Whitby, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“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).

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.

“An ex Michelin Star dining room with its eye on repeating the award for the new chef” – this “very traditional” dining room deep within the Duke of Westminster’s old dowager hotel next to the city’s ancient medieval walls (built in 1865) has a serene (its windowless) and “romantic” aura that’s either timeless or old-fashioned, depending on your tastes. “Service is personal, slightly relaxed in a good way, but still has some formality”. And when it comes to the food, chef Elliot Hill (who replaced Simon Radley in 2022, who had been in post over 20 years) seems to be hitting his stride better now, with many positive reports here this year. There’s either a five-course menu for £90 per person, or longer tasting menu for £115 per person. The wine list here is heavyweight too, although “with limited cheaper options reflecting the nature of the restaurant”. Top Tips – there’s a three course ‘choice’ menu for £75 per person (excludes Saturdays). Top Menu Tip – “The venison dish is a particular highlight with ‘hedgerow’ components (my partner who doesn’t usually eat venison absolutely loved it!)”

Next to Chester’s iconic Eastgate clock and at the front of the city’s poshest hotel (owned, like much of the city, by the Duke of Westminster), this posh pavement brasserie “has the hustle and bustle of a busy, big city destination” and even fans may concede that “the real reason to visit is the ambience (especially at Christmas time)”. It’s sometimes recommended in reports for a grand afternoon tea. On the downside, its brasserie fare can seem “overpriced” and service can take its time.

A “light and bright room with an intimate feel” is the backdrop to this “great version of a steakhouse”, where February 2025 visitor, The Daily Mail’s Tom Parker Bowles, found some “eminently respectable” cooking, not least the bone-in sirloin with “depth and heft and grunt”. The “interesting, eclectic collection of steaks” ranges from British and Irish beef to guest favourites dry-aged in their fancy maturation chamber, with “confident staff explaining each cut and course”, and also ferrying over “on-point” sauces, plus “plenty of sides to get stuck into” alongside the protein.

With “outside dining in a great location overlooking the racecourse”, this “elegant Georgian building” by the city walls also benefits from a “cosy pub atmosphere inside”. There’s a “varied menu, ranging from fish ’n’ chips, beef bourguignon and burgers to more interesting fare like gnocchi or veggie Malaysian curry”, and the “staff are pleasant and efficient”, in typical Brunning & Price style.

“A lovely find in Chester” – in 2025 Liam McKay celebrated his 10th year as chef-patron of this well-liked destination, which moved in 2023 to a more prominent new address, at the side of the Grosvenor Shopping Centre (next to its sibling ‘Twenty Eight’, see also). There is an à la carte menu, but it’s known for its longer six-course tasting menu at £75 per person. “The set price selection of small plates is superb value”; (“we saw some diners finish the set meal then repeat their order!”). “Many ingredients are grown at the restaurant’s own smallholding”.

“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”.

“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.

“Relaxed, always consistent, and with the best Sunday lunch in Liverpool” – that’s the most upbeat report this year on The Pool’s outpost of Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros chain, which aims to perfect a selection of straightforward bistro dishes from an à la carte menu offering two courses for £48 per person and three for £55 per person. It also took flak this year, though, for some “flavourless” offerings (“such a shame as we have thoroughly enjoyed previous trips”). Hopefully a blip?

2024 Review: Native Liverpudlian Andrew Sheridan upped sticks from Brum to relocate ‘8’ to a Victorian building in the city centre (next to the original Cavern Club) in April 2023. Seating is at one of two counters for, appropriately, eight diners; the lighting is low; much of the décor is black or slate-grey; and the level of ambition in the cooking is high, with the aim of delivering ‘an immersive sensory experience’. The eight courses (for £110 per head) are of very diverse inspiration and there’s also a wine pairing option (for £80 per head).

The now-national Brunning & Price chain made relaunching this very fine pub – owned by the Duke of Westminster and right by the gates to his Cheshire estate, Eaton Hall – their second project and very successful it has turned out. It remains a highly popular destination, aided by its fine interior and lovely garden with “lots of outdoor seating”. “The menu is reliable and varied, with something to suit all tastes and appetites. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and eager to please”.

“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”).

Just outside of Wrexham, a lovely link in the Brunning & Price empire, who took over this large and picturesque neglected pile (then decked out as a sports pub) in 1994 and transformed it into a “very comfortable” venue, as per their style. The undemanding but enjoyable food, which ranges from burgers to fish ‘n’ chips and chicken ramen, is “solid”, staff are “friendly” and there’s “a great big garden for the kids to muck around in during the summer”; it can, however, “get very busy” – a testament to its charms.