Lancaster pub wins rave review from Masterchef and The One Show food critic Jay Rayner

Journalist Rayner, who has featured on TV shows such as Masterchef, Eating with the Enemy, The One Show and the US show Top Chef Masters, visited The Merchants in Castle Hill and labelled it "a complete gem".

"It’s tempting to describe Merchants 1688 in Lancaster as a lovely painting in a terrible frame, but that doesn’t quite do the job,” he said. “The restaurant’s setting, that frame, is potentially gorgeous. The whole place is deliciously seasoned with history."

Rayner was impressed by the menu served up by the team, led by chef Will Graham.

He said: "It doesn’t just fall under the heading of “not bad” or “OK” or “somewhere to go if you’re hungry and you need to get out of the rain”. It’s cheek-slapping, belly-pleasing stuff from first to last, which cheerfully demonstrates lashings of professional technique while never losing sight of the imperative of appetite.

"They don’t just write a good menu; they really can cook it, too."

Rayner raves about aspects of the menu including the long-braised beef starter and roast pumpkin salad starters, as well as the “72 hour” lamb hotpot - which he says is "proper value for £17".

But he saves the most praise for the dish he calls "simply one of the best presentations of venison I’ve eaten in many years".

"Had I been served it on MasterChef: The Professionals, I would have proclaimed pompously that it was like being introduced to a major talent," he wrote.

Rayner saved some of his praise for the pub staff: "The young and efficient front-of-house staff somehow juggle pulling those pints with fetching and carrying."

However, Rayner was less impressed by his surroundings. Although admitting he sounded like a "terrible, relentless snob", he suggested the food was being served in "a space that feels like the kind of pub where the chips arrive in a mini chip-pan fryer and the gravy starts as a powder".

"It feels like the kind of place you would visit for nothing more ambitious than a pint and a panini," he added.

"There’s just a strong sense that the management have no idea how good a restaurant they could have hidden away in these arches."

Read the full review online here.