Dinner At Stirk House, Clitheroe At Christmas-Time

I could never tire of eating out. I’m lucky to live in close proximity to some excellent restaurants, many of which are within walking distance. One of my favourites though is Stirk House which is short distance from Skipton on the Lancashire/North Yorkshire border. I’ve been there several times before and have written previously about its history and its award-winning restaurant, PRIME. You might also remember the Pendle Witches Tour that I went on with Ian back in April. Well, that was based at Stirk House too.

Last week, my friend Sally and I went for dinner at Stirk House. We were delighted see that the Christmas decorations were up because we both absolutely love Christmas.

Dinner At Stirk House

Stirk House has a beautiful lounge with an open fire and we sat in there while we looked at the menu.

Once we’d chosen, the lovely new restaurant manager Christina jakowlew showed us to our table in one of the semi-circular booths. She looked after us all evening and was wonderfully attentive without being intrusive. Perfect service.

The decor in Prime is beautiful. The fire was lit so it looked and felt cosy and very festive.

Starters range from £4 to £9. Sally chose crispy fried buttermilk chicken with coleslaw and I has tiger prawns with chilli and mango salad and a lime dressing.

Sally’s chicken was crispy and light and the combination of my chilli and mango salad was beautiful.

We both chose fish for our main course. I had herb crusted plaice fillet with crushed potatoes and a warm tomato and chive dressing. Sally chose pan seared sea bass fillet with crushed potatoes and a brown shrimp, cucumber and chive butter sauce. The photograph shows my plaice. The photos I took of Sally sea bass were blurred- it’s always tricky photographing food in subdued light. Suffice to say she found it absolutely delicious. And so was mine.

We’re both blessed with healthy appetites so ordered dessert.

I tried some of Sally’s iced lemon meringue parfait with sugared English strawberries. It was beautifully lemony and creamy. A lovely combination of sweet and sharp.

It is rare that I resist sticky toffee pudding and this was not one of those occasions. It was light but with enough gooeyness to feel very indulgent. Heavenly.

We finished our meal with coffee which we took back into the fire lounge. That’s the beauty of having dinner at Stirk House. It’s flexible. Guests can dine wholly in PRIME, but other options include private dining, eating in the conservatory or even in a bedroom suite for those that truly want to get away from it all. The staff are all so friendly and will do everything to accommodate the wishes of their guests.

Christmas at Stirk House

I love Christmas and everything about it. It’s the lights and candles that I love the most about festive decor though. There’s something so romantic about twinkling fairy lights and flickering candles. I felt almost mesmerised by those at Stirk House. It was a wonderful evening and the perfect way to start the Christmas celebrations.

Thank you very much to Amanda Jane Arends, the business development manager for inviting Sally and me for dinner at Stirk House. Do stop and call in if you’re passing or if you’re staying in the area. It has the most beautiful grounds with views of Pendle Hill and the staff will wlecome you for a drink, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and anything in between.

I’m taking my mum for Festive Afternoon Tea the week after next, so do keep a look out for my blog on that too

Find Stirk House at Gisburn, Lancashire, BB7 4LJ and the website is www.stirkhouse.co.uk