Wargrave Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: South African-born chef Ernst van Zyl and partner Liz Kellett have taken over (and substantially refurbished) this Warrington pub, which opened at the end of 2018. This new place has 60 covers, five rooms and a huge beer garden. Scant survey feedback as yet, but based on his previous gaff – The Lord Clyde in Kerridge – there’s reason to hope for notably accomplished food in this village pub.

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”.

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’.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

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”.

“Forget flying to southern Italy – go to Sud for wonderful pasta and other Italian dishes”, say fans of the “fresh, vibrant, authentic food” served at this “fun” Altrincham outfit with “slick and friendly service” – the original of a group now with outposts in Ancoats, Sale and Manchester city centre, and which changed its name from Sugo to avoid a clash with a Glasgow operation of that name. “Lots of eye-rolling, and funny noises came out of my mouth, and my wife and I literally didn’t speak for 15 minutes during the main course – I’ll never eat pasta with a knife and fork again!”.

“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”.

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.

“Local restaurant which has been there for years and always produces high-quality fare with excellent service”, from the “consistently awesome Locke brothers”, Matt & Adam. “There’s a wide choice of dishes – nothing too ostentatious, just good cooking”, “well-executed and reasonably priced” in a “modern European” idiom. It’s popular, so “booking is necessary”.

“Everything about Moor Hall is exceptional: the warmth of the welcome, the quality of the food, the care of the service and the calm dining room” (and that also goes for the prices!) at Mark Birchall’s trailblazing venue, a short drive north of Liverpool. “Set in a Grade II 13th-century manor house, there’s a sense of occasion on arrival and they make use of the cosy lounge as a bar and snack area, with the main restaurant in a light-filled, glazed modern extension with exposed rafters (and even a built-in cheese room where you can choose a platter as an additional course)”. “Like the best-oiled of well-oiled machines, everything passes over you in a show of excellence that’s so well-rehearsed and so well done, it’s almost imperceptible that this isn’t all just an interactive theatrical experience just for you” – with the main event being an eight-course tasting menu at £235 per person: “extraordinarily good food, as is the service, which can also be extremely friendly”. “The downside… the downside is the cost. I wouldn’t – couldn‘t – question the value, but the cost, even with the high prices of eating out” is a sticking point for an increasing proportion of diners, leading to an increasingly disgruntled minority who say “nothing blew me away at a place with such excellent reviews, and I was very surprised”. That’s still a minority feeling though. A more common reaction? – “It’s expensive but, that said, the last time I drove away, several hundred pounds poorer, I felt it was all so perfect that I should start robbing banks, or getting government PPE contracts or something, so that I can go more frequently!”

“This is called Moor Hall’s neighbourhood restaurant and that’s how it feels” – Mark Birchall’s descriptively named operation, complete with brick walls and pitched timber-frame roof, is the more informal option at this famous destination and the Michelin star it holds carries perhaps a hint of distraction in that the dishes – while not exactly ‘everyday’ – are in a much less eye- catching vein than in the main building. “Great food is prepared and served by pleasant and efficient staff and the finishing kitchen/pass is in view of the restaurant – it’s a pleasure to see the calm dedication of the team preparing the food”.

“At a mere (…cough) £100 for 6 courses, the more wallet-friendly Michelin-starred alternative in Aughton, Solo offers less of an amazing experience, but still a bloody good one” compared with Moor Hall down the road. Chef-patron Tim Allen has a strong CV and opened here in late 2021 in his first ‘so-lo’ venture. “He’s a very accomplished chef – you always get exceptional cooking – and very nice with it” which, via the open kitchen, helps infuse the relatively simple interior with good vibes. Top Menu Tip – “Halibut is far from my favourite fish, but here it’s a shining example of how good it can be when handled by a top chef. Served with a wild garlic crumb, pickled shimeji and a vin jaune foam. A nicely cooked slice of duck breast came with preserved blackberries, a quenelle of pureed, caramelised cauliflower, and an excellent little roulade of hispi cabbage studded with morteau sausage. Great desserts: a blood orange granita, on top of a vanilla panna cotta, with shards of saffron meringue and rather otiose (but excellent) milk ice cream. Then a sort of apple financier-ish cake, topped with a remarkable aerated honey cream/mousse that rounded things off beautifully”.

“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!

“Pizza with an inventive streak” – plus all the standards “for those who are less adventurous” – is the offer at this surviving branch of an independent Manchester group founded in 2000. The flagship in the city centre and the Didsbury branch have closed down in recent times, to the dismay of their many fans, leaving just Chorlton and Prestwick standing.

“You really do feel like you’re in Spain” at this “lovely little tapas bar”, a fixture on a Chorlton back street since 2010. “The first time I visited, I wasn’t convinced, the second time I totally was! Can’t wait to go back”.