Norton Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Ex-Manchester House chef, Aiden Byrne’s attractive pub is cutely situated opposite said St Mary’s Church in one of the scenic commuter towns on the Cheshire/Greater Manchester borders. Steaks, burgers, pies and the likes of lobster and chips typify its quality gastrofare; and they also serve pizza and snacks from their garden ‘shack’.

This “French-style fine-dining experience” in Cheshire has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, serving “the kind of traditional Gallic fare you want to eat – frogs’ legs, coquilles St Jacques, onion soup, profiteroles”, all of it “meticulously presented”. Chef-patron Oliver Troalen trained in Paris and began his UK career at the French Embassy in London (ever the diplomat, he “didn’t bat an eyelid when a friend asked for her steak to be served ‘burnt’!”).

“The food is something to shout about” at this “great country pub” that has served the village for more than 250 years – “it’s all cosy, warm fires in the winter and a great sunshine patio to catch the sun on a summer’s evening”. (“We class it as our local, but it’s more about food than a local pub, although it’s great to sit at the bar and chat to the friendly staff”).

“Very lucky to have this fabulous restaurant in our neighbourhood” says a very local supporter of this well-regarded, small venue in Wavertree. A visiting Londoner agrees, finding “very well-executed and very reasonably-priced Modern European fare in a cosy neighbourhood setting”. Last word goes to the local: “It’s first class – I’ve been many times and never had a bad meal”.

“Fabulous food with unusual flavour combinations, lovely staff and great service” make this neighbourhood bistro from Chris Edwards & Owain Williams “well worth the trip to the student quarter of Liverpool”. “Seasonality is the key here” – but “don’t come here for a romantic dinner-for-two: it’s buzzing!”. Top Tip – “the amazing early-bird dinner menu”.

2022 Review: Liverpool’s first vegan chippy – a plant-based Chinese venture on Lark Lane – opened in November 2019 serving noodles, rice dishes, spring rolls, etc, alongside more traditional dishes like battered sausages and chip butties. For grab-and-go it’s going down a storm in The Pool!

“If only all local areas had one of these!” – this small, neighbourhood bistro in the slightly obscure backstreets of Hoole (an easily missed, gentrified suburb beyond Chester’s train station) rose to fame when it was founded in 2011 as the launchpad of social media celeb Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros group. Neither the group nor this small site generate as much attention as once they did, but all feedback remains positive for its professional, friendly style and very affordable, focused modern bistro dishes (your meal might run Miso-glazed belly bacon, followed by Confit duck leg, with warm ginger parkin to send you on your way).

2024 Review: “An excellent local restaurant with talent in the kitchen (Miarisuz Dobies) and professional front of house” (his wife); regulars are “never disappointed” by the French- and Central European-inflected food (including five- or seven-course tasting menus), with “every detail wonderful and made in-house”.

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”.

2024 Review: Feedback is more limited than we would like, but is enthusiastic over this grey-hued boutique hotel dining room, run from afar by game expert Mike Robinson. Chef Dan Regan oversees the preparation of a menu that majors in 40-60 day, dry-aged beef steaks from a selection of sirloin or ribeye cuts.

“A really lovely dining experience in every way” bags fulsome praise from all of the many who comment on Paul Askew’s fine destination restaurant, housed in a “beautiful building” (which was originally a ‘Home for Destitute Children’ built in 1888), set in the “culturally stimulating area of Liverpool” next to ‘The Phil’. “From tasting menus to prix-fixe menus there are beautiful dishes for everyone to try” and the “stylish and very tasty cuisine” sets an example of “understated excellence without appearing to strive too hard to bag Michelin stars”.

“A well-thought-out range of well priced, sometimes interestingly different dishes” has made this lively venue a worthy follow-up to Paddy Byrne’s ‘Everyman Bistro’ (from which he moved here in 2015) and is likewise “ideal for pre-concert or theatre dinner”. As of Autumn 2024, it’s ‘temporarily closed’ with the website suggesting a relaunch after a refurb – given this uncertainty regarding its future direction, we’ve left it un-rated for the time being.