Styal, Italian Restaurant Guide

“Forget flying to southern Italy – go to Sud for wonderful pasta and other Italian dishes”, say fans of the “fresh, vibrant, authentic food” served at this “fun” Altrincham outfit with “slick and friendly service” – the original of a group now with outposts in Ancoats, Sale and Manchester city centre, and which changed its name from Sugo to avoid a clash with a Glasgow operation of that name. “Lots of eye-rolling, and funny noises came out of my mouth, and my wife and I literally didn’t speak for 15 minutes during the main course – I’ll never eat pasta with a knife and fork again!”.

The WAGs of Cheshire’s Golden Triangle may at last have a restaurant HQ worthy of them as the San Carlo group has come into town, with a view to importing the success of their long-standing Manchester city-centre venue to these plush, Bentley-filled ’burbs. On the site of Gino D’Acampo’s Luciano’s (RIP), its classic Italian cooking is served in a suitably splashy setting, where the dining terrace (complete with retractable roof) is centre stage, complete with open-flame fireplace and palm trees.