Etchinghill Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: A “smart hotel” with its own lake set in the Staffs countryside, where the “cosy restaurant serves good value food using local produce”. Tuesday night is grill night – on other evenings steaks and pub classics feature on the menu alongside somewhat fancier fare.

2023 Review: You’re “always guaranteed a superb meal” from “a favourite top chef” – Liam Dillon (who has worked for the likes of Marcus Wareing and Tom Sellers) – at the “great pub” he has converted into an ambitious restaurant, with 4- and 6-course tasting menus in the evening and a chef’s table option.

2022 Review: Over a decade on, this fine dining spot “sitting at the back of the Rose and Crown plum in the middle of nowhere” is “a revelation” to some reporters, “trying too hard” for others. The “regularly changing tasting menu” (the only option, coming with or without wine flights) is “getting even better, if anything”.

“Can’t beat it” – there are “lots of Indian restaurants to choose from” in these parts “but make sure you book this one”: Bangladesh-born chef Sitab Khan’s veteran destination (est. 1982), where “unusual dishes are all prepared to a great standard” and “your tastebuds will not be disappointed”.

“Smart, flawless cooking with personality” (“the skill in elevating the ingredients is something I hadn’t experienced in a long time”) means it’s “hard to get a reservation” at this 28-cover space, which Tom Shepherd opened above his father’s jewellery shop three years ago. “Casual and relaxed, but with a genuine buzz about the place” – all reports are full of enthusiasm (“having made our reservation about nine months in advance, we were eagerly anticipating our first visit here, and the whole experience was well worth the wait!”). “Throughout the various courses the food is of a consistently high standard: the canapés are outstanding and everything that follows offers wonderful flavour combinations as well as being beautifully presented”. “Service is warm and knowledgeable, from people who clearly love what they do”. “We’ve already booked our next visit, which unfortunately is not for another 12 months!”