Melton's Restaurant

Head down Scarcroft Road towards the city's quieter edges and you'll find yourself in the kind of restaurant that takes itself seriously without being insufferable. The room has that understated elegance that makes you sit up straighter—white tablecloths, proper glassware, the whole lot—but it never feels stuffy. You're here for proper contemporary British cooking, the sort where they source brilliantly and don't overcomplicate things. This is where York comes when it wants to celebrate something worth celebrating.