OUT AND ABOUT | THE YORKSHIRE MEATBALL COMPANY

The Yorkshire Meatball Company, fronted by David and Gareth Atkinson, father and son, has been an idea in progress for a good two years. Now the dream has become reality with the pair opening up the UK's first ever meatball restaurant.

Claiming to be a 'speciality' meatball bar, these guys are all about the BALLS... be that in starter, main or dessert form! All their balls are hand-rolled and use only the freshest and tastiest locally sourced Yorkshire produce.

I visited Harrogate on the weekend after being invite to check out a new independent restaurant which opened earlier this month.

Arriving with my friend, we were warmly welcomed and sat down at a table reserved for us, complete with a chalkboard with my name on which was a nice surprise!

Upon entering I was impressed with the decor. A nice wooden and rustic feel that didn't seem to try-hard but had quaint little features and highlights like cheesegrater's for lampshades and  a large black chalkboard wall detailing where all their produce was sourced from as well as the drinks menu.

We were seated and talked through the menu which was laid out on our table on a large A3 sheet of manilla paper - kind of like a diner style set up which I really liked.

The main focus of the menu is to choose the Ball, Bed and Blanket Combo... which means you choose your 'Ball' option, with 6 variations available, including beef and pork, chicken, fish and falafel options. You then choose a 'Bed' option, again 6 variations including linguine, mash potato, roasted vegetables and salad. Then you choose your 'Blanket' option with 6 different sauces to choose from including gravy, home made ketchup and mushroom pesto. 

If you choose this combo you have three size options available, with

Small Balls (two) for £7

Standard Balls (three) for £8

Big Balls (four) for £9

...you can also get a Yorkshire Pudding for free on the side - a nice little added extra!

I went for the Ball, Bed and Blanket Combo with Birdie Balls, Salad Leaf and Gravy and of course the obligatory Yorkshire Pudding. My friend went for the 'Naked Balls' option with Fish Balls on a salad bed of watercress with avocado, raspberries and lime. We also ordered a 'Taster' of the Hot Balls 

with  Yorkshire Terrier Blanket as a starter and shared a side of roasted vegetables.

I wanted to check out their local beer selection and was extremely impressed to see two options for every type of ale all sorced from local breweries and mico-breweries in Yorkshire. I went for a bottle of the Yorkshire IPA from Wharfebank Brewery which was a good meal accompaniment.

Our 'Taster' came, cute and wee and was basically a meatball slider served on a lightly toasted brioche bun. This was really lovely and gave us a chance to sample the beef and pork meatballs too. They were light and fluffy with a spicy tomato ketchup/relish to match.

In come the mains! Slightly confused as several dishes were brought to the table, I was expecting my 'Ball, Bed and Blanket' combo to come all in the same dish. Despite this, my Birdie Balls were served in a mini cast iron skillet on top of a lovely thick onion gravy.

Accompanying this was a plate of salad leaves, a plate filled with our side of roasted vegetables and a lusciously big and crispy yorkshire pudding.

My friends Fish Balls arrived which were made with fresh haddock, smoked chorizo and parsley.

We set down to our meals, both impressed by the food before us. The portions were large but the quality wasn't skimped. Sampling a Birdie and a Fish ball, both were very tasty, light and fluffy, but also filling and flavoursome. My gravy was nice and fresh with a good consistency and was lovely with the roasted vegetables and yorkshire pudding.

We couldn't leave without trying a dessert, and with three desserts on offer we couldn't decide on which one to go for. Gareth kindly said he'd give us a selection of all three desserts as a portion. We had Brownie Balls and Cheesecake Balls but my favourite by far were the Profiter Balls which oozed with a delicious lemon curd and were drizzled with caramel.

Overall a really lovely dining experience and meal at the Yorkshire Meatball Company. I also had the pleasure of having a chat with David and Gareth about their business and you can see that a lot of love has gone into its creation.

A must-visit if you are in Harrogate and want a meatball experience in all manners of forms! It is highly reasonable and offers good quality food and portion sizes. I look forward to my next visit.