Northwich Restaurant Guide

Olivier Troalen’s Gallic staple on the Cheshire outskirts “continues to be a top, most reliable choice for a high-quality dinner, year after year” (indeed some reporters have spent “over 20 years eating there”). “Chef is the owner with wife managing front of house”. “The menu is very French and very extensive”: no worse for being a little old-school, and a “treat when you fancy a return to the 1970s/1980s (it’s a kind of Oslo Court of the north)” with “a lovely northern Gemütlichkeit” to the place. Top Menu Tip – “do leave room for the Gâteau Paris-Lymm – an exemplary large choux bun, filled with a praline crème pat with hazelnuts, berries and salted caramel”.

Named in homage to a rocky outcrop that has long been a settlement for Buddhist monks, Don Buddhika’s black-fronted restaurant is “still going strong with its Sri Lankan speciality dishes” – small plates, curries, grills and more, with dedicated vegan and gluten-free menus. Besides this venture in the swanky Manchester ‘burbs, as of late 2023 they’ve also opened a second outpost a short drive away in the market town of Knutsford.

This “bustling” Victorian covered market offering a “good variety of high-quality food” “has been a focal point for revitalising the Altrincham economy”, with “Nick Johnson, the owner, always around to keep an eye on the operation, ensuring the stallholders maintain a very high standard”.

This “atmospheric old pub” in rural Cheshire from the Chester-based Brunning and Price group is a “great” place to drop by for “nice food from a menu with a wide choice”. It’s a handsome red-brick building with plenty of exposed beams, and an attractive canopied garden.

This “very French” spot attracts a good volume of feedback suggesting it’s “worth seeking out” in rural Cheshire for the “inspired cooking” of locally born chef-patron Joseph Rawlins, who trained under Gordon Ramsay and has worked in Paris. He took over this well-established venue five years ago with his French partner, Gaëlle Radigon, who leads a “professional and engaging” front-of-house team.

Now landed in Knutsford town centre since 2022, this wine-bar restaurant originated in North London before relocating initially to the village of Audlem, thence here. Chef Chris cooks with sustainable and sometimes foraged ingredients while his partner, Laura, serves wines from small independent producers. Too limited freedback for a full rating, but one local fan says it’s “a small, friendly restaurant serving excellent food”.

A sweetly named, capacious and “consistently good village pub with bedrooms” that dates back to the 19th-century and is handy if you’re scooting along the M6 in need of a fix. In addition to a “welcoming interior” (courtesy of a hefty £2.5 million renovation back in 2009), there’s a “wide-ranging menu” of pub classics with a “few imaginative edges” plus real ales from local microbreweries.

Fka Sugo, then Sud, this fresh pasta operation is back where it started 10 years ago with a single site in Altrincham – the name change to Rigatoni’s and January 2024 relaunch having failed to save branches in Sale, Ancoats and central Manchestet’s Exhibition food hall. “The pasta remains the best you will eat despite the puzzling name change and revamp”, say fans – “it’s a shame some of Sugo’s old favourites couldn’t make the trip, but a promising new start!”.

“Very much a place to see and be seen” in Cheshire’s Golden Triangle – “great for celeb-watching and the waiters are proud of that” – this two-year-old from the national Italian stable is the result of a reputed £3m makeover, complete with palm trees and a terrace with a retractable roof. Investment has continued, with the addition of the 60-cover ‘Il Giardino’ for al-fresco dining last summer. Marcello Distefano, who now runs the group founded by his father Carlo, grew up in the area and knows the site well from its days as Brasingamens nightclub, a celebrated hangout for WAGs in the ’90s and ’00s.

This “awesome local” in Sale is a “lovely little romantic place run by a husband-and-wife team” – Manchester-born chef Jacinda (Jazz) cooks “stunning and reasonably priced classical Italian/French” dishes which Italian sommelier Andrea matches with “really interesting wines”. “Just put yourself in the hands of the sommelier: you won’t regret it” – “Andrea is always generous with the wine”.