Wood Chester is the latest addition to MasterChef winner Simon Wood’s restaurant group (he also has restaurants in Manchester and Cheltenham). Situated within the Hotel Indigo, which blends the historic charm of the city with a contemporary design, Wood Chester offers fine dining minus any pretension – as per Wood’s signature style. He and his talented team work hard to create a relaxed environment in which guests can enjoy unintimidating high-end cuisine that bursts with all the natural flavours of the seasons.
At the heart of the 96-seat restaurant is a chef’s table and theatre kitchen where guests can witness the magic happening. As with his original Manchester restaurant, Wood’s Chester outpost features a blind tasting menu made up of five, seven or 10 courses that can be paired with wine flights designed to complement each dish. Simply inform the kitchen of your dietary restrictions (unfortunately Wood doesn’t cater to vegans) and wait with mounting anticipation as the chefs deliver course after course of beautifully presented and full-flavoured food.
For those who prefer to choose for themselves, there are several other menus available including à la carte, lounge, bar and Sunday lunch menus. Snacks on the lounge and bar menus include nibbles such as Scotch eggs, pork pies and artisan cheeses, and small plates such as yakitori meats with coriander and crispy onion, and breaded halloumi with chilli jam.
Anyone going in for the full à la carte experience can expect dishes such as Orkney scallops or smoked mackerel parfait to start, butter roasted cod loin or corn-fed chicken for mains, and Black Forest gateau or honeycrisp apple with white chocolate crumble and toffee to finish. Afternoon tea, gentleman’s afternoon tea and cream teas are also available, along with an excellent value Sunday lunch menu that includes three courses for under £30.