Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Leek
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Leek restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 13 restaurants in Leek and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Leek restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Leek Restaurants
4.
The George
British, Modern restaurant in Alstonefield
2023 Review: “The days when this was a pub have long gone: it is an unashamedly ambitious restaurant which charges a full price for some very good cooking” – so say fans of this Peak District gastropub near the Dove Valley, who say “the chef knows what he is doing, and as long as you can afford it this is one of the best places to eat in the Peak District”. William Sitwell of The Telegraph paid it a visit in September 2022 and gave a similar but more nuanced view: the “cooking really is excellent and delicate with clever flavours” and “there is talent and charm by the bucket-load”, but he felt the dishes on the menu were presented and served in tiny portions, and he was encouraged to think of them as tapas. He declared, they “are the most un-tapassy things I’ve ever seen”.
5.
Pecks
British, Modern restaurant in Congleton
Newcastle Rd - CW12
2023 Review: “Theatrical presentation” is a longstanding feature of the Pear family’s stalwart fixture of four decades’ standing, whose ‘Dinner at 8’ package was an early adopter of the tasting menu format, with a 7-course menu delivered in a single sitting (you arrive at 7.30 pm). Fans say “Covid hasn't affected the consistent high quality of this unique dining venue. And to the famous ‘Dinner at 8’, can be added the growing popularity of their afternoon tea”: “a choice of gentleman’s or lady’s gives a useful mix of sweet and savoury, including the legendary homemade desserts. Ample portions (take-home boxes cheerfully provided), well served and a good range of teas''.
6.
La Popote
French restaurant in Marton
Church Farm, Manchester Road - SK11
This “very French” spot attracts a good volume of feedback suggesting it’s “worth seeking out” in rural Cheshire for the “inspired cooking” of locally born chef-patron Joseph Rawlins, who trained under Gordon Ramsay and has worked in Paris. He took over this well-established venue five years ago with his French partner, Gaëlle Radigon, who leads a “professional and engaging” front-of-house team.
7.
Kandy
Sri Lankan restaurant in Macclesfield
116 Mill Street - SK11
2021 Review: “I can’t vouch for its authenticity as a Sri Lankan experience… but it’s a delight to eat!” – so say fans of this family-run three-year-old café. By its nature, a good choice for pescatarians, veggies and vegans.
8.
Simply Thai
Thai restaurant in Buxton
2-3 Cavendish Circus - SK17
2022 Review: “Excellent Thai food full of flavour” (including wallet-friendly set lunches) are the order of the day at this Peak District outfit decorated with traditional carvings and sculptures, and hosting twice-monthly jazz and cocktail nights.
9.
The Lime Tree
British, Modern restaurant in Bollington
18-20 High Street - SK10
2022 Review: Patrick Hannity's decade-old spin-off from his Manchester original is less well known than its progenitor but is “usually excellent”, too; the food is “light, balanced and filled with flavour”, incorporating produce from his Peak District farm.
10.
The Swan Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Kettleshulme
Macclesfield Rd - SK23
“The landlord is the chef and he knows how to cook fish, which he sources from the best suppliers”, say regulars at this unusual and “delightful” Peak District village pub which is “supported by the community” – having bought the freehold 20 years ago when the venue faced closure. “Good ales” completes the picture.
11.
Little Seeds
British, Modern restaurant in Stone
16 - 18 Radford Street - ST15
In a small town to the south of Stoke-on-Trent, Sophie Hardman & Jake Lowndes’s well-established restaurant is one of the best options for a meal in the area: “the food is so well-balanced and there’s fantastic attention from the front of house”.
12.
Picturedrome
International restaurant in Macclesfield
102-104 Chestergate - SK11
2022 Review: “The best thing to hit Macclesfield since the silk industry died” – “a sister to Altrincham Market (and Manchester's Mackie Mayor), conceived and run by Nick Johnson and his wife. This Edwardian building was the first cinema in town, fell to other unglamorous uses some 70 years ago, and has now been sympathetically restored to house excellent individual food stalls serving a range of high quality dishes: the freshest of fish, steaks, pasta, pizzas, mussels and more”.
13.
Lunar
British, Modern restaurant in Barlaston
Wedgwood Drive - ST12
Too little feedback this year for a full review on this intriguing eatery in The Potteries – part of the World of Wedgewood experience – whose high-profile founding chef, local Staffordshire lad Niall Keating, left after three years in May 2024. There is a full-on chef’s table blow-out, but most visitors opt for the relatively affordable posh-brasserie menu (which is the formula price given).
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