Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Chorley
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Chorley restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 13 restaurants in Chorley and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Chorley restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Chorley Restaurants
1. Il Mulino Roby Mill
restaurant in Upholland
60 Roby Mill - WN8
An AA rosette award winning Italian restaurant nestled in the heart of the Lancashire countryside. Il Mulino serves high-quality produce from Lancashire farms and Italy.All of our meat, dairy & vegetables are grown or reared within a 30 mile ...
2. Northcote
British, Modern restaurant in Langho
Northcote Rd - BB6
“Going from strength to strength under the stewardship of Lisa Goodwin-Allen” – this much-extended manor house in the Ribble Valley (just off the A59) built its renown under chef Nigel Haworth and his former-protégée Lisa’s “exceptional and innovative” cuisine maintains its reputation in fine style, thanks to the “really excellent layers of flavour and texture running through all her dishes”. Although its nowadays in the same group as that of The Stafford in London’s St James’s, long term MD Craig Bancroft remains at the helm and “the fact that he is so closely involved and so passionate about wine just shines through in the wine list (of course there are well-known vintages from France etc, but many other interesting options)”. The odd regular fears that “a corporate approach is taking over the uniqueness that is Northcote”, but most accounts applaud the “lovely” setting. A highpoint of the year here is the annual Obsession food festival, which runs annually for two weeks in January and February with a series of guest meals from famous chefs – it has established itself now as a key event in the UK’s annual foodie calendar.
3. Moor Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Aughton
Prescot Rd - L39
“There is nothing not to love about the experience – from the tour of the kitchen on the way to your table through the ballet of service to the final bites of deliciousness, all done with great charm and humour” – Mark Birchall’s converted manor house a short drive north of Liverpool has captured the imagination of the UK food scene since it first launched in 2014 and – “a candidate for a third Michelin star” – it still regularly tops media Top 100s of UK restaurants. At the heart of the offering is the “outstanding tasting dinner-time menu of 17 small but exceptional courses” for £225 per person, but the gorgeously refurbished medieval setting, cheese room, kitchen garden, and landscaped five acres with long drive and lake all add to its mystique. Just one issue presents itself – the jaw-dropping bills. For most reporters the verdict remains that it’s “worth every penny”, but its high cost means its top rating from our annual diners’ poll is becoming borderline. “It’s wonderful, and I know prices are rising everywhere, but it feels expensive now… even compared to The Ritz!”
4. Bukhara
Indian restaurant in Preston
154 Preston New Rd - PR5
2021 Review: This large, modern roadside outfit, just off the M6 near Preston, has established an enviable reputation for its “well cooked, authentic Indian food” over the last 15 years. “Pity it looks rather like a works canteen”. Important to note: it is alcohol free.
5. Italian Orchard
Italian restaurant in Broughton
96 Whittingham Lane - PR3
2023 Review: “Completely consistent… they still do the best ever Pizza Napoletana” – this huge Italian ‘Ristorante & Pizzeria’ just outside Preston was opened in 1985 and has grown over the years to house 300 guests in one sitting, of whom about a third are in a striking glazed extension, complete with al fresco terrace.
6. YU
Chinese restaurant in Copster Green
500 Longsight Rd - BB1
Victor Yu’s “exceptional” Ribble Valley landmark celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, serving delicious Cantonese meals with a real sense of occasion. “Love this place, service is brilliant and Victor is an absolute star”, say fans – “the tasting menu offers something for everyone; it’s expensive, but worth it”.
7. The Barn at Moor Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Aughton
Prescot Rd - L39
The more casual ‘second’ restaurant at Mark Birchall’s all-conquering project still offers a “sumptuous dining experience”, with the “incredible attention to detail” expected from such a venue. Some reporters even “like its chilled style more than its more prestigious neighbour. Service is genuinely more friendly, and there’s less genuflecting at the stuff on the plate – I’ve come to eat, not worship!”. As for the clientele, it’s “a bit less footballer WAGish” than next door – and there’s “an excellent value lunch menu, considering the elevated nature of the cooking”.
8. So-lo
British, Modern restaurant in Aughton
17 Town Green Lane - L39
“Superb food every time”, say early converts to high-flying chef Tim Allen (ex-Launceston Place, Wild Rabbit, Flitch of Bacon)’s first venture as chef-patron, a “former Seafood Pub Company outpost” that he opened in late 2021 down the road from superstar Moor Hall. “The cuisine is terrific with a few interesting surprises thrown in” – and “with just Tim Allen and one other in the open kitchen – a model of calmness – it’s all the more remarkable how good and refined the cooking is. There’s a very light touch and freshness to it all that’s just delightful”. “The pricing at Moor Hall (while never not worth it) has always put it into a rare treat category… the arrival of this place is approaching an epiphany of more affordable fine dining!”
9. Eagle & Child
British, Modern restaurant in Ramsbottom
3 Whalley Road - BL0
2022 Review: “Great food and also a sense that they are putting back into the community” inspires support for this pub-with-rooms on the village green. Run as a youth-focused social enterprise, supporting young people to access training and paid work experience, it has won a string of awards over its almost ten years in operation. In summer, its ‘Incredible Edible Beer Garden’ comes into its own: almost an acre in size and with lots of interest as well as outside seating.
10. The Glazebury
British, Modern restaurant in Glazebury
207 Warrington Road - WA3
2021 Review: South African-born chef Ernst van Zyl and partner Liz Kellett have taken over (and substantially refurbished) this Warrington pub, which opened at the end of 2018. This new place has 60 covers, five rooms and a huge beer garden. Scant survey feedback as yet, but based on his previous gaff – The Lord Clyde in Kerridge – there’s reason to hope for notably accomplished food in this village pub.
11. Breda Murphy Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Whalley
41 Station Rd - BB7
2023 Review: “Simplicity” combines with “top quality” at Carlow-born Breda Murphy’s deli-restaurant, a popular destination in the Ribble Valley since 2006 for her Anglo-Irish home-style cooking. “At first it feels overly conservative, but every dish is perfectly cooked, often with a small and interesting twist such as thick-cut lime and soy-cured salmon.”
12. Roasta Preston
Chinese restaurant in Preston
43 Plungington Road - PR1
“Went here after reading Jay Rayner’s Nov 2022 review. Superb!” – this no-frills café near the Central Lancashire University campus (from Hong Kong natives Fai Tsang and her husband, Wai) is “very much a café rather than a restaurant but you can (need to) book”, thanks to brilliant Cantonese cooking that’s worth rolling up your sleeves for. Top Menu Tip – “The roast duck and siu yuk are delicious with the crisp skin contrasting the tender meat. Soy chicken is very flavourful and the brisket tender, tasty and well spiced”.
13. Haighton Manor
British, Modern restaurant in Haighton Green
Haighton Green Lane - PR2
This crowd-pleasing pub once served as a hospital, but since its takeover and refurb’ by the Brunning & Price group some years back, it’s now a proper country gastroboozer (also with a handful of rooms); on the menu – high-quality British dishes abetted by some more exotic influences from around the world.
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