Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms

We likely don’t need to introduce Moor Hall too much, but allow us to set the scene regardless - two Michelin stars, one Michelin green star, countless awards and rave reviews about the magnificence of this new-age fine dining restaurant with rooms. Here’s what you need to know - we’ve been, and reports of Moor Hall’s brilliance have not been exaggerated.

The restaurant itself sits within a beautifully renovated 16th-century manor house, but your experience starts in the lounge, where period features - heavy-set carved timber and stone fireplaces - sit juxtaposed with pop-art pictures of The Beatles. Drinks arrive, courtesy of a cocktail list that makes full use of the treasure trove of herbs and aromatics grown in the Moor Hall gardens, and there are snacks too - charcuterie made on-site, a croustade of baked celeriac custard, chorizo and egg yolk, and the most luxurious chips and dip invention imaginable, where you smear cod roe and caviar over impossibly-beautiful herb-flecked crackers.

Then, a spritely tour of the immaculate gardens to see the seasonal delights that are sprouting from the earth, before another canape in the kitchen, and onwards to your table under the vaulted wood-and-glass ceiling of this gastro-cathedral. A huge open kitchen runs down one side of the room while floor-to-ceiling windows take up the other walls, with views over lawns onto an azalea-fringed pond and fountain.

The food is predictably dazzling. An opening dish of carrot and pecorino-esque Doddington conjures the richness of a great ragu with the most humble of root vegetables. The menu isn’t afraid to delve into simple luxuries either - a seared Isle of Mull scallop, paired with a glass of 2008 Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blanc, for example. The jewel in the crown (among many it has to be said) is an exceptional tranche of plump, juicy guinea hen, served with white asparagus, morels and wild garlic; it’s a perfect example of Moor Hall’s impeccable sourcing, foraging and home-growing combined with high-fidelity cookery. The pacing is on the brisk side - a necessity to fit in all of the evening’s courses - but service is supremely knowledgeable, friendly and attentive without being overbearing. Every aspect feels thoughtful and precisely tuned, like a fine watch that smoothly clicks through the gears.

By the time you end up back in the lounge with petit fours and a digestif, you’re likely to be four hours into the experience, but it’ll be four hours you’ll wish you could do all over again.

Situated in the village of Aughton in West Lancashire, amid five acres of beautiful gardens, is Moor Hall – a 16th-century, Grade II-listed house, and now, an award-winning restaurant. The building was acquired back in 2015 by husband-and-wife team Andy and Tracey Bell, who brought around a multi-million-pound renovation, transforming it into a destination restaurant with luxury rooms, boasting views of a lake that’s said to be the remains of a medieval moat.

The restaurant is helmed by chef-patron Mark Birchall who has worked hard to create delicate, produce-driven menus inspired by the Hall’s exceptional natural surroundings. Wherever possible, Mark uses produce grown on-site or from local suppliers, and uses his broad culinary experience garnered at top establishments such as Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume to ensure each dish is beautifully-presented and full of flavour.

Since its inception, the restaurant has been awarded a breath-taking number of accolades including two Michelin Stars and a Michelin Green Star, and was voted ‘Best Restaurant in the UK’ at the SquareMeal Top 100 Restaurant Awards in 2019.

Guests can choose to dine from a four- or eight-course menu at lunchtime, while dinner is a set eight-course menu. Naturally, the menu changes to reflect the seasonality of the produce, but the kinds of dishes guests can expect to encounter include Gaisgill Row Farm blue grey beef, barbecued pablo beetroot, mustard and shallot, as well as, Isle of Mull scallop with white asparagus, grains and truffle, and garden apples and gooseberry, woodruff, birch sap and marigold.

Moor Hall says its attitude to wine is simple; it should be fun, interative and within reach of everyone. There are two wine pairings available, one which focuses on leading winemakers - both those who made their mark in the past, and innovating for the future. The second is called the 'Rarity Pairing' and shines a light on the most iconic winemakers and vintages.