The Winking Stag in Kirklees

Delicious Japanese food. Highly recommended if you like food full of flavour!

As I was halfway through my meal at The Winking Stag I was struck by the fact that after nearly a year of global travel (which involved a lot of eating), here I was eating some of the best food of the whole trip, in a small cocktail bar and restaurant, in a small Yorkshire town. The whole set up and ambience is on the edge of eclectic; a wide range of cocktails with weekly specials created by the staff, who themselves are a young and energetic crowd. There's good background music, well spaced tables and a really pleasant atmosphere. And the food. Oh the food! Japanese fusion, really well presented, layers of flavour, generous portions, served tapas style. I was very impressed, very happy to be there and couldn't quite believe that of all the places I'd been able to go this year, this place was so standout - and in my own home county! I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to go again soon. Well done to all at the Winking Stag. Finally, if you find yourself in Holmfirth, I can really recommend going.

We were warmly welcomed on our arrival by the ever helpful Caitlyn, and shown to our table. Menu's provided and cocktails (large and well made👍) ordered. Caitlyn then guided us through the menu with suggestions and then returned shortly after to take our order. Food was served at a nice pace and everything was extremely tasty and well presented. Would wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone (veggie, vegan, diatary restricted etc). Will definitely be returning. 👍👍👍

What a surprise to find a Japanese fusion restaurant in an old pub in Holmfirth, but how lucky are we to have it?! Great food, quick, friendly service and a lively atmosphere all contributing to a wonderful experience.

Lovely Japanese restaurant close to the heart of the village. Staff were great and the food was delicious.

Something special, truly a unique place with amazing staff. Found it a great for guests visiting and coming for a local drink too.

First time visiting the winking stag and we wish we had tried it sooner! Cocktails were lovely and food is delicious. Will be back in the future!

I really enjoyed the japanese tapas style mix of dishes. Chicken wings with korean bbq sauce, edamame beans with salt and nori, dumplings, squid and goats cheese wheel were all great options. This was a sober lunch so can't comment on the range of cocktails and gins available but If they're up to the same high standard as the decor/design of the venue, the food and the service then you'll be in for a treat

Wow absolutely delicious food, beautiful presentation, great music and lovely atmosphere. Thought it was a bit random at first, cocktail bar + Asian fusion + named like a country pub but wow does it work very well. Very impressed with this place, would heavily recommend checking out if you're in Holmfirth.

The food is excellent, but to nosey

Staff are lovely the food was brilliant, enjoyed the time spent there and will definitely return. Would highly recommend.

I have wanted to eat here for a long time, but tonights meal was very disappointing. Soggy bao buns, chicken was fatty and all the food was far too salty.

Had a meal with family for my birthday and it was just fabulous from start to finish. Sampled a couple of the cocktails prior to eating and they didn’t disappoint, but the food was something else! Absolutely delicious from the first mouthful to the last. Not a single negative from our party of 6 and we shall most certainly be back as the menu catered for all of our tastes: vegan/vegetarian and plenty of choice for meat/fish too. Staff are helpful and very friendly. As it’s only a small place you do need to pre book a table but easily done online.

Been coming here for months and it’s easily one of my favourites. Always good atmosphere with great service and amazing food!

Myself and 3 friends had a bottomless brunch here the food and service was exceptional and lots of dishes to choose from, will do it again and definitely recommend

Impeccable service, polite and welcoming and a really great vibe. Food was absolutely top tier delicious and enough per portion to enjoy multiple plates, 4 people and 1 child we had 2-3 plates each and multiple drinks each and spent £120 really good value

Been there a few times now. The food is on another level, the atmosphere is amazing and the staff are very helpful, I without doubt would a 100% recommend this place

Brilliant bottomless brunch for 12 hens this weekend! Food was delicious and catered to all our different dietary requirements. Staff were super helpful and friendly, atmosphere was great! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ thank you!

We went on a Sunday and rang ahead of time to check what time the kitchen closed, she said 20 mins so we arrived well within that. When we got there, we were told she had got in trouble for taking our booking and felt frankly quite unwelcome. Strangely also they were in no rush to take our order seeing as the kitchen was closing. It took about 45 mins for our order to be taken. (plus, the website says food is served until 8:30, we got there around 8). So not a great start. Then the food came, and it was just... Disappointing. Tasteless and bland, plus they sent my friend a bowl of plain unseasoned rice noodles with vegetables, it was supposed to have been a stir fried dish. When we asked about this it was apparently because she was gluten free, even though the dish was supposedly already gf with the rice noodles. Didn't understand that. Thankfully the waitress did fix this by bringing a combination of seasonings which made it considerably better, but this made us wonder why they couldn't have been cooked/sent that way, and it took a while to get a member of staff over. As a side, it is very noisy. Whilst you are warned about this when booking, it doesn't make for a very relaxing meal. Imo the place feels like it has a confused identity, it has a great menu but the atmosphere is more of a pub vibe with quite a rowdy crowd. We left feeling quite disappointed and let down. Service was slow and the only time our server was friendly was at the end when we were paying. We really wanted to like this place and had high hopes (especially for somewhere with a good menu for vegan/gluten free options, they're rare to come across). It has a lot of potential, but for us it did not meet up to that.

Excellent variety and quality of food on the menu. Brilliant cocktails on offer and service from the staff was excellent.

Incredibly slow service - no reason given for this. Table booked for 8pm, only just received all the food by 9.40pm. Restaurant wasn’t even full after 9pm, but seemed they couldn’t cope with 4 tables. Asked to take the dishes home after we waited so long. Drinks offered on the house, we were still charged one of them on the final bill & I didn’t realise until I was in the car as i wanted to pay and leave ASAP. Food was bang average, bland squid and sushi looks like it’s part of a Tesco meal deal, with a couple of sesame seeds sprinkled on it to liven it up. Wouldn’t recommend nor return after this experience!

This was my first bottomless brunch and it was great. Lovely selection of dishes which you can keep ordering throughout your 2 hour slot along with the drinks. House wines, Prosecco, ales and ciders on tap, spirits and a lovely selection of cocktails. I particularly recommend the strawberry daiquiri. Very friendly and happy waitress. Cannot fault the whole experience.

We ate here on 5 May 2024, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The salted edemame were delicious, the king prawn bao buns were amazing, and the ramen were yummy.

Fabulous time on a Bottomless brunch at The Winking Stag . The food was incredible as was the service and delicious cocktails.Well worth the money!!

Went here for Cocktails a few weeks ago, great place

Really, really delicious food. Ended up taking some home as we had ordered too much. The salmon I ordered had a lovely, big portion of salmon and was delicious, as were all the other dishes. The staff were super friendly and the waitress went above and beyond to be helpful. Margaritas were very good. Thank you for the great night out.

Fabulous time. Food and drinks are amazing . Waitress Service was great

Lovely quirky bar. Only had drinks but we were served by smiling staff. Prices are bar prices (which was to be expected) but it has a lovely atmosphere and your surroundings are nice so worth the money.

This place absolutely rocks. The food here which is Japanese fusion is amazing. The staff are great and they are dog friendly which is a bonus. If you’re looking for something a bit different where the chef is on top of their game, you must visit. You will not be disappointed.

Had put my name on the waitlist for a table and was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call when they had a cancellation. Excellent service throughout and a great table in the window set the scene. We ordered lots of the small tapas dishes and everything was great. Particular favourites were the gyoza, squid and wings, but nothing disappointed. We will definitely be back.

Came here with friends. There were six of us and we ordered around 4-5 tapas per couple. More than enough and very tasty. Took our kids (7-14 years old) a couple of weeks later and they also enjoyed it. Small place but dog friendly and close to the centre of Holmfirth so you can grab a few drinks after/before. They have a mixture of tapas and small plates.

When we arrived it was very noisy, it was difficult to have a conversation. Our table was situated by the main thoroughfare, and my chair was continually moved as people walked past.The reaction to our problem was handled in a very unprofessional manner with no customer service skills evident from the Manager. We were very shocked and disappointed.

Another great night at The Winking Stag. Amazing food, Japanese fusion - great to try something a bit different. And the cocktails are designed in-house. Don't get these anywhere else either. Great atmosphere and friendly service. This place just gets better and better!

A bit out of my comfort zone and didn't know what to expect. It was amazing the food was great the service was great will definitely return

Wonderful food, service and cocktails. An hidden gem.

Wonderful food and excellent cocktails :)

Fabulous Saturday night at one of my favourite bars. Delicious food, fresh and very tasty. Seasonal cocktails were outstanding. Massive thanks to all the staff, who were attentive and courteous. Bravo! Thoroughly recommend this bar and kitchen.

Stayed in Holmfirth for a couple of nights and decided to try here. Relaxed dining experience. Served by Hayden who was very helpful and informative. Had mixed Gyoza and bao buns to start. Both had noodles for main. Mine was with king prawns and had lots in and friends was with chicken again lots of meat. Both had Saki which was delicious. Overall a great night. Highly recommended.

Absolutely delicious food, so much better than wagamama, first time here and now certainly not the last. Had the chicken wings and pork belly donburi and have never tasted better.

Do yourself a favour and visit this little Holmfirth great food , drinks and ask Tom to make you a special cocktail . You will have a ball . Holmfirth is a town where you park in the centre and enjoy the walk to your favourite food venue . Make sure the winking stag is on that list . You can even go sit in the secret cavern below .

Friendly staff , delicious food and not over priced . Our second visit was just as good as the first . Definitely will return .

Myself and my date enjoyed a fabulous evening last night. Love the sofa seating. Service by Caitlin and another friendly colleague of hers. Top marks across the board. Thankyou so much. Highly recommended, see you soon

Cracking range of cocktails, excellent presentation and great staff. All together a friendly welcome. The Japanese fusion tapas is also superb, good selection even for non meat eaters.

One of Huddersfield’s “Little Gem’s” … absolutely amazing! We had a party there for a birthday - Tom was great to deal with beforehand and always answered emails promptly. Then on the night we were made to feel so welcome! The food is delicious… I mean, so good! It was a different eating experience, having food come at us constantly, we didn’t know what was coming next - but it was all divine! Staff were so friendly, absolutely faultless… thank you so much!

Great place..Ethan made us particularly welcome!

Nice food good service,The music that was playing was load and didn't give the dinning experience any ombionce.

Our favourite restaurant in Holmfirth

Lovely bar friendly staff. Had couple of drinks.

I went on the first day of their new menu, which could have been a risk. Despite this, their food was still excellent and the service and attention to detail, and overall customer service was outstanding. The generous portion of Tuna I ordered for main was cooked perfectly. I will be returning

Absolutely brilliant food and choice of cocktails. Brilliant atmosphere

Delicious food, welcoming atmosphere. Friendly staff. Highly recommend

Very slow service - we where seated at 7pm and our food did not arrive until 8:30pm. The food was very disappointing considering the previous reviews. Very salty and not much else. The staff spend more time socialising at the bar or stood outside having a cigarette then they did working. We will not be returning.

Very nice place with good music, friendly staff and very tasty food&good cocktails 😊

First experience at the Winking Stag. I loved it. Wonderful attentive, friendly staff, the decor was cozy and comfortable. Amazing Japanese fused food it was so delicious especially the cauliflower wings, really tasty cocktails and a wide selection of drinks . Will definitely be back and highly recommend

Chicken ramen was absolutely divine 😋 the service was top 👌 if you're in the area its definitely a local regular trip. If you're not local it's definitely one worth the travel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spent NYE here, great deal on the food & drinks special for 2 & 1/2 hours. Fab Japanese style food with cocktails, definitely come again. Doggie friendly too

AMAZING VEGAN MENU! This is definitely my favourite place to eat and drink in Holmfirth and Yorkshire. The vegetarian and vegan options are incredible and it’s so refreshing for vegans to have as much as a choice as non-vegans! The cocktails are phenomenal, there are loads of different beers and wines to try and all of the staff are so welcoming and happy! I have had some of the best drinking and eating experiences at The Winking Stag. I 100% recommend!

Lovely welcoming team, good range of vegan options and low alcohol beer on tap ✅✅. Thank you

Booked for an evening meal on Sunday. Not as busy as Saturday. Good soundtrack. Sang along a lot. Quietly of course! Delicious gyozas to start followed up by a belly pork ramen and a belly pork yakisoba. Tastier than Wagamamas! Friendly staff! Just been back for a second time. Just as delicious!

yakitori chicken was nice and over my expectation, using chicken thighs and tender plus juicy. But beef gyudon was bad, beef over cooked so hard to chewing, rice was cooked with too much water so even small bowl I left them. Draughty kirin ichiban was blasting fresh. So reviewed as average 3 stars. May re-visit and hope seeing this treasure pub getting greater.

Wonderful experience great tasty Japanese food. The staff were very friendly the drinks were plentiful.

Oh my gosh this is the best meal I have ever had, fresh, tasty and wonderful service from the team!

Fabulous food! Amazing cocktails brilliant service thanks

Super friendly bar, great atmosphere. We had already eaten so didn't have food but it looked fabulous.

What a brilliant place! Great Japanese food; a chilled-out bar vibe. The staff were brilliant (not least Sarah and another lady whose name we didn't get) and dog friendly to top it all!

Fab atmosphere and food to die for!!!

Absolutely class, great drinks and service - top pub.

Great service and very interesting noodle style dishes. Looked very nice, but didn't have any food. Andy was very friendly behind the bar and makes a tasty Long Island iced tea! Nice location and well worth a visit. Highly recommended!

Sam and the team. Great noodles and cocktails 🍸

Superb! Japanese food is sensational , great choice of beers and cocktails ,and brilliant service as well. If you’re in Holmfirth this is a must !

Beautiful place, relaxing atmosphere, great staff

Cool hipster style place, great drinks lovely staff!

Lovely fresh healthy food nice atmosphere, shame dogs are allowed inside as I'm highly allergic to them

Sam is a fantastic barman, he always provides a warm welcome and will happily recommend and Taylor a drink to your needs, well worth a visit!

Best cocktails in Holmfirth, well worth a visit

Great little place. Strong cocktail menu, good sizes and not badly priced. The food is the best bit though. The gyoza and ramen being really great. Very fresh tasting.

Good food. Staff pleasant and easygoing. Environment a bit noisy, but otherwise good. Duck bao buns definitely a highlight.

Excellent food, cocktails service and atmosphere. Loved it :-)

Only had one visit to this pub as not open early in the week, good drinks and cocktails, seemed a bit of a "lads" pub to us, but if you want fun and a good laugh then pay a visit.

Great menu, delicious food, friendly service, can't wait to go again.

Amazing cocktails. Great bar, quirky and unique.

Good service a relaxed atmosphere

We made a last minute booking today for drinks tonight. We were greeted by friendly staff and our order was taken straight away. Ed was lovely and chatty. Checked we liked all our drinks! Will deffo come back!

Always fabulous, food amazing and service great!

Popped in for the brunch menu with wife and son and the food was excellent.We've eaten here before in the evening and again the food was great. The guys were also very helpful with recommendations and being attentive and friendly. Always nice to visit and hope business keeps going during the crazy covid stuff.COVID wise, plenty of space and appropriate measures without losing the nice cozy styling

Very good food and drink - excellent service! The chicken wings were incredible! Highly recommend! All measures in place - felt very comfortable!

First time to the winking stag and won't be out last. Lovely food and fantastic service. My teenage boys were especially impressed with the mocktails!

Most disappointing as we were looking forward to a different meal than the hotel offered. Why do people not keep their website up to date -most important for visitors- that is why use website???????Holmfirth does not have many places to eat an evening meal if it is not a burger or fish and chips!!!

This is by far one of the best places to eat and drink in Holmfirth! If you want something a bit different food wise, or love a proper cocktail then this is absolutely the place to go!

We visited here to sample some of the cocktails as I had found this place online and looked perfect.The cocktails definitely didn't disappoint! We had the Espresso Martini (traditional, but a favourite of mine!) and the rum based Black Pearl Cocktail.. I have to say this was one of the best cocktails I have ever seen! A bit of fire and little surprise hidden at the bottom. Not for the faint hearted though as this contains 3 different rums, one of which was Tiki Fire over proof rum!!Would def recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Amazing food, friendly and helpful staff made excellent recommendations. Would definitely recommend that you try this place.

Amazing food! Amazing cocktails! Atmosphere is spot on and the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, will do everything to make sure you have a great experience! Definitely a 'must visit' in Holmfirth!

This is me and my fiancé’s favourite place. The food is absolutely delicious and completely full of flavour. The staff are so lovely and attentive and always make sure they engage with their customers. We were made to feel so welcome and almost like we’ve been old friends for a long time. The drinks are beautiful and well worth the money. We have been since COVID-19 and they follow social distancing and cleanliness very well. We were made to feel very safe and 100% recommend this wonderful place.

What a great place. First off they are being really careful about Covid precautions. You need to book and the tables are well spaced in clearly taped off areas. Food is being served in disposable containers and the staff are masked. There is a hand gel station at the door. Secondly they have really friendly and efficient staff. Thirdly the food is great. It is Asian/Japanese in style and we had big bowls of delicious ramen noodles in tasty broth with fab fresh vegetables. They serve wonderful cocktails and craft beer. Prices are reasonable and there is a pleasant cosy atmosphere. Highly recommend this place.

I can't begin to express the joyous experiences I've had pre covid. But attending on 4/07/20 this establishment take very seriously your & every other patrons health and well-being very seriously there are rules in place to protect everyone the staff are top of the drawer and learning as we come out of these unpressident times the best ways to accommodate people from here there and everywhere. The food here is like no other and the service is second to none so if you fancy dining of it famed Japanese food then please take the time to support an ever-growing bar/ restaurant an I asure you will not be disappointed.

Always a lovely time to be had here. Alan and Jo, along with all the staff are really nice and the food is really good too.

Went Saturday night and had the sofa area as allocated table. Waiter was lovely in protecting the table and checking we were ok (we were a late booking). We had six tapas courses for the two of us and felt sufficiently full. Lovely food and presented so nicely. Great service and followed by lovely cocktails. My second visit and will definitely be back

My wife and I booked a table for 7:30pm for our 15th Wedding Anniversary as we've walked past The Winking Stag many times and heard great things.On arrival, they cleared a table for us and made us feel welcomed. As it was our 15th, they gave us a glass of prosecco each as a congratulations, which was a really nice touch.For our starter, I went for the chicken skewers and my wife had the vegetable pancakes. Both were really nice. Main course, I had the seasoned rice with beef and my wife had the same, but salmon. Both were so flavoursome and the quantity was very good.Service was great too. We had a fantastic time here for our 15th and would come back again.

This is the best place for a relaxed drink in Holmfirth in my humble opinion. Great drinks. Great food. Cool cellar for a more private feel. Always dogs in here ( in a good way)

Our daughter is a vegan and was keen try here and I'm glad we did!Plenty of choice for her and also for us, I love fish and you could choose either fish or meat versions of some dishes so as family we were well covered! Portion size was good and we left very content.We are planning on going back in the near future.