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I've lived in York for three years and within that time, I have surprisingly never visited the Bill's restaurant that we have in the city centre - so I was quite excited to try it out for the first time last week! The main reason that we chose Bill's is because it seemed like one of the best child friendly restaurant options. Jake and I love dining out, it's one of our favourite things to do together, but with a fussy 5 year old it can limit our options a little. Anywhere with a good kids menu or the option for pizza is a winner with Ru, and Bill's had both so that's where we decided to head.
We booked via OpenTable as it's the summer holidays, we were worried it might be quite busy and I'm glad we did as it soon filled up throughout the evening. On arrival, we were actually given a large round table that seated five, despite there only being three of us and a baby. This was because we had Luca in his pram and they wanted to give us plenty of room to have the pram next to us, so we had a great first impression as they were super accommodating for our little family.
We ordered some drinks to begin with, I ordered the cherry blossom & raspberry spritz which was a non-alcoholic cocktail and it was delicious! Ru had an apple juice and Jake ordered an Aspall cider which I had a taste of and found delicious, so I also ordered myself one after I'd finished my cocktail. It was so fresh and crisp.
For starters, I ordered the Spiced Crab Cakes, they came with a green chilli & yuzu dip. The crab cakes were absolutely delicious, but I wasn't a huge fan of the dip - didn't hate it but didn't love it either, so I just enjoyed the crab cakes on their own. Jake ordered the Sticky Duck Salad which was bbq flavoured pulled duck with watermelon & coriander. I didn't try it but he said it was very nice. We also ordered the olive dish for the table, this was green olives with labneh, tomatoes, mint & flatbread. Ru is fussy and they didn't do children's starters so we asked for some bread and butter for him which they were happy to provide. They actually brought him toast but he was more than happy with that so it worked out perfectly. It's good to know that they cater to children if you want to order something off menu though!
We moved onto mains and I ordered the Chargrilled Lamb which came with a pea, mint & feta salad with pickled onions. I devoured the lamb as it was delicious but I didn't really rate the dish as a whole - I think it needed to be a bit more carby! I did order a side of fries but I would have liked the lamb to come with potatoes or something similar. I would still recommend the dish if you love lamb though as it was really good. Jake ordered the Sea Bass Curry which came with sides of flatbread, rice, mint yogurt and tomatoes. It looked amazing actually with all the little sides, definitely lovely and carby if you love that kind of meal. Ru was obviously going to order something cheese related and ordered the Macaroni & Cheese with a side of fries that he happily tucked into. They had lots of choice on the children's menu and different sides to choose from so I think most kids will be happy & covered if you also suffer with a fussy eater.
We ended the meal with desserts of course - we don't eat out that often so we went all out. Ru had a scoop of vanilla ice cream that came in a little dish with a spoon and wafer, he loved it. I ordered the Eton Colada that had fresh pineapple, ice cream, coconut, meringue, whipped cream and a cherry. It was beaut. Jake ordered the Bill's Flowerpot which was a strawberry cheesecake with chocolate soil, fresh strawberries and get this - an edible flowerpot! So cool.
Overall I think it was really good value for money, especially because they're doing kids eat free over the holidays. The food was delicious and all of the portions were really generous, especially the children's even though it was free. We had a lovely waitress serve us too which always makes a restaurant visit all that more enjoyable. They catered for warming up one of Luca's bottles too which meant he fed and then slept whilst we ate which worked out perfectly.
I highly recommend checking out Bill's York and booking a table via OpenTable. You can also find lots of other lovely restaurants in York via OpenTable if you're local or coming for a visit sometime soon.
