The Wizard

Another country Bib to cross off the list.

Food

The menu didn’t look very exciting, with the very usual restaurant selection and nothing out of the ordinary. The bread though, was very cool. We actually got some brioche, served with butter. I ignored the butter and the brioche tasted fine.

We decided to stick with the safe options this time, so ordered the Pan fried chicken livers, griddled bruschetta, Madeira cream (£7.95) for entrée. Chicken liver really taste just about the same everywhere, however the saucing was a bit disappointing. The Pressed ham hock & asparagus terrine topped with a poached egg (£6.50) was again disappointing as the egg was too well cooked. The terrine was quite good in terms of flavour.

For mains, we had the Wizard shepherd’s pie with cheese mash & fresh vegetables (£11.00) , which was really really disappointing, as I’ve had this dish a few times in pubs and it has always been very nice, so I was looking forward to seeing what this restaurant could do with it. Unfortunately the execution was terrible, the mince was way too salty, and the cheese gravy was not good enough to lift it up, plus it was too heavy to balance the saltiness of the meat. Slightly better was the Oven baked fillet of hake, rocket & parmesan salad, balsamic dressing (£14.50), although the salad seemed to be repeated from the entrée, and was also extremely boring. Needless to say, we didn’t stick around for dessert.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

The building was lovely, old and lovingly restored, with exposed beams, antique furnishing, fireplace (fake). It was all very homely, although the chairs were not that comfy as a result. They also have a tearoom which they open for lunch, which I would love to try out.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Very casual I thought, they don’t even dress so you can identify them as waiters, but it is suitable enough for this place. We were seated in the front room, so it was difficult at times to get their attention.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Even more expensive than the Mistley Thorn, not worth it.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 10.5

Info

Macclesfield Road
Nether Alderley
Cheshire
SK10 4UB
Phone +44 (0) 16 2558 4000
Website