Handforth Restaurant Guide

“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.

2024 Review: “Absolutely superb” regional Indian street food is the MO of this well-performing joint, also with a sibling in Hale; “usually everything they do is very good to excellent” (be it biryanis, dumplings or cocktails) and while “prices have crept up” a tad of late, “no surprise there and it could be much worse”.

Opened in April 2025, this much-glazed 1980s landmark has, in its time, served as the HQ of the Co-operative Bank, and was converted following a £1.5million refurb into a new Indian restaurant with three banqueting suites accommodating 1,250 people plus a 400-seater restaurant. It opened too late for any survey feedback, but in his June 2025 review, The FT’s Jay Rayner was forced to rethink his prejudice against buffets (the menu format here, at £29.99 per person). “The aesthetic is classy cruise ship” and a buffet counter “so long you could run time trials down it” with 100 different dishes to a mainly British Asian crowd: the warming lights are not kind to poppadoms, but the fried items – chicken wings and samosas – turn over so fast they don’t have a chance to go soggy, while the “startling array of curries actually benefit from sitting on a gentle simmer”.

2024 Review: Opposite a twelfth-century church, this “really good” village outfit is “exactly what you’d want from a good-quality pub”: a “relaxed, friendly and chatty” spot turning out some “perfectly judged” food (not least fish ’n’ chips, though the desserts are also “technical and brilliantly flavoured”).

Good vibes surround Joshua Reed-Cooper & Mike Thomas’s funky newcomer – a casual small (30 seats and stools) shop-conversion in the still-gentrifying area, behind the shopping centre, with open kitchen backed by white tiles. ‘Stockport cool’ is akin to ‘Shoreditch cool’ in this case – it wines praise in early feedback for “very good, very interesting if not particularly small plates” and also for its “extensive and interesting wine list”. More reports please! Top Tip “sit opposite the prep area which is fascinating”.