Lancashire Restaurant Guide

“Victor Yu has a quite brilliant menu and wine list”, say fans of his roadside Chinese, “stylishly” converted from a former boozer on the A59. “Folk travel from all over” – “there’s a party atmosphere in the bar and the fact it’s packed every service means they are doing something very right”.

“Completely consistent… they still do the best ever Pizza Napoletana” – this huge Italian ‘Ristorante & Pizzeria’ just outside Preston was opened in 1985 and has grown over the years to house 300 guests in one sitting, of whom about a third are in a striking glazed extension, complete with al fresco terrace.

“Simplicity” combines with “top quality” at Carlow-born Breda Murphy’s deli-restaurant, a popular destination in the Ribble Valley since 2006 for her Anglo-Irish home-style cooking. “At first it feels overly conservative, but every dish is perfectly cooked, often with a small and interesting twist such as thick-cut lime and soy-cured salmon.”

“Set in a quaint Ribble Valley village”, Steve Smith’s “delightful and traditional” destination “provides a slice of country refinement in a real, classic country pub” and holds its own against much of the stiff culinary competition in the area. His cuisine “continues to provide unusual combinations of exceptionally prepared dishes”, crafted from “unfailingly good quality ingredients”. You can stay, too, which fans say is “amazing” (“the breakfast is something else!”)

“In an area renowned for its pub food, this one stands out against more fancied opposition”, say fans of this Ribble Valley hostelry. “Great food, friendly service, wonderful value. This is what pub food and hospitality is supposed to be about.”

“Stosie Madi and her team draw folk for many miles to remote Newton-in-Bowland for some of the best and freshest dishes ever” note fans of this ever-more famous pub, in the Forest of Bowland: one of the most commented-on country destinations in our annual diners’ poll. “Even as a regular, it's getting hard to get a table given her seasonal and fabulous cooking: a combination of sheer simplicity, classic technique, and (if you're lucky) flavours from Madi’s Lebanese (etc) heritage”. “Her understanding of flavours is sublime… no wonder she’s knocking awards out like a fast lunch service!” “AJ runs the bar with a bewildered look of surprise and the punters love it.” Top Menu Tip – the pies.

“The indefatigable Beaume family put heart and art” into this “quirkily decorated boutique hotel and restaurant next to the toll bridge over the River Wyre”. It’s a “true gastropub” – “I’ve lunched in my jeans, I’ve dined in a dress, I’ve had beers at the bar and the welcome is the same” – and the “daily specials continue to be very reliable, while regular items like the oxtail pudding and French onion soup are things of hearty beauty”.

“Hardly any further from Junction 33 of the M6 than Forton Services”: Craig Wilkinson’s “always popular”, “railway-side pub” has, say fans, “always unjustly sailed a little below the radar, while food and cooking continue in their accomplished, classically inspired, utterly satisfying way”. “In a time when so many places turn out Identikit dishes from the same playbook, it’s somehow refreshing to get a really good terrine, confit duck legs etc”. Top Menu Tip – “Meat is first class, the Sunday roast beef is the best ever: pink and melting in the mouth”.

“Every dish is sublime” – “a real joy” – at this “unpretentious pub” near Burnley with “fantastic cooking” from “brilliant” chef Tom Parker, who “learned his craft at local Northcote and now has a diary released three months at a time”. “It’s a one-hit menu each day depending on seasonality and his mood” – “not exclusively fish but the fish dishes are superb”. The whole operation, including co-owners Gareth & Laura Ostick, is “very clever” and represents “excellent value” – “it’s not really cheap, but much much cheaper than similar establishments of this class”.

“Popular pub restaurant in a lovely rural setting that serves quality pub meals, both in its traditional dining areas and outside in the large conservatory and garden area”. “The food’s always good, and it’s a relaxing place to meet up and enjoy a meal in the countryside, not too far from the centre of Preston”.