Julian's Restaurant Hoylake, Wirral Apr 16 2004
THERE'S always a tingle of excitement when you go to a new restaurant for the first time; a sense of journeying into the unknown. more
Villa Jazz, Heswall Oct 31 2003
"SO, DOES it do live music, then?" It's not that he has lived a particularly sheltered life, but my eating partner has never knowingly booked a meal in a restaurant that trumpets its musical attractions. more
Gem Restaurant, Heswall Oct 3 2003
IT MAY sound like a hapless cliche to say we'd found a real gem of a place. But we have. more
The Marsh Cat Restaurant, Parkgate Sep 5 2003
THE test of a good meal when you've got a toddler as a dining companion is how much you have to clear off the floor at the end of the evening. more
Dino's Pizzeria, Chester Aug 29 2003
WHEN London's super-duper Savoy Grill closed some months back for modernisation, there was a great outcry from crusty old regulars who could not bear the thought of their favourite restaurant being vamped up. more
Foxcote Inn, Little Barrow Aug 1 2003
CLOUDS of different hues unpeeled across the slate grey sky like the layers of a celestial onion. more
Brimstage Bistro, Heswall Jun 6 2003
THE Brimstage Bistro is tucked away on a leafy road in a small row of shops near Heswall. Blink, and you'll miss it. But although it can't possibly attract much passing trade, on a Saturday night the place was full of diners. more
Sonargaon Balti House, Neston May 30 2003
THE ever-so-well-travelled American writer Bill Bryson said that restaurants that published pictures of food on their menus should be avoided. more
Crabwall Manor, Chester Apr 25 2003
THERE is a scene in the critically acclaimed film The Rules of Attraction where one of the dissolute, spoilt twenty-something characters turns to another and sighs: "We're a generation that can't feel any more." more
Churtons, Rossett Apr 17 2003
CHURTONS, in Rossett, must appeal to the Cheshire set. This wine bar, near Wrexham, is a little cross-border foray into Wales for the huntin', fishin', shootin' set. more
Villa Venezia, Tranmere Mar 3 2003
After dusk, barely an hour later, the moon had risen, and in a peculiar parallel to the previous scene it appeared the colour of burnt orange. A more studied examination led to the conclusion that the phosphorent lights of the city had created some kind of reflection or perhaps optical illusion. more
The Olive Grove, Heswall
THIS is the time of year when I start to think about holidays, dreaming of days lounging on a sun-drenched beach in the Med. more
The Twelfth Man, Greasby, Wirral
I WASN'T exactly bowled over by the Twelfth Man, an old cricketers' pub near Upton's ground. Maybe we had caught it on a bad night. more
The Black Dog, Chester
THE first time we ever set foot in The Black Dog in Waverton was something of a disappointment. more
Kings Gap Court Hotel, Hoylake
PERSONAL service. Two simple words that appear to have lost their meaning in some establishments these days. Whatever happened to courtesy and a smile? more
Telford's Warehouse, Tower Wharf, Chester
WE ALWAYS knew it would be different. "Have you got a ticket for tonight?" asked the bouncer as we arrived at Telford's Warehouse in Chester. more
Ruan Orchid, Chester
NOT so long ago, eating Oriental was less an adventure, more take-it-or-leave it Chinese. To most, exotic eating probably extended no further than opening a tin of macaroni cheese or carefully reconstituting a Vesta dried curry. more
The Cowshed Restaurant, Raby, Wirral
THERE were concerned, if not frightened, glances from fellow diners as I sprang up from my chair and started to flap my arms around like a distressed hen.
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