It’s famed for its Sunday lunches, but the Stanneylands Hotel at Wilmslow has much more to offer the serious foodie
Something old, something new. We are lunching at an old favourite - Wilmslow’s Stanneylands Hotel, but on a day when the restaurant is launching a new menu.
With the constant churn of whizzy new eateries, it would be easy to file stalwarts such as Stanneylands under ‘been there, done that’. Think again. The craft at work in head chef Andy Grundy’s kitchen is evident in every bite.
Furthermore, the Stanneylands restaurant is a uniquely pleasant place to be: acres of wood-panelling, period artworks depicting bon viveurs, windows letting in winter sunshine and views of greenery. It’s got the feel of a sybaritic gentlemen’s club about it.
The lunch menu (three courses for £18.50, two for £14.50) is not only good value, it also has some imagination to it, what with starters such as house-cured duck pastrami with blood orange jelly, and teriyaki mackerel with satay sauce.
We opted for à la carte, though, and my starter of wild mushroom velouté (£5.45) arrived brimming with woodland flavours, accompanied by a sliver of ciabatta, a dusting of pulverised hazelnuts and a whiff of truffle oil.
Across the table, my companion enjoyed roast pumpkin and ameretti-stuffed tortellini (£7.75), a sunny collision of sweet and savoury. He followed that with a main of grilled rib steak, chips, béarnaise sauce, mushroom and tomato (£26.50). You could have found something similar listed on the menu of a Berni Inn half a century ago but such staples endure because they are unbeatable when done well, and this was indeed well done (by that, I mean it was exceptional, rather than overcooked!).
My main was pan-seared supreme of cod (£21.50) which came smothered in brown shrimp and caper butter and sitting on a bed of saffron potatoes - a really striking palette of complimentary flavours.
I have a firm dining rule: when bread and butter pudding is on the menu, I must have it, even when full to bursting. The Stanneylands version of another old favourite did not disappoint. The marmalade bread and butter pud (£7.50) came with cardamom ice cream and spots of feisty seville orange purée, all beautifully done. Chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream was also lip-smackingly good.
The Stanneylands Hotel, Stanneylands Road, Wilmslow SK9 4EY, 01625 525 225, www.primahotels.co.uk/stanneylands
