One of the things that I can easily say I missed the most throughout my time at university (other than my dog) has to be the Sunday roast. I was quite lucky in that my family usually ate most of our meals together, and as such were able to share each others company and snippets of our day. The Sunday roast didn’t bring us together in the same way it does for other families, however it was still something I missed. Part of that was the food. My mum makes a good roast and I enjoyed it. But I think part of it was also the ritualistic nature of it – from helping prepare the food, to eating it, to reading the Sunday papers afterwards and then watching whatever happened to be on television. It was comfortable and familiar. As soon as I came to university, roasts became a bit of a rare treat. My housemates and I would have one occasionally, but never as often as would have been nice. As students, budgets played heavy on our minds and so going out for Sunday lunch also was a rare occasion. However, today I suggested it to some friends as something different to do, and I’m glad I did.
We had our lunch today in The Old White Swan in York, one of York’s oldest pubs which dates from the 16th century. It’s a Nicholson’s pub, so the food isn’t any different to a Nicholson’s pub you could find elsewhere, but it has character and always feels relaxed and friendly. Today we decided to eat outside, enjoying the sense of Spring in the air, and the warmer weather. The Old White Swan has a lovely courtyard to the front of the pub, but despite this almost being on the street, you do get a sense of still being in a secluded and private area.
I had the roast beef (pictured above) whilst my two companions opted for the chicken. I unfortunately made the mistake of not taking the extra gravy that was offered, and due to eating outside the meal cooled quicker than I would have liked. However, overall it was tasty and very filling. I even enjoyed the roast parsnips, and I am not a parsnip fan! I’ve always enjoyed the food that I have had at The Old White Swan, and the menu is varied, offering a good selection of pub classics. This isn’t the best roast I have had, but it’s certainly not the worst, and the surroundings, company and the fact it was a roast on a Sunday all helped to make my day.
