Blue bicycle restaurant, 34 Fossgate
Rating: 
ave. food price: £15
Ave. drink price: £6
Set in the sumptuously refurbished environs of one of York’s oldest brothels, the Blue Bicycle restaurant by the river on Fossgate sets out to provide the ultimate decadent dining experience.
Rich sexiness is the tone; artfully risqué paintings adorn the dark red walls, and the restaurant offers diners the option both of the eclectic upstairs dining room or romantic private booths where a couple can enjoy a romantic dinner reclining, roman-style, on futons.
Served with a certain panache, the food, predictably, is as rich as the atmosphere. Nonetheless it is delicious, if a little pretentiously dressed (I’m not sure I really know what a coulis is, nor, for that matter, a fondant or a jus). The wine list is accomplished; not only did it range from the most delectable wines of southern France but it also encompassed the Champagne region, explored recently by the BBC’s Oz and James on their Big Wine Adventure.
This, then, is a restaurant with a specific purpose, which it fulfills splendidly; whether it be an anniversary, an apology-meal, a birthday treat or a splash-out date, I can recommend no better place for a romantic dinner for two.
