The Grapes Restaurant
15 Regent Road, Altrincham
Tel 0161 928 8714

The Grapes was originally a traditional pub which closed a few years ago then re-opened as a mediocre Italian restaurant that wentthe same way as its predecessor. Now the Grapes have metamorphosed into a new restaurant and bar serving home cooked English cuisine. Parking is easy as there is a large car park behind the restaurant on Regent Road. We arrived at 7.00 pm on Saturday evening. The place was already busy with the Early bird menu diners, which is available until 7.30 pm. Two courses costing £10 or 3 courses for £12 from a nicely balanced menu is great value. There is also a blackboard full of daily specials, which is a good indicator of the Grapes being on the ball with locally available, fresh produce. We went for the à la carte menu, which has a wide and varied selection and, as it says on the tin, all English dishes. The wine list is well balanced, unpretentious and reasonably priced. We chose a nice bottle of Italian Merlot. My friend chose crab cakes from the blackboard specials to start with and lamb shank for the main course. I had goats cheese in filo pastry followed by beef and ale pie with mash and
vegetables. We were tempted by the puddings; a lovely choice of Olde Worlde homemade desserts. My friend had sticky toffee pudding and I had black and white chocolate tart. The owners are mine hosts Adrian and Margaret, who look after front of house, providing efficient, graceful service and doing it very well. When we left at 9.00pm the Grapes was practically full and there was a really nice buzz about the place. There was a 20% off voucher on presentation of the Grapes advert from the Handbook, which brought the bill down to an astonishingly low £35. This is terrific value for very well cooked and presented food. Before you visit the Grapes it is worth checking in the
Handbook to see if the offer is still running.

Will we return?

Oh yes, we like the new-look Grapes.

Our verdict

Atmosphere: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Food: 9/10