Restaurant in York, United Kingdom
Two Michelin Bibs. Book weeks ahead.
Skosh is the strongest argument for eating on Micklegate. Neil Bentinck's 40-seat small-plates kitchen holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for the second consecutive year, delivering pan-Asian Modern British cooking at ££ pricing — individual dishes run from a few pounds to just under a tenner. Book well ahead; this is York's most consistent value-for-quality address and the default first recommendation for food-focused visitors.
At the ££ price point, Skosh on Micklegate is one of the most compelling reasons to eat in York. Dishes run from a few pounds for a single oyster up to just under a tenner for more substantial small plates, meaning two people can eat adventurously for well under £60 before drinks. For that, you get a Michelin Bib Gourmand kitchen — awarded in both 2024 and 2025 — delivering pan-Asian small plates with technical precision that punches well above its price tier. Book it for your first serious meal in York, and book ahead: this is not a walk-in venue.
Skosh opened in 2016, and nearly a decade in, it has not lost the energy or creative discipline that made it a talking point when Neil Bentinck first arrived in the city. That longevity matters in a category where novelty-driven restaurants often fade; the fact that Skosh still draws a crowd and still earns Michelin recognition after nine years tells you something concrete about the consistency here. For food-focused visitors coming to York from elsewhere in the UK, Skosh is the kind of address that justifies a detour on its own terms , not unlike how L'Enclume in Cartmel or Moor Hall in Aughton anchor food trips to their respective corners of the north of England, though Skosh operates at a far more accessible price point than either.
The room itself rewards a second look. At 40 seats, it is compact but not cramped. The palette is grey and yellow, the crockery is rustic hand-thrown ceramic, and the tables are bare wood. A row of stools runs along a chef's table overlooking the open kitchen, which is where solo diners and kitchen-watchers should aim to sit. There is nothing designed to impress in a theatrical sense: no dramatic lighting, no elaborate tasting-menu theatre. What the space does instead is focus your attention on the plates, which is exactly the right call for a format built around a rapid succession of small dishes. The room fits the restaurant rather than competing with it.
The location on Micklegate adds context for anyone arriving on foot from the city centre. Micklegate Bar, the 12th-century gatehouse that marks the historic southern entrance to York, sits just down the road. Skosh sits in a stretch of Micklegate that has quietly become one of the more interesting eating and drinking streets in the city, slightly removed from the tourist intensity of the Shambles area. It is, in that sense, where York residents actually go , which is a meaningful signal for visitors trying to find something with local credibility rather than tourist footfall.
Menu's logic is direct: order six or seven dishes between two, expect bold flavours with careful balance, and don't try to anchor the cooking in a single cuisine. Indian techniques sit alongside Japanese-influenced preparations and dishes with no obvious regional anchor at all. The name Skosh is a contraction of the Japanese word sukoshi, meaning a small amount, and the format takes that seriously: these are genuinely small plates, priced individually, with the kitchen trusting that quality across multiple small hits is more compelling than a single large one. The dishes described in available records include masala monkfish, hogget shawarma, fried popcorn chicken with sweetcorn sauce and Thai basil, cauliflower pakoras with mint, tamarind and yoghurt, and tandoori pigeon skewers. Sea trout cured in kecap manis, topped with marshmallow, finished with peanut and lime has been called outstanding by those who have documented it. The sourdough, served with Acorn Dairy butter and gunpowder salt, is worth ordering regardless of what else you choose.
Dish that has been on the menu since day one is the 'hen's egg': a ceramic eggshell filled with a mousse of Summerfield's cheese, with egg yolk, crunchy crumbs, leeks, black vinegar and sweet sherry beneath. The ingredients are tweaked periodically, but the concept has remained a fixture for nine years, which is unusual in a kitchen that otherwise rotates its output. If you order nothing else, order that.
Drinks are handled with the same range as the food: seasonal cocktails, craft beers, and a global wine list. This is not a destination for a serious wine pairing in the way that CORE by Clare Smyth or The Fat Duck might be, but the drinks list is eclectic enough to find something that works across a wide range of dishes.
For context against other Michelin-recognised Modern British cooking in the UK, Skosh sits in the Bib Gourmand tier , recognising good cooking at moderate prices rather than star-level ambition. Comparable Bib-level addresses like hide and fox in Saltwood or Hand and Flowers in Marlow serve as useful reference points for what that recognition means in practice: kitchens with real technical ability, operating at a price point that makes them easy to recommend without qualification. Within York specifically, no other restaurant currently operates at the same combination of price tier and Michelin recognition. That makes it the default first recommendation for anyone asking where to eat well in the city without a large budget.
A Google rating of 4.8 across 919 reviews reinforces the Michelin signal from a volume-of-experience perspective. Both data points, from different methodologies, land in the same place. For a 40-seat independent restaurant in a regional city, that consistency over nearly a decade is the strongest practical argument for booking.
Quick reference: 40-seat Modern British small-plates restaurant, Micklegate Bar area, ££, Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 and 2025, Google 4.8/5 (919 reviews), booking required well in advance.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy by Pearl, but 'easy' here means the reservation system is accessible rather than that tables are plentiful at short notice. Skosh has a documented cult following and a 40-seat room. Book well in advance , at least two to three weeks out for weekend sittings, and earlier if you are targeting specific dates during York's busier visitor periods. The chef's table stools are the leading seats in the house for solo diners or pairs who want to watch the kitchen.
Skosh is at 98 Micklegate, York YO1 6JX, a short walk from York city centre and directly accessible on foot from York railway station in under ten minutes via the city walls route. Micklegate Bar, the medieval gatehouse, is a useful landmark: Skosh is just up the road from it, heading into the city. For further options in the city, see our full York restaurants guide, our full York hotels guide, our full York bars guide, our full York wineries guide, and our full York experiences guide.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skosh | This bright, lively restaurant is still one of the hottest tickets in town, and it's easy to see why. Located just up the road from Micklegate Bar – a 12th-century gateway to the city – its name comes from the Japanese word meaning ‘small amount’, referencing the menu's sharing-plates format. Six or seven dishes is about right between two, with each one incorporating bold, precisely balanced flavours with real skill. Indian cuisine has a palpable influence on the cooking, but so does the rest of the world – with dishes like masala monkfish and the superb hogget 'shawarma'.; Neil Bentinck took York by storm when he arrived in 2016 and started serving exciting, inventive modern dishes with a pan-Asian twist. Since then, he has barely put a foot wrong, earning Skosh something of a cult following – scoring a table means booking well in advance. There’s nothing showy about the 40-seater restaurant, a palette of grey and yellow, rustic hand-thrown crockery and wooden tables, with a row of stools at the chef's table overlooking the open kitchen. The name Skosh is a contraction of the Japanese word sukoshi (meaning small), a clue that the kitchen delivers small plates – around 25 of them at prices ranging from a few pounds for a Lindisfarne oyster with cucumber and jalapeño granita to just under a tenner for miso-glazed hake with courgette, pickled lemon and sunflower-seed pesto. You could limit yourself to three dishes per person, but it's worth splashing out – especially when the line-up promises fried popcorn chicken (with a sweetcorn sauce and Thai basil), cauliflower pakoras with mint, tamarind and yoghurt, or tandoori pigeon skewers. It’s only a mouthful, but a cube of sea trout cured in kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), topped with marshmallow and finished with peanut and lime is outstanding, while their lovely sourdough is served with Acorn Dairy butter and gunpowder salt. And if there is one unmissable item, it’s ‘hen’s egg’, a dish that has been on the menu since day one: a ceramic eggshell is filled with a mousse of Summerfield's cheese, but dig down and you'll find a mix of egg yolk, crunchy crumbs, leeks, black vinegar and sweet sherry (ingredients are tweaked from time to time). Drinks are equally eclectic, from seasonal cocktails and craft beers to a slate of global wines.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | ££ | — |
| The Star Inn The City | ££ | — | |
| Roots York | — | ||
| Arras | £££ | — | |
| Bow Room at Grays Court | ££££ | — | |
| Brancusi | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The restaurant seats 40 in total, so larger groups will occupy a meaningful portion of the room. A chef's table with counter stools overlooks the open kitchen, which suits smaller groups who want that format. For parties of six or more, book well in advance and check the venue's official channels to discuss layout options — at 40 covers, availability for big tables is limited.
Yes, at the ££ price point it is a strong proposition. Dishes range from a few pounds for a single Lindisfarne oyster up to just under ten pounds for plates like miso-glazed hake, meaning you control spend by how many you order. With two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025), the kitchen has been independently validated for delivering quality above its price band. Six or seven dishes between two is the recommended approach.
It works well for a celebratory dinner if your group is comfortable with a sharing format rather than formal plated courses. The open kitchen and chef's counter add energy without ceremony, and the creative cooking gives the meal a sense of occasion. For a more traditional special-occasion setting, Roots York or the Bow Room at Grays Court would suit better — but for food-focused celebrations at ££, Skosh is the stronger bet.
The 'hen's egg' dish has been on the menu since opening day and is the one item worth prioritising: a ceramic shell filled with Summerfield's cheese mousse over egg yolk, crunchy crumbs, leeks, black vinegar and sweet sherry. The sourdough with Acorn Dairy butter and gunpowder salt is worth adding. Beyond those, the menu rotates, with dishes drawing on Indian and pan-Asian influence — the cauliflower pakoras and tandoori pigeon skewers have featured as standouts.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead, and further out if you are visiting on a weekend. Neil Bentinck has built a cult following since 2016, and Pearl rates booking difficulty as easy in terms of system accessibility — not table availability. Last-minute tables do occasionally appear, but rely on that at your own risk.
Roots York is the step-up option — a more formal tasting-menu format at a higher price, better suited to celebratory dinners. Arras offers modern European small plates in a comparable register to Skosh. The Bow Room at Grays Court leans toward a more traditional, heritage setting. The Star Inn The City is the better choice if you want a riverside table and a broader a la carte menu. Brancusi is worth considering for a more relaxed neighbourhood-bistro feel.
Skosh operates a sharing-plates format rather than a fixed tasting menu — around 25 small plates are available, and the kitchen recommends roughly six or seven dishes between two. This gives you more control over spend and pacing than a set tasting menu would. If you prefer a structured, chef-directed progression, Roots York is the more appropriate choice in the city.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
