The Cow And Calf in Bradford

Fantastic place, helpful staff and great food

An excellent pub in a beautiful part of England. I had a Timothy Taylor Boltmaker for around a fiver following an hour and half's walk on the Moor. I did consider eating, but felt under-dressed in such a nice setting, so can't comment on the food. Would definitely return.

I was quite surprised how good the quality of food was and quite a friendly atmosphere. Staff are quite attentive. Outside dining available (weather dependent) as its high up on Ilkley Moor so can get quite breezy.

Had Bank Holiday Lunch here. Got a table, some had to wait. Table was somewhat clean. Staff were just rushed off their feet. Kitchen looked busy too, yeah, I know. The food was a good standard, the price was OK. Overall a good experience, not the best, but not the worst. Heads up: toilets are upstairs, not great for older customers. Edit April 2025: Again a busy time, but no napkins, no cutlery, service was sub zero. Perhaps think about your customer experience, not just how much profit you can make. Squeezing the last pound out can mean no one wants to come back. Captive audience and it shows.

Food was lovely service was good. Unfortunately, the dessert let the scar down a little bit as the lemon's heart was a bit too tart for my tastes, but overall an amazing place to have meal

I went with my family for Sunday lunch. It was so good. The food and service was excellent 👌.

We had a lovely lunch served by Kira who went above and beyond. Thank you! Very dog friendly and a great, varied menu.

Lovely tasty food, well presented and served with great service. Have visited many times and we're never disappointed.

The hotel and the rooms are gorgeous. Unfortunately, the food is not up to the usual standard we expect from Vintage Inns/Innkeeper's Collection. The staff could try harder with customer service. The hotel is ideally situated for travelling to all local tourist spots.

My son took me here for a Mothers Day treat. Lovely, friendly, bustling pub perfect to pop into after our walk over the moor. We chose Sunday roast which was excellent. No really I mean it was perfection. Every morsel was tasty, the meat not dry the veg not soft and there was ample on the plate. We chose a mini pud and coffee for after and again just right. All this was one price and very reasonable. We were served by Rachael who was funny, friendly and professional. She knew her job and clearly even on a very busy day was enjoying herself. Thank you! Wouldn't hesitate to re-visit.

This was a beautiful recommendation. Ideal for tranquility after the long busy business meeting

Best place ever. Kelly was great.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Mother’s Day at The Cow and Calf! The set menu was fantastic—starting with Tandoori Skewers and Creamy Mushrooms, followed by the delicious beef Sunday Roast. For dessert, we enjoyed Sticky Toffee Pudding, Lemon Torte, and another tasty treat! Rachael was incredibly attentive and friendly. We’ll definitely return for another special occasion!

This is in a lovely location, the views are amazing. Rooms lovely and clean with nice decor. Nice to sit out in the garden for evening drinks. Staff friendly and helpful. Breakfast was perfect. Definitely recommend a stay here with the room with a view.

Friendly staff, generous portions. Nice meal enjoyed by the whole family.

Great service, good food. Not too busy on our visit.

Food and view are absolutely lovely, but it is very expensive.

The Cow and Calf, Ilkley A charming heritage pub with stunning views over Ilkley Moor. The cosy atmosphere, friendly staff, and hearty food make it the perfect spot to unwind after a walk. A must-visit for anyone who loves traditional pubs with character. Belgian Fries, Ilkley Crispy, golden perfection! Belgian Fries serves up some of the best chips around, with a fantastic selection of toppings and sauces. Fresh, delicious, and a real treat – ideal for a quick bite while exploring Ilkley.

Great food great service Nick was excellent !!!

Nick was a great server! Had a lovely meal!

Food was fantastic, but the service from Nick really made our night. Thanks for the suggestions!!!

Delicious food and a friendly welcome

A lovely impromptu evening meal. Food was really good and great value for money. The staff were really friendly and helpful

Lovely Sunday roast dinner, bar staff friendly and helpful. Waitress Ellie was really friendly and the Vanilla Cheesecake is amazing 🤭

We went to the Cow and Calf today for lunch. While the kids' food was well received, my wife and I were both disappointed with ours. I had a halloumi and aubergine skewer with salad, which was £18.50... It was OK, just really plain. There was nothing special about any element of the dish - just plain grilled halloumi, peppers, aubergine, and onions. It was wildly overpriced for what it was and it's not like the chef had done anything other than shove it under the grill. So if you're not paying for the chef's dexterity, you simply place the value of the dish in the ingredients - which likely totalled a fiver. My wife had a beef sandwich which barely had anything in it. She asked the waiter if the chef could add some more filling in! It was served on standard brown bread and, overall, was underwhelming. Staff were nice and obliging, however. The pub is in a lovely setting, so we'd go back for a drink, but we wouldn't order food again.

Lovely cosy place in a great location. Nice food and good variety of drinks on offer. Only let down of our visit was that we booked a table in advance which we never ended up getting due to the previous diners being in no rush to leave yet the member of staff didn't have a clue how to handle it....either ask they move to a different table in the bar area as they'd finished dining or find us a different table?? Only after asking another couple times did they think to seat us in the dog friendly side that had plenty of spare tables and was perfectly fine anyway. We got the sense that we would have been waiting well over half an hour for the original table had we not been persistent in asking.

Lovely meal at the Cow and Calf - very friendly and excellent service from Mahi! Thank you.

Excellent service thanks to Ellie.

My friends and I have been out for lunch at The Cow and Calf, every 6 weeks or so for over 2 years now. We are usually served by Ellie. She is a delight. Extremely professional, quick, efficient, warm and smiling. We cannot fault her. Thankyou Ellie, for looking after us so well over the years.

Amazing service at the cow and calf. Rachael was very attentive and totally looked after the kids for us . Made it a very stress free dinner. Thank you.

Harry was extremely helpful. Be more Harry everyone. #bemoreharry

BRILLIANT ♥️ Stayed at the Cow & Calf with its stunning rooms & views. Excellent. Had the evening meal in the great restaurant and to suit the food. Great choice on the menu and the food that came out of the kitchen was outstanding. The staff were so Friendly and helpful. So a call out to all the folk who keep a great place. Elli. Oli. Nick. & Dan. Sorry if spelt wrong and missed anyone. You are all a credit to the company. Recommend to all..

Lovely place to eat and drink nice eating area outside plenty of parking

Great spot to refresh yourself after hiking !

Nice pub in a great location. Quite expensive

The food is good and the views are fabulous

Stayed here overnight. Room adequate but unloved. Service mechanical. Not really worth what we paid.

We finished our walk we came in for a meal even though it was a little expensive it was worth it the food and drinks are amazing and the seats are very comfortable I highly recommend

This is a terrific place to enjoy Ilkley Moor. Completely self contained with food, drinks and nice, recently renovated rooms. Once you get there, you’re all set for a weekend+ of walking and enjoying the stunning scenery. Good value too!

Lovely pub with good choice of f food and drinks

Great food and great service as always! Cater to dietary requirements very well and we had our 6 month old baby so we're placed close to baby change and given a high chair!

Perfect Sunday lunch in fab surroundings great views particularly from the toilet window food and staff were faultless

Three of us visited here to celebrate a friend's birthday. We decided to push the boat out and have a full three-course meal, which was very nice. I started with the garlic mushrooms, which were just right, and then went on to the beef rib bourguignon, which was again delicious, though a bit too salty for my taste. Our waitress was Mahi who was very smiley and friendly, and had impressively mastered the art of taking our orders without writing anything down. She was not overtly making any effort to remember anything and was not even distracted by a little discussion we had on which dessert I should try (I went for the crumble with custard in the end). And yet she successfully repeated our orders back to us each time. To cap it all, she arranged for the birthday boy's pudding to be decorated with a "Happy birthday" message inscribed in chocolate, which was presented to him amidst a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday, which other diners joined in with, suitably embarrassing him. Overall, a good time was had by all.

Anna was amazing really friendly and efficient. She made us feel welcome and valued. Nothing was too much trouble. A cheery smile always makes a difference

Beautiful place and amazing views. Service for food was very slow. Had to enquire where our food was after sitting waiting for 45 minutes. Food was nice though. Bit of a shock however when visiting the gents and the fact that people outside can see into the toilet as the glass is not frosted. Don't really fancy people seeing me pee.

I had the absolute pleasure of being served by Mahi at the Cow and Calf, and I can confidently say she made our experience outstanding. From the moment we arrived, she was warm, welcoming, and incredibly attentive, ensuring we had everything we needed without ever being intrusive. Mahi was exceptionally knowledgeable—not only about the menu, where she gave great recommendations, but also about the local area, sharing interesting insights that made our visit even more enjoyable. She was more than happy to accommodate special requests, including going above and beyond to get me a portion of custard on its own (even though it wasn’t typically offered that way), which was such a kind and thoughtful touch! Her professionalism, efficiency, and genuine friendliness made all the difference. She balanced everything perfectly—friendly and approachable while also highly competent and quick to respond. It’s rare to find service this good, and Mahi truly stood out. If you’re visiting the Cow and Calf, I can’t recommend Mahi enough—she’s a real asset to the team, and we’ll definitely be back!

We finished a walk and went in planning for a pub meal, ordered drinks which we had to return as the glass was filthy, bits of muck, markings and a hair (as pictured). Staff were awkward regarding this. No Apology. Went to order food, took around 10-15 minutes to be seen despite it mostly being quiet and there being several staff around. I Discussed some of the food options with a woman who I'm assuming is the TL or manager, but again felt very uncomfortable as she came across quite cold and as if she had better things to do - I understand wanting to protect your staff, but I didn't raise a fuss around the filthy glass, just politely asked for a fresh one but she seemed to take it personally. Then Directed towards the app which I queried if it had the lunch section on, which she confirmed it did, but it does not. You can only sit in the restaurant section if you reserve, despite it being absolutely empty. With how uncomfortable it ended up being, we just paid for our drinks and went to another pub for food elsewhere. Initially I thought it was just me, but my wife observed staff being very awkward and odd with other people. I don't know how else to describe it, but with how bad it was my only justification was that everyone was new? The surrounding area is beautiful and absolute lovely walk, but I'd certainly advise just driving into Ilkley for food. Edit: To the owner who responded - I'm happy to have a chat to rectify this, please provide a contact detail/a name and I will call the pub. Thank you.

Had a lovely meal went for all 3 courses was lovely. And our server Nick was amazing told me a all the right food to order and the experience was fantastic thanks you!

Nick was very welcoming and attentive, top marks!

Quite disappointing tbh. We drove over an hour as this place had been recommended by family however it was not worth it. When we arrived it wasn’t a warm welcome at all, we approached the bar and despite numerous staff members making eye contact with on nobody addressed us for quite some time. We ordered our food and about 15minutes had passed and we noticed that other couples who had ordered after us were receiving their food. A waitress did come over and admit that she had forgotten to put our food through, we did respect the honesty, but we weren’t offered anything to make up for it. The food did them come out 10mins later and was ok but nothing we would rush back for.

lovely food, great service by Mahi, good quality food

beautiful place very good food one of the best Sunday Roasts I have ever had

This is one of our favourite restaurants for date nights and family occasions. The most recent visit was a date night were we had starters and they were to die for!! My husband and I ended up having half of each as we were so jealous of the others order! On to the mains, and again they didn’t disappoint! My husband had the burger and I had the chicken skewers! Service was amazing as always! Always so caring and not over baring. Thank you so much! 100% recommend!

Great food and drink after a beautiful walk. Mahi was amazing and looked after us very well

Lovely food and great prices. Mahi was lovely and made sure we had what we needed

Lovely food Great service Mahi was our lovely server :) very friendly and accommodating

Absolutely delighted once again, food good service from Mahi was absolutely outstanding! Friendly and very helpful A+++

Family of 7 for Sunday lunch, food great, service great. Very enjoyable Family meal.

Lovely food, great service and nice atmosphere, just a bit loud for me personally because I’m very sensitive to noise. But there were plenty of family groups present who all appeared to be having as good an experience as we were.

Lovely meal in a lovely setting, nick was great, letting us pick a spot by the fire & being super attentive. Highly recommend for a Sunday roast!

Lovely place, perfectly cosy on a chilly winter day! Open fires and good breakfast food, we were served by Nick who was an absolute star! 10/10, highly recommend

Lovely breakfast and atmosphere. Food was hot and tasty! Great service from Nick!

Lovely pub. Friendly staff, excellent range of beers and great food. Perfect watering hole after a walk with your dog!

Great brunch, lovely place. We were looked after by Nick, brilliant service. We will be back.

Nick was our server, and serve he did. The house down boots 😀 keep it up nick. Food good Atmosphere good Nick? The best. Purr

Lovely pub in the countryside. Nick was a lovely server

Cosy vibes, really good meal, very much enjoyed !

Great Saturday lunch served by Nick - lovely cosy spot by the fire and buzzing atmosphere. Nick was very friendly and efficient 😊

Great atmosphere, with open fire places. Friendly welcoming staff who are always happy to help. 3rd time staying with definite plans to come again

Beautiful setting, even on a dreary day in February. We were given a choice of tables which was nice and the food we ordered was all delicious. All three of us had something different and we were all very happy. Our first visit...we all agreed that we would definately be back. Thanks for looking after us.

Excellent and relaxed pub on the edge of the moor. Warm welcome, great food and service

we came for my grandma's 80th birthday meal on Saturday 8th February staff was very friendly,very helpful ,quick service the food was amazing highly recommended

Super nice food. Mains and Deserts. Making was a lovely server

Menu looks lovely however not many vegan options at all- but the vegan aubergine gratin was tasty. Nice ice latte too, so gorgeous inside and the grounds are lovely. Wonderful cosy vibe and pleasant staff

Absolutely delightful visit as a family group. Such a warm and welcoming place with beautiful views all around. Child friendly with colouring pages, high chairs and changing facilities. The staff were all lovely and the service was great. The food itself was incredible, every one of us enjoyed every bite!

We went there on Saturday lunchtime after a hike in Ilkley Moors. It was busy but we managed to find a table. We only had dessert and a café. They allow dogs in the pub area. The service was prompt and polite. We also had a nice view. I do recommend and would visit this place again.

First visit here . Lovely food, lovely waitress Ellie and great atmosphere , will certainly be visiting again :-)

Booked the table online and received confirmation within minutes. Good menu with gf and vegetarian options. Good quality food, steak was cooked to perfection and reasonably priced. Service staff were very attentive without being 'over the top'. Asked for English mustard, they didn't have any but the waitress brought an alternative (wholegrain), inspired, much better than my original choice, thank you. Lovely ambience with plenty of comfy seating but space to move around. There's also outside seating. Incredible views. Reasonable parking.

Fantastic Sunday roast - we had the lamb and pork which were both perfectly done - compliments to the chef. We were served by Ellie who had amazing energy, thank you!

Great service from Nick and great food!! Thank you!

I brought my elderly aunt for her birthday. She is very fussy with her food, and the server was patient with her and gave her what was asked for. The food was delicious and the next time I'm in the area I will go again.

Great place to visit either by pre booking or casual visits for a great range of beer, wine, and spirits. It also has a comprehensive but not over-zealous menu at value for money prices to suit all tastes. The staff are welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. The ambience is comfortable and warming.

Traditional pub, above average food, really delicious, including the puddings!

Pork belly was delicious, as was the pie of the day (we had steak & venison). Service fantastic (Mahi was really attentive). Highly recommend!

Exquisite food and dining experience. Our server ‘Mahi’ was extremely kind and helpful. Would visit again for sure.

Fantastic meal. The food and drink was lovely. The waitress, mahenoor, made the experience. Thank you !!

Really good duck pizza, recommended by Mahi who treated us very well

Had a terrific meal, the staff were superb and the food was incredibly good!

Great value, amazing service lovely location even on a winter day

Kira provided an excellent service. Thank you. We had a fantastic meal.

I visited with family, as I have on many occasions. The food was excellent and the waitress was polite and efficient. The only thing stopping me from giving 5 stars is the fact that when I came to pay, I was presented with a card machine that had tip options first, and I had to go through multiple options to put no tip. All whilst the waitress was stood watching. I did tip, I just prefer to do so in cash. This is a practice that's come over from America to try and make people tip more, and only serves to put me off tipping, or visiting at all. Don't try and force me to tip, the food and service is good enough to not need to.

Always enjoy an after walk stop here. Very dog friendly, great atmosphere, a nice place to warm up with a drink. Food has always been very good.

Looked after very well by Ellie on Saturday, thank you

Lovely place in a lovely spot. Food lovely and came out quickly despite the place being busy. Ellie served us, she was lovely. To summarise: Lovely.

Good food,friendly service and a good atmosphere. We will be returning soon

Mahi and the team were friendly and helpful catering for our party of ten. Enjoyed the food and would recommend the Cow and Calf.

Great pub/hotel. Staff were very friendly and food very tasty. Thanks to Mahi who looked after us.

Great atmosphere, great food, great people!

lovely atmosphere, mah-e-noor gave great service! will be back again

Very good food and service as usual not the first time I’ve been won’t be the last.