Harden's survey result
Summary
“What can I say that’s not already been said? Just superb!” – Mark Birchall’s converted manor house north of Liverpool is five years old now, but still has the golden glow of one of the UK’s most fast-rising culinary stars, and some fans say they “thought it had a chance of its third Michelin star this year”. That would be an achievement anywhere – never mind in a corner of West Lancashire long seen as a gastronomic wasteland. The long drive, the lake, the grounds, the cleverly refurbished medieval buildings… all create a “perfect and luxurious experience”. “The dining room and lounges are sleek and welcoming and the attention to detail from the kitchen garden to the cheese room, even to the cutlery is flawless”. “Best of all, every mouthful from its tasting menu is fresh, clean and sublime” and a clear reflection of the “dedication, high standards and clear technical expertise” in the kitchen. Fame is bringing one drawback though – even those who judge it a “fabulous” experience sometimes think it risks becoming an “outrageously expensive” one. And – amidst praise for “fun and unintimidating staff who don’t miss a beat” – there is also the odd fear of “an over-focus on creating theatre rather than making the customer totally relaxed”. Top Tip – “the food bonanza continues at breakfast so stay over if you can”.
Summary
“Continuing its stately progress to becoming the UK’s best restaurant in what was for many decades the gastronomic desert of West Lancashire” – Mark Birchall’s medieval manor house to the north of Liverpool has, since it opened in 2017, won award after award and “a third Michelin star must be close”. “Booking here, even for lunch, is like buying a ticket to an experience”, which begins with the approach down a long drive (and during which a visit to the gardens comes highly recommended). Although the hall itself is ancient, it has been significantly adapted to its modern use, and the dining room itself is in a contemporary extension: “an unusual design with high ceilings and lots of glass overlooking the lake and gardens”. Mark’s “out-of-this-world” cuisine is “based very much on regional ingredients from Lancashire's under-rated larder. There's clever use of contrasting flavours and the kitchen can really make very simple ingredients sing”. In particular, they “do improbably brilliant things with root vegetables (particularly carrots and turnips!)”. “Mildly formal” service is “impeccable, with the team pulling off that trick of being casual and friendly without ever losing sight of the part they play in ensuring everything goes to plan”. Criticisms are few and far between, and the only consistent negative amongst reports is the unsurprising hangover to the wallet that a visit entails. For the most part, though, it’s just 10/10s all-round. “The perfect weekend away – total luxury!”
Summary
“A beautiful building in a beautiful setting with a beautiful kitchen garden, and beautiful food… just fabulous!”. Mark Birchall’s “outstanding” three-year-old occupies a “mediaeval manor house adapted for the 21st Century” to the north of Liverpool and is “excellent in every way, from start to finish”. After the approach down a long driveway, “an ancient stone arch holds a door of ecclesiastical proportions, leading onto to a panelled reception. From here you are led into the lounge (proper fire places, more intricate carvings and Latin inscriptions) to be served from the charcuterie bar as you wait (black pudding parcel; smoked eel basket with edible flowers; cod’s roe mousse with caviar and the most beautiful crackers ever…)”. Once in the dining room proper (a very modern space), “everything coming out of the kitchen is exquisite”: thoroughly “deserving of its two stars” and oft-compared with L’Enclume (even if the food’s “not quite as cheffy and messed about with”). “What Mark Birchall can do with carrots and turnips is just remarkable” and “symptomatic of the ethos: fresh, simple ingredients taken to a higher level by the chef’s craft”. “Integral to the experience” is a “front of house team fully on the top of its game; and a team of sommeliers passionate about their work, all dedicated to creating the ultimate dining experience”. It doesn’t all take itself too seriously either: the vibe is “fun and convivial”. Top Tip – don’t miss a jaunt to the cheese room, and take a stroll around the gardens if you have the time!
Summary
“A beautiful building in a beautiful setting with a beautiful kitchen garden, and beautiful food… just fabulous!”. Mark Birchall’s “outstanding” two-year-old occupies a “mediaeval manor house adapted for the 21st Century” to the north of Liverpool and is “excellent in every way, from start to finish”. After the approach down a long driveway, “an ancient stone arch holds a door of ecclesiastical proportions, leading onto to a panelled reception. From here you are led into the lounge (proper fire places, more intricate carvings and Latin inscriptions) to be served from the charcuterie bar as you wait (black pudding parcel; smoked eel basket with edible flowers; cod’s roe mousse with caviar and the most beautiful crackers ever…)”. Once in the dining room proper (a very modern space), “everything coming out of the kitchen is exquisite”: thoroughly “deserving of its two stars” and oft-compared with L’Enclume (even if the food’s “not quite as cheffy and messed about with”). “What Mark Birchall can do with carrots and turnips is just remarkable” and “symptomatic of the ethos: fresh, simple ingredients taken to a higher level by the chef’s craft”. “Integral to the experience” is a “front of house team fully on the top of its game; and a team of sommeliers passionate about their work, all dedicated to creating the ultimate dining experience”. It doesn’t all take itself too seriously either: the vibe is “fun and convivial”. Top Tip – don’t miss a jaunt to the cheese room, and take a stroll around the gardens if you have the time.
For 32 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Moor Hall?
Owner's description
Moor Hall, near the ancient market town of Ormskirk in West Lancashire, opened in March 2017. The impressive Grade II* listed gentry house, owned in partnership by chef Mark Birchall and investors Andy and Tracey Bell, was transformed into a contemporary restaurant with rooms after a sensitive restoration and rebuild project. Moor Hall was crowned ‘National Restaurant of the Year’ at Restaurant Magazine’s Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards in June 2019, with its achievement of #1 in the scheme’s top 100 list. Square Meal also named it the Best UK Restaurant in September 2019.
Awarded a second Michelin star in October 2018, the 50-seat Restaurant’s menu showcases Mark’s own style of modern British cuisine, wherever possible using produce grown on the five-acre Moor Hall site, or from local suppliers, and reflecting the broad culinary experience he has garnered over the last 15 years. A second, more informal dining room, The Barn, opened in October 2017, and the Head Chef is Nathan Cornwell. The 65seat space is located adjacent to the main house, with a charcuterie and curing room and a small dairy on the ground floor.
TYPICAL DISHES – THE RESTAURANT Smoked eel, potato, fermented garlic, flowers Raw langoustine, radish and nasturtium Crown prince, cured yolk, mushroom pickle Turnip and crab, anise hyssop and sunflower seeds Baked carrots, Doddington, chrysanthemum and sea buckthorn Holstein Friesian, barbecued celeriac, mustard and shallot Turbot cooked on the bone, bay shrimp, salsify and sea herbs Aynhoe Park fallow deer, beetroot, kale and elderberry Gingerbread, roots and pine Wild blackberries, buttermilk, verbena and begonia Garden apples, woodruff, birch sap and apple marigold
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
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| Lunch | £115.00 |  |
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| Dinner | £225.00 | |
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| Drinks |
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| Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.00 |
| Extras |
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| Service | 12.50% |
Restaurant details
The chef
MARK BIRCHALL
Talented chef patron, Mark Birchall, creates delicate produce driven menus inspired by our exceptional surroundings and home grown ingredients.
Mark was born in Chorley, Lancashire and trained at Runshaw College. He was most recently Executive Chef of 2 Michelin Star L’Enclume in Cumbria and won the Roux Scholarship, the premier competition for chefs in the UK in 2011. He also worked at El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, a 3 Michelin Star Restaurant owned by the Roca Brothers, twice voted the world’s best restaurant.
Mark’s menus showcase his own style of modern British cuisine, wherever possible using produce grown on the 5 acre Moor Hall site or from local suppliers, and reflecting the broad culinary experience he has garnered over the last 15 years.
Moor Hall Restaurant Diner Reviews
"The attention to detail is quite unbelievable. It's hard to know what to say that hasn't been said before. Yes it's expensive - the drinks particularly so, but the quality! My wife has a medical condition which means certain foods are a risk to her, but the staff and the kitchen prepared and printed a menu for her which was the equal to the "normal" menu - and in one place, perhaps (in my personal opinion) better? Nothing seemed to be too much trouble. I would put the food on a simlar footing to L'Elclume and Forest Side. "
"THE most disappointing restaurant visit ever and the only occasion I have refused to pay a service charge! You expect a degree of pretentiousness at such establishments, but this was to a previously unencountered different level. Mark Birchall's technical skills are undeniable and I can see why some of his peers deem him worthy of 3 stars. I spoke with him on the night and he commented on how few diners were booked in that night (it was about half full with four couples including us). The real downside is the self-indulgence of asking guests to arrive half an hour early, so you can be taken on a "journey" of indoctrination. Nowhere else does this, in my experience. An amuse bouche, served in the lounge, disintegrated in my hand, requiring a change of clothes. The staff - including Adam the GM - seemed to find this funny for some reason. He didn't find it quite so funny the following morning when I gave him my feedback; refused to pay the service charge and cancelled our lunch booking for the Barn. The low point was being "introduced to the guinea fowl" after it had been cooked. Surely with a chef of this ability, you just show the guests to their table and let the quality of the ingredients and technical skills of the kitchen speak for themselves? These self indulgent theatrics seem like a smokescreen to me. I draw comparisons to Le Manoir, but they've been doing it much longer and far better without the drama. Perhaps it was my particular experience on that specific evening, but I really don't understand why this restaurant is held in such high regard. "
"Food is ok but at the price I would expect something to wow me, whereas it was just nicely cooked. Rooms are beautiful and it's in a fantastic building"
"Food is still wonderful and I know prices are rising but even taking this into account it feels expensive now. 550 for the food for lunch for 2 is a lot, Compared to The Ritz it’s not good value."
Prescot Rd, Aughton, L39 6RT
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | CLOSED |
| Wednesday | 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑1:45 pm, 6:30 pm‑8:30 pm |
