We took advantage of Travelzoo and together with my sister in law four of us had a wonderful experience during the summer eating a first class three course meal outside in the small courtyard. Not only was the food comparable with the best in Chester, but the service was superb as well. Having had such a good experience we decided to buy some more Travelzoo vouchers as my brother in law was coming to stay and wanted to take us all out for a meal at his expense. Well, sadly the food was nothing like the standard we had experienced before, whilst the service was still first class as were the surroundings, the chef/cook must not have been the same one we had been lucky enough to have the first time, the food was a real disappointment. A few weeks later we used up our last voucher and as we were taking a very dear old friend, warned her not to expect too much, again the experience was not like our first visit when it came to the food, although the service was just as good. It is so sad I cannot give this lovely property a first class rating, but, if you rely on getting a good chef and they let you down, no amount of first class interior design and pleasant front of house can make up for a poor meal. If the staff let you down, perhaps it would be better to have a very simple menu, which only uses first class ingredients on the lines of roast ham or roast chicken served in brioche buns, fish and chips and burgers, or really, really good salads, something which can be assembled by anyone provided they have a picture in front of them, not fine dining, but good quality easy to prepare food, asking how you like your steak, then taking no notice, offering obviously different cuts than the ones ordered of poor quality steak could be avoided and at least the food should be edible and enjoyable.
The Townhouse & Secret Garden – Chester