Weston, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“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”.

2021 Review: Just a short drive outside Chester, a smartly appointed “bar and bistro in an old family grocers shop retaining much of the original features and fittings of the Georgian building” (The Gunnery). “A straightforward menu is well realised” and weekend brunch is a feature.

“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”.

“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”.

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”.

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.

“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’.

2022 Review: USDA steaks and other meaty treats – alongside a Manhattan-esque vibe – have won local renown for this swish steakhouse in the city centre. Closed for much of the pandemic, in October 2021 the venue finally announced its return via Instagram and its website: “You may have noticed some building work taking place over the last couple of months…we are beyond excited and thrilled to finally announce that we will be back in the New Year… We have some exciting plans to transform our iconic home in the Olde Custom House Building… Our team of chefs and bartenders are already hard at work behind the scenes developing an exciting new food and drink menu… don’t worry, your old favourites will still feature!”.

This Georgian pub near the city’s picturesque racecourse, from the Brunning & Price stable, is popular for its “wonderful location and comforting decor”. Reports on the food are more muted, although “if you like fish ’n’ chips you’ll love it – they offer more combinations of batter/fish/sides than most places”. It was built by prominent Chester architect Thomas Harrison as his own home – hence the unusual name.

A leading link in the Elite Bistros chain, run by chef-patron (and tireless social media poster) Gary Usher, who dropped ‘fish’ from the name at the end of 2023 to highlight the wider-ranging nature of the menu. Fans say it’s “excellent all round”, and particularly “great- value at lunchtime” (plus early evenings) when there’s a two-course set for £17 per person, and a three-course set for £20 per person. Despite its change of name, there are “some lovely fish dishes” on the menu, but that’s just the start of it, with the “unctuous featherblade of beef” singled out for praise this year.

2021 Review: “Consistently good food at a competitive price” plus a “useful central location and a great choice of gins” means this modern brasserie from Merseyside’s Red & Blue Restaurants group is “worth a visit”.

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: 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.