merchants.
Lou’s partner, and the man in the kitchen is Mike Harry from a family of butchers and a self-taught chef who has put in the hours at the stove in fine dining gaffs extensively, including Cornwall and Barcelona, so he knows his onions.
For ‘some time’ he’s wanted to be his own boss, and to ‘simplify things’. The dishes might be simple, but there are no shortcuts to knowledge and skill; he has both.
The menu is evolving, with plans for more fish dishes, paella in the yard and perhaps a big pot of bouillabaisse in the summer.
Until then he’s concentrating on ‘slow cooked food served quickly’ with the emphasis on local, seasonal produce making healthy, robust dishes.
Talking of which, an exemplary apple crumble comes along (with obligatory jug of custard) and is vegan and gluten free – and absolutely faultless.
During the day there’s the likes of sweet roast potato with any of the stews, or home-made beans and cheese, hot sub rolls: meatball marinara, tuna melt, Philly cheese steak and aubergine parmo, homemade soup and mushroom ragout on toast.
A big part of T’Cure isn’t food, it’s community. A place where anyone can come, play music, sit with just a coffee and read. It’s inclusive, comfortable and charming.
They open on Mondays, when restaurants are famously shut, to cater for folk who work weekends and have Monday off.
It's always interesting to eat experimental food, with chefs pushing the boundaries and exciting us with new tastes and ever more improbable combinations; it's equally good to be reminded that straightforward dishes still have the power to make us fireworks happy.
Welcome 5/5
Food 4.5/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Prices 5/5
T’cure, 6 Hollins Pl, Hebden Bridge HX7 8EU t: 07784 871930 Open: Thursday & Friday 11.30 – 2.30, 6 – 9. Saturday 12 – 9. Sunday 12 – 6. Monday 6 – 9. Dinner for two without wine: £60