Lytham Restaurant Guide

This “buzzy and consistent” brasserie at a stylish modern hotel and wedding venue offers “excellent service and good food”, with an eclectic menu that stretches from “delicious steaks and fish ’n’ chips” to sushi and other Asian delights, then back to comforting domestic desserts including chocolate mousse and fruit crumble.

This “great French bistro” is a true family affair from the Vérité family, with owners Marc & Michaela nowadays joined by their two sons; “there is always a great choice of imaginative seasonal dishes, expertly cooked and well-presented”, and the “recently acquired adjacent premises” (Petite Verité, a bar/overspill area for the restaurant) is also a “welcome addition”.

“A beacon of hospitality and gastronomy in the desert of the Fylde” – “the Beaume family’s quirkily decorated riverside inn” is “a great example of what can be done in a pub with rooms to make it interesting” (and incorporates a deli, art gallery, farm shop, plus greenhouses for all-year dining). Amidst the selection of hearty yet enticing dishes, “there’s lots of good stuff”. Top Tips – “the French Onion Soup is still the best I’ve had, and oxtail suet pudding is always impressive. And if you can get one of the tables with a river view, you may get to see the striking sight of the river changing direction when the tide starts coming in. If you are very, very lucky, you may even see the tail end of the Wyre Bore”.

2021 Review: “A top option on the Fylde coast” – Paul Moss and Caroline Upton’s well-established and jazzily decorated bar/restaurant near Blackpool only attracted limited feedback last year, but still good all-round.

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.

“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!”

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”.

“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”.

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.