If you drive around Yorkshire regularly the chances are you’ve probably been stuck on the M62…not that I’m psychic but it is likely a reasonable assumption.
And, particularly during these winter nights if you are stationary on it near Leeds you’ll probably see the glistening light bulbs adorning the roof of Heathfield Farm shining down upon you. I might be overselling it slightly here but it does so in a similar fashion to the Coca-Cola truck arriving for Christmas...or at least that how it feels if you are stuck in traffic.
We arrived at the eatery (technically in Bradford, let’s get that out of the way) on a busy December Sunday evening without a reservation. Walking through the restaurant and bar’s front doors the scene seemed unlikely to present us with a free table as it was packed.
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The helpful member of staff on the greeting desk said we faced a wait of around 20 to 30 minutes. Rather than faffing around finding somewhere else to dine we decided to grab a drink at the bar and wait it out for the table.
Rather positively, after we’d grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar within about five minutes or so a table for my dad and I was ready. I’d quickly popped to the loo and when I returned my dad was waiting for me to resolve things with the buzzer alerting us to our table’s availability - that was much quicker than the half-an-hour we were fearing.
Swiftly sat at our table, we cast our eye over the menu which includes steaks, burgers, pies and fish dishes but given it was a Sunday visit, so near to Christmas, a roast dinner from the venue’s carvery felt rather appealing. You can pick between meat options including turkey, beef, lamb and gammon or just go veggie - the latter element being my favourite part of a roast dinner.
Although as ‘tis the season, I opted for turkey with a Yorkshire pudding (obviously) before making my way down the veg conveyor belt. There I piled my plate with carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes, boiled potatoes and mash before smothering the selection in a shower of gravy.
Thankfully, in my student days, I was once a waiter so I made it back to the table with a plateful using minimal effort. There, I reconvened with my dad after he'd taken on the carvery. He'd opted for a selection of all the meats available for selection.
For £10.79 each, the roast dinners offer hearty good value, if being a little no thrills. If you were comparing it to a Toby Carvery, the self-proclaimed ‘home of the roast’, they are about on par.
Heathfield Farm, part of the Farmhouse Inns family pub restaurant chain, properly has a better selection of veg but the Yorkshire puddings at a Toby are far superior - in this reviewer’s humble opinion. The staff, who were courteous and helpful throughout our visit, popped over as we dined to see how we were getting on without being too intrusive.
It took some time to overcome the mountains we created on our plates and, if we are being honest, as appealing as some of the desserts and huge cakes, Heathfield Farm offers, looked we’d have probably burst if we tried feasting on them. So, in theory, there’s a slight risk of the venue doing themselves out of some business…but oh no there isn’t (sorry, it is panto season after all) as they offer a ‘cakeaway’.
In the counter next to the venue’s bar area you’ll find the cakeaway area. There you can pick from all sorts of options with seasonal specials as well as favourites like apple pie, apple crumble and brownies.
The cakes, which were absolutely huge, we opted for were the sticky toffee cake and the chocolate fudge cake. The latter was so big, at time of writing, I still have some of it left in my fridge. But what I’ve consumed, so far, is the kind of sweet treat we all deserve during these old winter nights and I have a little bit more to look forward to.
And, most importantly, when we hit the road to head home the M62 was rather quiet…for once.
The bill
- Two standard weekend carvery dinners - £21.58
- Two Coca-Colas - £6.70
- Chocolate fudge cake - £4.99
- Sticky toffee cake - £5.19
Total: £38.46
Heathfield Farm, 2 Heathfield Lane, Birkenshaw, Bradford, BD11 2DP. You can book a table here or call 01274 449974.
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