+44 1484 768290+ Add websiteImprove this listing
Hours
Sun
14:00 - 23:00
Mon
17:00 - 23:00
Tue
17:00 - 23:00
Wed
17:00 - 23:00
Thu
17:00 - 23:00
Fri
15:00 - 23:00
Sat
12:00 - 23:00
Food and ambience
Japanese, Fusion, Asian, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Does this restaurant offer free wifi?
Details
CUISINES
Japanese, Asian, Fusion
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
FEATURES
Seating, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Free Wifi, Table Service
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4.5
172 reviews
Excellent
146
Very good
10
Average
4
Poor
5
Terrible
7
Sally W
162 contributions
Jul 2020 • none
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.
Written 13 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex A
Holmfirth2 contributions
Jul 2020 • friends
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.
Written 4 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
alano298
Many thanks for taking the time to share your experience. We really appreciate it. And hope to see you again soon.
Written 6 July 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Chloe Sykes
Holmfirth10 contributions
Jul 2020 • couples
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.
Written 15 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BILL L
1 contribution
Dec 2022 • family
I took my daughter for her 21st to the Winking Stag.
The food, when it arrived, was great and thoroughly recommended. My issues are with the service (literally one hour between ordering and the first dish arriving) and with the lack of zoning between the restaurant part and the bar part. While I sat with my family I was surrounded by standing bar customers who constantly bumped into me and at one point virtually sat on our table. Only when I stood up and pointed out to these bar customers that they were intruding on an expensive family meal did they back off and give our family some room. Such a confrontation shouldn’t be necessary. The establishment needs to decide what it is, a bar or a restaurant. The current situation is not acceptable, nor would I recommend it, which is a shame considering the quality of the food.
Written 17 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HolmfirthHelen2014
Holmfirth84 contributions
Jun 2021 • family
We’ve visited this lovely place before for drinks but never for food. We shouldn’t have waited so long. For starters we asked for a selection of starters and had a mix of dumplings and skewers and peppered endamame beans .which were all delicious. For main courses the three fellas had chicken and chilli ramen, I had yakisoba (crispy noodles) with king prawns and my daughter had pork belly donburi (rice bowl). Every dish was excellent but the pork belly donburi was amazing. The bar produces fabulous cocktails and the wine is very good and very reasonably priced. Add to all this the friendly, welcoming and professional staff and I don’t think I could recommend this place highly enough.
Written 25 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alan O
Thanks so much for your feedback. We really appreciate you taking the time to let us know how the experience was. See you again soon !
Written 26 July 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
SundayChow
Holmfirth4 contributions
Oct 2021 • business
The Sunday Chow boys went out of their comfort zone and decided to try The Winking Stag for a taste of Japanese cuisine!
We walked in and instantly felt very relaxed, The Winking Stag has a it’s own quirky vibe, with the sounds of indie classics and very good interaction from the staff.
We started off by ordering drinks which has a wide range of beers, cocktails and soft drinks. The pint of Asahi was simply phenomenal and would definitely recommend to any larger lovers.
The food is up there with some of the best, we tried some of the starters, teppanyaki chicken skewers, sesame chicken wings, large gyoza platter. The range of starters was just right and offered everything we was looking for.
For mains we all had something different, from noodles in broth, vegetables and teppanyaki chicken to salmon yakisoba! All our meals were cooked to perfection with a great burst of flavour with spectacular presentation.
I’d highly recommend winking stag if you fancy something tasty and light, especially if you’ve had a heavy night the night before. it’s a perfect way to start your Sunday and hopefully starts a good sunday sesh depending on the mood of your group! Also it’s very well priced and worth every penny for the quality food on offer.
Sunday Chow rating 8.5/10
Written 10 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lucy H
Halifax26 contributions
May 2022 • couples
Arrived at The Winking Stag at 8pm and waited around 15 minutes for menus and a drinks order. After we ordered our food, we received our first plate at 9:40pm. We were given free edamame beans in between this, which was kind, but it hardly compensated as we were starving at this point. When the food did come it was absolutely delicious and we were extremely happy with our choices. We were also given a free round of drinks to apologise for the wait. Again, we would have rather received our food earlier and not sat waiting, incredibly hungry. We would definitely return, perhaps at a quieter time! 5* food with a 2* service.
Written 28 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ruth
York3 contributions
Sept 2023 • couples
Thought we were booking a restaurant from the website and trip advisor reviews. It was very loud and pub like on arrival. Asked to move to a different table and originally they said they were full then moved us to a slightly quieter area. Food took 1.5 hours to come out and then the order was incorrect, was average at best and overpriced. We were offered complementary drink and a replacement order which was a nice gesture. We won’t return.
Written 30 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom Wilmore
Thank you for visiting and taking the time to leave us this review and we're sorry your time with us wasn't to our usual hight standards. We're proud to be a bar and kitchen, not a restaurant, which means that there's often a busy and lively atmosphere. We do our best to make this clear to our potential guest but in this case we understand that your experience wasn't as good as you, or we, expected. We obviously got some things wrong and we can only apologise for that, if you'd like to discuss further please reach out to us at thewinkingstag@gmail.com
Written 1 October 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
James Kapherr
Honley177 contributions
Mar 2020 • couples
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.
Written 4 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
alano298
Wow, thanks ever so much for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Happy anniversary!
Written 5 March 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
BillieB_0298
Hebden Bridge7 contributions
May 2024 • friends
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.
Written 3 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom Wilmore
Thanks for taking the time to leave this review and we're sorry your visit didn't meet our usual high standards, something obviously went wrong on this day. We're proud to be a bar and kitchen and realise that this, coupled with a very small premises, can sometimes make for a busy and lively atmosphere, although we do appreciate this may not be to everyone's taste. If you'd like to discuss anything further please feel free to reach out at hello@thewinkingstag
Written 26 August 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Nadine S
Honley7 contributions
Feb 2023 • family
Gorgeous bday meal at the Winking Stag. Lovely food, venue and staff. Nothing was too much trouble for these guys. The menu was explained carefully and catered brilliantly for the carnivores, pescatarians and vegetarians in our party. The food was absolutely delicious (my own fav being the prawn gyoza and tofu yakisoba). Would highly recommend a visit to anyone
Written 27 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave this lovely review, we hope to see you again soon
Written 8 May 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jennifer R
Stansted Mountfitchet64 contributions
May 2021 • couples
Love this bar! We live in Essex but make a point of having drinks at the winking stag every time we visit holmfirth. Relaxed and fun atmosphere and staff that really care. Tonight the guy in charge, I guess the owner but not sure, recommend the pinot noir, I was reluctant and ordered the malbec but he brought me both so I could try it with no extra charge...it was very nice! Not tried the Japanese tapas style food but it smells great and the menu looks tasty and authentic. Good for cocktails and craft beers, but they do everything. Beware of the large wine....it's huge! We shall be back!
Written 31 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chloe Sykes
Holmfirth10 contributions
May 2023 • friends
We use this place for our D&D group on a Wednesday. Absolutely fantastic venue and they do whatever they can to make sure that we’re happy and catered for. Tom and Singh are happy to accommodate anything and make us feel welcome all the time. The food is always incredible and so full of flavour. We started as a small group but so many appreciate the place and their food as well as their amazing cocktails and mocktails (the strawberry one is a personal favourite). They even made one tailored for our D&D group, proving they go above and beyond. Haydn and Sarah as well as the other staff there are so kind hearted and always put 1000% into everything they do. We have slowly become regulars, we can’t get enough of the place!
Written 15 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jez O
Huddersfield19 contributions
Aug 2023 • family
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!
Written 20 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom Wilmore
Thanks for this lovely review, we hope to see you again soon!
Written 8 September 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
baileyhawke
Holmfirth358 contributions
Feb 2024 • friends
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.
Written 24 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tom Wilmore
Thank you for your visit and this lovely review, come again soon!
Written 27 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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