From the outside, Three’s a Crowd looks like most of the other chic gastro pubs that line West Park, but walk through the heavy antique wood doors, and it’s a completely unique story.

With its amazing vintage décor, top-notch imaginative cuisine and a ‘secret garden’, Three’s a Crowd is the jewel in the town’s gastropubcrown.

Its bright, sophisticated, cheerful décor has been so carefully thought out and expertly mixes different styles. Exposed brickwork merges with marble pillars and heavy woodwork, whilst the Mediterranean-coloured tiles add a chic warmth to the place.

There’s a spacious feel here. Expertly choreographed seating and tables catch the natural light that comes flooding in through the large picture windows.

You can choose to sit at the tables in front of the large windows overlooking the stray, where you can watch the world go by, or in one of the many breakout areas featuring wooden furnishings that create a rustic atmosphere. In contrast, you may want to perch on a stool at the impressive wooden bar that dominates one side of the pub; the choice is yours!

Wherever you choose to sit, there’s a wonderful warm, friendly and convivial atmosphere that hits you as soon as you walk through the door.

But what you cannot spot from outside is Three’s A Crowd’s best-kept secret – their exceptionally large, stylish and varied outside area at the rear of the pub.

Step outside and you’ll discover this is no ordinary beer garden; it has so many different options. Outside near the rear door there’s an elevated terrace with flora and plants, comfortable upholstered bench seating and umbrellas. But walk further, and the whole outside terrace area will unfurl in front of your very eyes.

It's divided into different areas, some with sinkable sofas, others with tables with umbrellas, whilst another has a half-tented area – this is a wonderfully sophisticated and designed area and can be used in either summer or when the weather is slightly cooler, as there’s a plethora of heaters and blankets around the place.

This must be the best-planned beer garden in North Yorkshire – it has a totally private feel – you could be a million miles away instead of in the centre of the spa town.

Since it opened over 6 years ago, Three’s a Crowd has become renowned for its food, which pays homage to and celebrates the flavours of Yorkshire. The menu always offers choices that are innovative, exciting, fresh and fun, but it still includes old favourites – sometimes with a refreshing twist.

The gastropuboffers the option of both large plates and small plates, the latter ideal for starters or for those who want to share and eat tapas-style.

We had had a rather arduous train journey, so when we arrived, it was great just to sit on the terrace and unwind outside with a glass of chilled wine as we made our choice from the menu.

My colleague decided on the TAC Korean Fried Chicken served with Asian slaw and sesame. Although it was from the small plates section, the portion was very generous. The chicken was very tender and had been battered and fried with sesame seeds, giving it a crunchy texture, and was coated in an obviously homemade tomato sauce. The slaw was delicious and had hot chilli peppers amongst its ingredients.

I opted for the Tempura King Prawns. They came to the table literally sizzling. The prawns were large and very succulent and cooked in a light crispy batter. The homemade chilli jam that accompanied them was a good addition and not too spicy.

When you spend a lot of time out of the country, as my colleague does, there’s one food item you always long for when you return – and it’s on the Three’s a Crowd menu – fish and chips.

We both agreed when her meal arrived it should be renamed 'Whale and Chips', as the portion of fish was large. The fish was light, white and moist, just as it should be, and the batter was very crispy and light. It came with minted peas, which were not your usual green mush but were cleverly blended with lots of mint.

Admitting she’s not normally a fan of fat chips, she was more than over the moon when she tasted the chip offering on her plate. They were hot and crispy and fluffy inside and had been cooked with the skin on, which gave them a great flavour. She loved their presentation too – quite a work of art.

I opted for the Flat Iron Steak Frites, and I was not disappointed. The steak was cooked exactly to my requirements – I like the steak to be well done. It was tender and still retained the juices. It was served with a large portion of rocket and Parmesan salad, which was the perfect accompaniment.

After our main course, we decided to sit in the garden for a while before making our dessert.

There’s always a fun element to the menu at Three’s A Crowd, and our choice was based on this – but we were totally unprepared for what was to arrive at our table.

My colleague chose the TAC Dunkable, which is very loosely based on the cream cheese dunkers most of us loved as kids.

The dish consisted of a portion of sour cream cheese and some delicious parmesan twists, or some may call them breadsticks, coated in poppy seeds. The flavour of the breadsticks offset the richness of the cream cheese, and together they made a great combination. Perfect and true to its title, these were made for dunking.

I decided to be very daring and go for the Dippy Egg. When this arrived I could not believe my eyes. What ingenuity and thinking had gone into this culinary wonder? What looked like a boiled egg with soldiers came to the table – it was unbelievable that it was not the real thing.

Instead the egg cup held a chocolate shell filled with a white and dark chocolate mousse mixture with a yellow passion fruit mousse on the top purporting to be the yolk.

Alongside were two pieces of toasted brioche coated with demerara sugar to dip into my egg. This dessert just blew me away. It tasted as good as it looked and even came with a chocolate spoon to scoop out the egg. This was more than heaven on a plate – it was the whole heavenly galaxy on a plate. I’m still wondering now!

The thing I loved about Three’s a Crowd is it’s a place where no one rushes you to leave – having arrived at lunchtime, it was tea-time before we decided to leave – we couldn’t believe we had been there over three and a half hours.

Eventually we had to tear ourselves away and brace ourselves for the walk to the station, which was not a bad thing, as it helped us burn off all the calories we had consumed at lunchtime.

Three’s a Crowd,
11 West Park, Harrogate HG1 1BL.
Three’s a Crowd is dog friendly so your pouch is very welcome!
Website https://www.threes-a-crowd.co.uk/
Open: Mon,Tues,Wed,Thurs 12 noon to 11.00pm (food served until 9.00)
Fri & Sat 12 noon – 11.30 (food served until 7.00pm)
Sunday – 12 noon 11.pm (food served until 7.00pm)