Juniper Restaurant

I took my wife for her birthdya present. The half dead daffodils on the table set a pretty bad start. The amuse bouche came in a plastic pot!

My wife had chicken breast and liver as a starter. Not hot and very ordinary. My tomato and caviar truffle wasnt bad. I had lamb as a main. Came in a deep bowl so was very difficult to see waht you were eating. It had been 'slow cooked'. It was so poor. Just bits of meat with no flavour. My wife had a tiny piece of turbot that lacked any flavour. I complained and they didnt charge me for the food. They then said they would bring some cheese but more lamb turned up. This time it was seared on the outside and in some sauce. I was past it.

It is astonishing that this restaurant has a michelin star. The wine was nice albeit at an awsome price. The tomato was Ok. The rest.......... dear me.
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Sunday, March 09, 2008

Simply Awful.

Service - Pompous and up tight.

Atmosphere - Like that of a funeral parlour

Food - The biggest disappointment of all. The combinations were simply wierd. A mushroom in a Cheese Cake?? It would have been fine if it tasted good but it was truely disgusting.

I'm so angry with this place that I'm writing a review on it. A spectcular waste of money. My girlfriend and I feel so let down and it's hardly cheap for the tiny portions you get.

Take my advice, if you are in to honest, decent food - GO ELSEWHERE
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Saturday, March 01, 2008

And absolute, unmitigated JOKE. I am a bit of a foodie, and eat in great French restaurants quite a bit. I also am a fairly good French chef myself, so it's with some authority that I can absolutely assure you that this place no more deserves a Michelin star than does Cafe Rouge. Where to begin.......... this "chef" obviously fancies himself a bit of an "innovator"...and "innovators" can't POSSIBLY make a dish that resembles anything that's ever been done before....that wouldn't be "innovative", doncha know.

So you end up with a virtually raw scallop with........wait for it....a piece of pastrami on top. Wow.....how "innovative". The problem is, like almost everything else we had at Juniper...it simply didn't taste very good. This chef is like a modern "artist", who thinks that a box of eggs sitting atop a stool in the Tate is really art. HELLO, there's a reason nobody has ever put pastrami on a scallop, or served mushrooms for desert ( yes, he really did). The reason is that it's a BAD IDEA. I could go on for an hour, but the bottom line is that the place is absolutely horrible. If you love great food, go anywhere but here. If you want pretentious twaddle served by Ooooooooh-so serious waiters ("You poor idiot, let me explain what you're about to eat "...which was essentially the schpeel that preceeds each course) this is your place.

Horrendous combinations done ONLY for the sake of doing something "different". A piece of veal in a morrel mushroom cream sauce never sounded so good...but of coure you'd never find something like that at Juniper, because "It's sooooooo old school...and been done forever". HELLO....there's a reason the French have made dishes like that forever: it's because people LIKE them. Because they TASTE good. But none of that matters to an "innovator", what matters is being "cutting edge".
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Monday, December 03, 2007

I think the people who rate the Michelin tyres rated this one rater than the people who award the Michelin stars!!!........ I have eaten in several Michelin stared restaurants and I can safely say that this one comes at the bottom of the list. Would I visit it again? Get some friendly staff and a chef who has the love and enthusiam for the food that a Michelin stared chef should have and maybe I would think about it!!! Harsh? I don't think so....just true!
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Jules
Friday, September 07, 2007

I've been to Juniper a number of times and think it's fantastic. Many of the reviews talk about 'pleasing the Cheshire set,' I don't personally think that this restaurant excludes anybody. The Tuesday for tables deals that are on offer are exceptional value - where else can you get a tasting menu in a Michelin starred restaurant for £35 or less?

The food is fabulous and Paul seems to use things he likes - and not always posh food - HP fruity / porridge oat milk are just two ingredients that spring to mind.

For value for money midweek and for the decadence you sometimes need on a special occasion, they don't come better than this in the north west. Don't let the reviews put you off.
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GBean
Friday, September 07, 2007

What a dissapointment!

Over expensive and under whelming.

The only time I have seen coffee and petit fours conted as a course (the 8th of 8).
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Phillip
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Visited in Jan 07. Heard so much about this place so had to try it. I personally found the courses delicious and sublime - but sadly overall on the small side. However I also noted:-

1) the service seemed to based on the staffs 'picture' of the customer (rich,not so rich etc) and so found them condescending.

2) Why was my cutlery not taken away on

the early courses, so I used the same

fork/spoon for three courses!!

3) No background music so everyone talked

in a whisper and god forbid if one

laughed - this resulted in looks from

other diners.

In other words the food was excellent, the staff 'stuffy' and the atmosphere equated to a 'wake'
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Elaine
Saturday, May 26, 2007

When I left Juniper on Saturday lunch time experiencing the tasting menu I never thought I could be more disappointed in Michelin Star restaurant. After recently experiencing Maze and L'Atelier in London - both of which now hold a Michelin Star, I was so excited to try the Star in the North that Ramsey had spoken of so highly.

Lets just skip the boring old interior and no background music, as I am here to discuss food and the ‘experience’.

So straight to the food – I have to say that from start to finish there wasn’t anything to get excited about with the food. All of the food put on the table was over salted or over complicated. The flavours were confusing and the dipping sauces were over powered by the strong tasting bread that accompanied them.

Within 20 mins into the meal we knew we had made a mistake in going there for lunch. But we continued on – as when our first meal was removed from the table I had left a small sample of dried mushroom on the plate, the waitress scorned and shamed me into eating it before my plate would be taken back into the kitchen. After that we knew we weren’t leaving the table until it was all finished.

I understand good food, I understand excellent food as I do service in a restaurant. Neither of these are present at this restaurant. We found the staff rude and didn’t have anywhere near enough knowledge of what they were serving. At one point I asked where some cheese was from and an unexpected response of ‘I don’t know’ was not acceptable either is bringing our coats at the same time as bringing out our deserts and I wont even go into detail about the massive pungent wheel of cheese that was put on our table as part of our desert.

Obviously at one stage in the game this restaurant was a fantastic experience. But not longer. I always had a very high regard for the Michelin Star, but if this restaurant continues to hold a star I can only suspect they can be bought or someone is tipped off before they review a restaurant.

Don’t waste your money.
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Sinead
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Juniper is a total culinary experience, I ate there back in July 06.... and well I could not fault anyhting from the service to ambience and of course the near perfect food.

The Chef 'Paul Kitching' is a genius, each dish is so intensely flavoursed it provided a taste sensation for each course.

Everyone from the Cheshire set to average joe isit Juniper and all are truly welcome.

I have to say the people reviewing on here dont know what they are talking about.. put it this way if michelin, the AA guide & Gordon Ramsay salivate over Junipers food then its doing somehting right.

Considering the pure quality of food being served the value for money is excellent.

Best restaurant in the north west..... by far.
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Matthew
Monday, December 04, 2006

I recently read an acerbic - and accurate - review in the Sunday Times which said 'The gin and Jag Cheshire crowd love it'. Couldn't be more damning. Or accurate.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006