Cabbage Hall, Little Budworth, Cheshire

This was one of our first meals out - and also one of our most expensive. We visited in the summer of 2009, on a Friday; the place was busy.
It is an elegant ' gastro-pub', with a warm welcome, friendly, helpful staff and an extensive menu.
The idea of blogging hadn't occurred to me at the time, so scant attention was paid to remembering what we ate. Suffice to say, I had a delicious creamy risotto, cooked to just the right consistency. It must have made an impression, as we decided to return late Autumn, 2009.
Again, the welcome was warm and friendly, but the restaurant almost deserted. I'm sure that this is not the case at weekends and evenings, but it was a pleasure to have a choice of tables.
We both decided on a home-made beefburger and chips, but were advised by the waitress, that the chips were scant on the plate. Being hungry, we ordered a side portion of chips.
When our plates arrived, both of us regretted ordering yet more chips, as there were, indeed, plenty nestling around the plump beefy burger. However, our second portion of chips duly arrived, 9 chunky chips carefully stacked in neat precision.
We were overwhelmed!
Much to our regret, we left a lot on our plates.
We both pronounced our burgers 'excellent' and enjoyed the view of Autumn sunshine playing through the last of the golden leaves in the charming garden.
At £10.95 per burger, plus extra for chips and drinks, it was not a cheap lunch, but one that we enjoyed for the sheer elegance of the surroundings.
Whilst we would return, I think we would be more cautious about what we chose from their lunch menu. Nothing is 'cheap', but it is all good quality, freshly cooked and nicely presented. Somewhere 'for a bit of a blow-out'.
8/10 for food, 9/10 for surroundings.