Westwood

A 4.8-rated Modern British restaurant inside a Grade II listed courthouse — Westwood earns its Michelin Plate and then some

In Beverley, a market town more often associated with its Minster than its restaurant scene, it signals that Westwood on New Walk is doing something worth making a trip for. The Michelin Plate awarded in 2025 confirms the kitchen is cooking at a level that inspires confidence before you walk through the door. If you are visiting Beverley for the first time and you only have one serious dinner in you, this is where to spend it.

The Setting

The room itself does a lot of work. Westwood occupies one wing of a Grade II listed former courthouse, the architecture gives the space a seriousness that purpose-built restaurant interiors rarely achieve. High ceilings, period stonework, the structural weight of a listed building create a backdrop that feels appropriate for a meal you are actually paying attention to. In warmer months, the sheltered courtyard terrace adds an outdoor option that retains the same contained, considered atmosphere rather than spilling onto a busy pavement. For a first visit, the interior is the better choice: it reads as the more considered space and gives you the full sense of what Westwood is doing with its setting. The courtyard is worth knowing about for a long summer lunch.

The Cooking

Westwood is run by twins Michele and Matthew, whose approach sits at the sensible intersection of traditional and modern. The menu mixes familiar British dishes with more creative, contemporary choices, which means the kitchen is not asking you to commit entirely to either register. That is a practical advantage: it works for diners who want something grounded and legible alongside those who want to see what the kitchen can actually do. The Modern British label covers a broad range, from L'Enclume in Cartmel at one end of the ambition spectrum to gastropub-level cooking at the other. Westwood sits comfortably in the serious middle ground: technically attentive, seasonally driven, without the performative complexity that makes some tasting menus feel more like theatre than dinner.

Seasonal Angle: When to Visit and What to Order

The menu's mix of traditional and creative dishes means it responds to the seasons in a way that genuinely affects what you should prioritise on any given visit. Modern British cooking at this level relies on British produce at its most expressive, which points toward specific windows: spring lamb and forced rhubarb in late winter and early spring; asparagus and lighter fish preparations from May onward; game and root vegetables through autumn and into winter. The sheltered courtyard terrace becomes relevant from late spring through September, a warm-weather lunch out there is a different experience from a winter dinner inside. If you are planning a visit specifically around seasonal produce, autumn is arguably the strongest window for Modern British cooking of this type: the larder is at its widest, kitchens that work with seasonal rotation tend to be at their most inventive in October and November. For a first-timer who cannot choose their timing, trust the menu's traditional dishes as the anchor and use the more creative options to read what the kitchen is currently excited about.

On what to order: without specific current menu data, the reliable approach at a Michelin Plate restaurant running a seasonal menu is to ask the front-of-house team what has come in that week. At a restaurant run with the personal investment that twin ownership implies, that question tends to get a genuine answer rather than a scripted one. Avoid anchoring too hard to dishes you have read about elsewhere; at a kitchen that rotates with the seasons, last month's menu is not a reliable guide to tonight's.

Price and Value

At £££, Westwood is a three-course-dinner-out price point rather than a special-occasion splurge. That is the right framing for what it delivers: serious cooking in a remarkable setting, without the £££££ commitment that London's comparable rooms require. For context, the Modern British restaurants that hold comparable or higher Michelin recognition in major UK cities are priced at ££££ as a floor. Westwood's ££££ pricing in a Yorkshire market town represents straightforwardly better value per pound spent than most of its award-credentialed peers.

Booking

With a 4.8 rating and Michelin recognition in a town with limited fine-dining competition, Westwood books out. Treat this as moderate-difficulty booking: plan at least two to three weeks ahead for a weekend table, further in advance if you are targeting a specific date such as a Saturday or a seasonal moment like the Christmas period. Weekday tables are more accessible. There is no phone number in the public record; check the venue's website directly for the current reservation method. Walk-in availability is possible mid-week but unreliable enough that it should not be your plan A.

How Westwood Fits the Broader Scene

Beverley does not have a deep bench of serious restaurants. Westwood is, by the evidence available, the restaurant that justifies a trip to the town in its own right rather than as an incidental addition to a visit. If you are travelling from elsewhere in Yorkshire or the wider north of England specifically for a dining occasion, it holds up alongside regional peers. Moor Hall in Aughton sits at a higher level of ambition and price; Hand and Flowers in Marlow offers a useful comparison for what confident, award-recognised British cooking looks like at a similar price tier. Within Beverley itself, Westwood operates without a direct competitor at this level, which means booking it is a simple decision rather than a close call. For the full picture of what else the town offers, see our full Beverley restaurants guide, our full Beverley bars guide, and our full Beverley hotels guide.