Cabbage Hall

Bob Kisby is working his magic at this footballers' wives decorated roadside restaurant near Tarporley.

The menus are rather tweely named after various aspects of tailoring (cabbages in the Cabbage Hall context are not vegetables but something to do with the tailoring industry). But the important thing is what they contain: the Kisby classics are there, and as good as ever (lobster risotto, potage Yehudi Menuhin etc). At weekends, there's a grills menu which features some excellent meat (there's evident care in the sourcing of ingredients here), some with classic sauces and garnishes from the pages of Escoffier. But don't let that make you think there's anything fuddy duddy about the food here. This is bright, intelligent cooking that takes the best of the old and the best of the new, though thankfully this is a foam and spuma free zone with a pleasing lack of ponciness.

An interesting innovation is a series of platters for sharing either as a starter or a light lunch on their own. The fishy platter is like a tasting menu of most of the fish starters.

There's a good wine list, at not too grabby prices, to complement the food, and service has been pretty good on each of my visits (improving actually).

With apologies to Cheshire folk, it's just a shame it's not nearer to civilisation!
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Escoffier - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Thursday, September 10, 2009