Hark, Word of Mouth ... over on Travel, the latest of my 'cheap eats' destination guides has just fluoresced into life. This time, the city under the microscope that is my mouth is Chester. Can you help?
My best 10 (places where you can eat and drink a snack or more for under a tenner) includes the likes of Joseph Benjamin, Delikate, the Brewery Tap and the Blue Moon Cafe. But which knockout venues have I missed due to reasons of time, the self-imposed limitations of this piece - ie sticking to the city-centre - or simple rank stupidity?
Should I have stopped off at Bar Lounge for their fish finger butty? Is anybody bewildered that Convivio, the Sushi Bar or Ruan Orchid didn't make my ten? Can anyone here attest - it wasn't the weather in deepest, darkest December for mint choc chip - to the quality of the homemade ice-cream at Antonina's Gelateria? And what of the outlying 'burbs? What is happening food-wise in Hoole?
"The parking in Chester is dearer than the food," one reporter joked in the 2009 Good Food Guide, and - outside of the summer months and race days, when it's packed with tourists - Chester's restaurants certainly have to compete hard to get the punters in. The Tuesday night at Chez Jules is legendary, and I came across similarly good bargains at 1539 and the Terrace at Number Ten, but what are your favourite 'deals' locally? And has anyone tried Aquavit recently? Their £9.95 three-course lunch looks a steal - reports, please.
Did you know, incidentally, that Chester has Britain's most exciting Spud-U-Like? Not only home to a potatoes with an variety of exciting toppings, but also a Roman hypocaust' (underfloor heating) in its basement. Can anyone beat that fast food / Time Team crossover?
