The Manor House, Lindley: This 'exceptional' Yorkshire restaurant set in a former children's home gets top marks from us

There’s very much a sense of occasion, which turns out to be a wedding party, which accounts for the A boards pronouncing the car park full. But, it transpires, not as full as the bar.

It’s absolutely chocka, with the volume turned up to eleven, so any thoughts of a quiet G&T before dinner are dashed on the rocks of hope.

Even a deaf old bint like me finds it unbearable. Staff are dashing hither and thither; I manage to grab one and tell him we’ve got a reservation. Find a seat and have a drink, he says. I look round and shrug.

He takes pity and leads us through to the dining room which isn’t quite open for service but we can have that quiet(ish) G&T.

My mum stole a lot of sayings and words from her Jewish friends. Sprauncy was one, and it’s how she would have described the dining room.

I could hear her whispering in my ear as we sat down. It’s certainly glamorous; the lofty ceiling is painted with giant flowers, a huge chandelier made from what looks like mother of pearl discs cascades from it, and a plush green velvet banquette lines one side of the room, smartly scrubbed brickwork along another.

It’s a bit clattery on account of the parquet floor but as the room fills the noise soaks up.

Three cracking nibbles ‘From the Pantry’ arrive unannounced; Brioche Eggy Bread, Brie de Meaux, Coppa Ham, which is as good as it sounds, a cheesy doughnut with wild garlic and Marmite (has someone been sneaking a look at my fave food list) and a handily mouth-sized squid ink croustade with smoked eel, horseradish and pear; they kick-start an evening of a standard of dining I didn’t expect.

There are just four choices for each course; a smoked ham and black pudding galantine with leek hearts and violet mustard (I’ll be coming back for that) and the seaweed cured sea trout with pickled cucumber likewise, but Whitby mackerel catches my eye and it’s a lovely bit of fish – I thought perhaps ceviched but no, it’s been shown a torch for less than a minute, and the attendant blobs of rhubarb and cubes of beetroot are sweet and earthy.

I was perfectly happy with it – a real looker too, then one of the sweet kids employed as service turned up with a cute little jug of buttermilk and poured it on my plate, turning something already good into something exceptional.

Across the table, salt baked celeriac isn’t the prettiest, but what it lacks in looks it makes up in flavour – it’s got those bosky, earthy notes, emboldened with pickled walnuts and an extraordinarily deep broth – brightly balanced and transforming an ordinary vegetable from humble to suave.

Next up, a chunk of halibut as white as a dentist’s scrubs, with a smatter of pointy Romanesco cauli the colour of spring, and another brilliant broth, this time champagne.

Guinea fowl is underused on menus – it’s more dark and gamey than chicken and often more flavoursome – at least this one is, it’s beautifully cooked, with artichoke, mushrooms and a herb that I don’t see enough of either, tarragon.

It can be dry – but this is succulent and banging with flavour. Also ‘From the Stove’, Herefordshire beef fillet with truffle sauce, and for the non-meaters, a dish which wouldn’t go amiss on the Farrow & Ball paint chart: ‘Violet & Jerusalem Artichoke, Maitake, Turnip & Miso Veloute’.

Sides are pretty remarkable too: hispi cabbage, nicely charred and served with smoked pancetta and parmesan is a umami bomb and splendid with the fowl along with red cabbage braised with apple and raspberry, which gives it a pleasingly sweetness.

The man in charge is Chef John Brewster.

He’s been holding the reins since the Manor House was first salvaged and refurbished in 2018 by entrepreneur Sara Presley who rescued the former children’s home before it fell to rubble.

I visited shortly after it opened – perhaps they were still finding their feet because I don’t really remember my dinner – but they have very much found their feet seven years on.

Brewster’s use of ingredients is impressive, taking often ordinary veg like celeriac and turnips and giving them star billing.

There’s something chocolatey with a blood orange sorbet on the dessert menu, plus cheese from the fabulous Courtyard Dairy in Settle (if you’ve never been, I urge you to take the trip – Andy and Kathy Swinscoe curate one of the best cheese counters in the country) but they’re bypassed tonight because there’s Tomlinson’s rhubarb on the menu, and as you know it’s the law to eat it in Yorkshire in February.

Here it’s paired with redcurrant and piled into a pavlova, with a tweezer of what appears to be silver leaf on the top, as if it wasn’t special enough.

There’s a plate filled with ‘exotic fruits’ too, and there’s allsorts; white chocolate and coconut mousse, something with lime, something orangey – all taking a considerable degree of technical skill to pull off. It looks marvellous too, worthy of a gallery plinth.

By now the hullaballoo in the bar is a distant memory thanks to a faultless dinner served by the loveliest staff – I know I made a crack earlier on about children but they are – which makes it all the more impressive that they’re so well-versed in such a sophisticated menu.

There’s no irritating, clunky call-back either, though the superb FoH rarely takes his hawk eye off proceedings – you just know he’d be table-side in seconds if anything had gone pear-shaped. Nothing did, of course.

Welcome 5/5

Food 5/5

Atmosphere 5/5

Prices 5/5

The Lantern Room, The Manor House, Lindley, Huddersfield HD3 3JB www.manorhouselindley.co.uk Dinner for 2 with wine £167