Chester Restaurant Guide

“After a promising return, the food has dropped off quite dramatically”, according to a number of reports at this long-running culinary icon: a plush, if windowless chamber at the heart of a grand hotel, owned by the Duke of Westminster and next to the city’s emblematic Eastgate Clock. For many years under Simon Radley (here from 1998-2021), it was one of the then-few destinations in the North West to hold a Michelin star. More than one reporter this year opined that “having lost its star on Simon’s departure, it needs to improve considerably to justify the high prices”. One bright spark though – in the adjoining lounges there’s a “reliable afternoon tea: recommend the Gentleman’s version, which includes excellent fish sliders”.

“In the five-star hotel in the centre of town, right by the city walls”, this attractive brasserie sits right on the pavement of Chester’s pedestrianised main drag and a visit injects a good amount of glam mid-shopping spree. On the downside, service can sometimes be “lacking” and it’s not a price-competitive option…

“Recently moved [in August 2023] from a backstreet passage in Chester to a prestigious new location on Pepper Street and with considerably increased covers and ambience”: this “very smart” dining room is winning ever-greater esteem for its accomplished modern British cooking (it provided one Shropshire-based reporter with their best meal of the year) all served by “knowledgeable staff, which they have retained from the old venue”. There’s an à la carte menu of some ambition and for the full blow-out a tasting menu option with eight courses for £80 per person. Top Tip – at lunch there’s a cheaper set, with two courses for £30 per head. See also ‘Twenty Eight’.

The “great Spanish food” at Joe & Ben Wright’s Chester-based tapas operation has proved a winner over the past dozen years, replacing their popular bistro Joseph Benjamin and spawning offshoots in Altrincham and Salford, while in late 2024 they took over the former Greens site in West Didsbury. The no-reservations policy means “you risk waiting for ages – but at least they have a bar upstairs to wait in now!”.

Another characterful pub in the Brunning & Price chain (a red-brick former warehouse with plenty of reclaimed décor including a bar made of old mahogany doors) in an appealing canal-side location between the train station and city centre. It’s a “noisy” and sociable sort of spot and the food is of “good dependable quality”.

“Been several times and it is just the perfect neighbourhood bistro…” – no-one would seek the roots of a famous chain in Hoole (a gentrified but easily-missed inner suburb near Chester’s train station), but Gary Usher’s well-known Elite Bistros group has grown from these modest beginnings: a small backstreet operation founded in 2011. What is it that makes this “local brasserie style restaurant” a cut above? It’s the “consistently good food, wine and engaging and knowledgeable service”. “The ambience might depend on the clientele for that evening, as it’s fairly small – upstairs was very quiet on our visit, but that made it easy to have a conversation with our friends without competing noise”.

Launched next door to its sister restaurant – Chef’s Table on Pepper Street – this “interesting and welcoming” August 2023 arrival serves ‘British tapas from the field’, presided over by ex-Sticky Walnut head chef Jay Tanner, with much of the produce grown on the team’s pesticide-free farm, Field28. If anything, the spin-off is working even better than at the mothership, winning praise as “a really high-quality small-plates venue that’s as good as it gets” with “magnificent cooking from superb, creative menus” – from Sunday brunch through dinner – and “the friendliest service”. (Times critic Giles Coren made the pilgrimage and also declared himself a big fan in his April 2024 review: “Five of the sharing plates at this price could have fed two people easily with a great range of flavours. Astounding value. Just astounding”.)

“Great food, with all the elan of an Elite Bistros venue, but in a pub!” – Gary Usher’s crowd-funded boozer is “a pub AND restaurant, as opposed to a ‘gastropub’, and it does both jobs very well”. “Staff here are real stars and make everyone feel very welcome” and serve a “longer and more exciting menu than Kala and Sticky Walnut – amazing value for the creativity and quality of cooking”.