The Alderley Edge

This was a very good meal (in late 2013) with modern food in what is a relatively old fashioned hotel restaurant — it definitely deserves to be busier! We were there on a Friday night and in a room seating c50 people there was less than 20 people, of which we were the youngest by about 10 years. As we left the chef was by the exit and took the time to speak with us about our thoughts, including the fact that they ought to market /​advertise it more — here’s to hoping they take that suggestion. So on to the food — there’s a choice of 5, 7 and 9 courses. As the missing 2 courses between the 7 course and the 9 course were a mushroom focused course and a 3^rd dessert, 7 seemed the logical course (especially as there were matching wines to be had and then drinks elsewhere)
Smoked Salmon, Red Cabbage Emulsion, Apple and Bagel — Fresh and clean, pretty simple but tasty and an attractive looking plate of food — ⁷⁄₁₀
Roasted Hand Dived Scallop, Duck and Monkfish Casserole, White Beans, Crispy Duck Skin — This was definitely the best course… it read the most exciting and lived up to it. I’d go back just for this — ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Cheshire Ham and Pork, Jacket Potato, Truffle — It sounded like it’d work and it did — not memorable though — ⁶⁄₁₀
Butter Poached Lemon Sole, De-​Constructed Pesto, Grilled Leeks — I look lemon sole, pesto and leeks so this was always going to be a winner… as I like all the ingredients my expectations were perhaps too high. I’d have preferred a bit more of a pesto kick but lemon sole has a mild flavour so this was probably sensible — ⁷⁄₁₀
Tasting of Cheshire Beef, Roasted Onion, Sloe Gin — Again another good set of ingredients and the roasted onion complemented the beef well. I preferred the beef shin to the fillet as the fillet was tender but lacking flavour — ⁷⁄₁₀
De-​Constructed Apple and Blackberry Crumble — Not much to say about this but it was just a bit boring — ⁵⁄₁₀
Caramelized White Chocolate Panna Cotta, Blueberries and Honeycomb — This was an excellent dessert and the honeycomb was a great addition for texture — ⁹⁄₁₀

This is a very beautiful hotel situated in the pretty village of Alderley Edge, home to some of Cheshire’s wealthy folk plus numerous footballers. Yes, I did wonder around trying to spot the likes of Ferguson and Ferdinand but to no avail.
The hotel itself is well set out and is full of character. The rooms are a little on the small side and are perhaps showing signs of age, but nothing to cause any concern. All the staff we had contact with were helpful and super-​friendly, and the room rates are reasonable.
There is no gym here (I’m guessing the facilities mentioned in the last review have been converted into a function room for wedding and conference use) and the WiFi is only available in the lobby.
The breakfast we had on the first day was fantastic. There was a great menu with choices ranging from the traditional full English to pancakes, to salmon, kippers and haddock. On top of this, was a buffet including continental meats and cheeses, pastries, cereals and fruits. Given that I am constantly thinking of my stomach, I had already planned what I was going to have the second morning. It therefore came as something of a surprise to find they were only doing a buffet with the continental plus full English components. What happened to the menu? I can only think that this change occurred due to the fact there was a wedding and all the guests were down for breakfast meaning they were busier. However, as regular guests, I felt a little peeved that this resulted in us missing out on our brekkie of choice.
Talking of the wedding party, this one in particular was a good example of why hotels should enforce a policy of making them book out the whole hotel! The guests were incredibly noisy, shouting and swearing late into the night right under our bedroom windows, plus cigarette smoke was drifting up into our rooms. Not really a relaxing end to our weekend break! I know this isn’t really the hotel’s fault, but maybe they could have informed us when we booked.
They have a great bar and were happy to provide us with sandwiches at about 10.30 on a Friday evening which I thought was great service.
The restaurant in the hotel was truly phenomenal and deserving of a separate review (to follow shortly).

My review is based on my most recent stay, in August 2007. I’ve stayed there three times, and I will discount my first stay, in 2005. The hotel was in the midst of some reconstruction then, and I had a horrific allergy attack in my room.
The hotel has been renovated in sections for a couple of years, so the quality of room, bedding etc was a matter of luck. Some of my colleagues got rooms with thin bedding, but I never had a problem. The layout is very strange, but typical for the area. The front is an old mansion, with corridors of rooms built on to the rear, and attached to an old church next door. While the entrance area is impressive with a huge staircase leading up to the rooms, it can be quite an ordeal getting to your room if you’re on an upper floor in the rear with heavy luggage, with narrow halls and single steps going from one section to another.
I did not formally dine there, but had breakfast daily, and enjoyed the small bar off of the reception area. As a yank, I quickly acclimated to undercooked scrambled eggs and bacon, because it was quite tasty. There breakfast bar selection was well above that normally found in an American hotel.
During my last stay, we were very impressed that the bar manager opened up the unused ballroom at our party’s request, so we could watch Germany vs England metric football on a large screen. And I enjoyed talking to him about the subtle differences between the ales and other beers that were on tap, sampling many. We also spent some time drinking outside in a lovely garden area, with benches and shade trees available.
Over in the old church building, I took advantage of a very nice exercise room, with weight machines, free weights, treadmills, etc. The pool was beautiful, but I had to get out after a few minutes because of heavy chlorination eating away my corneas.
Don’t be afraid to ask for directions from one place to another, because otherwise you could easily find yourself walking outside around the hotel to get to the pool, for example. The hallways were rather byzantine.
One of my favorite «features» of this hotel is the location, right in Alderley Edge. You can walk up the road The Edge itself, which is a good hike, or cross the street into the town, and dine amongst the wags.