Arkle is a refined dining experience in the heart of Chester. Located in the iconic Grovesnor Hotel , executive Chef Elliot Hill and his team and have created an exciting and delicious tasting menu that we chose to enjoy for our twelfth wedding anniversary.

Upon arrival we were seated in a beautifully furnished room where we enjoyed fizz and canapés. Steve’s dietary requirements were re-confirmed and then we were off.

Walked to our lovely corner table, we were first presented with fabulous bread and butter from Barry the Baker. I love my bread and chose a beer and mashed potato bread and WOW! Steve had a delicious gluten free tomato and olive bread with vegan butter and enjoyed it immensely.

Next up was Native Lobster with Isle of Wight tomatoes, elderflower and caviar. A beautifully designed plate with fresh flavours and a caviar treat. The entirety of the tomato is used including the pulp, and the shells from the lobsters are used to make aioli.

Next is the glazed veal sweetbread with iced leaves, ox tongue and sunflower seeds. I was hesitant about this one, never having eaten tongue before and with sweetbread being such an odd offal product. I was however pleasantly surprised, and found this salad summery and vibrant with the creamy sweetbread being a nice contrast.

Now we moved onto a delicious mushroom tart absolutely covered in truffle. Barbecued hen of the woods, pickled girroles, a ragout made from the trimmings, a mushroom cream and a mushroom powder all in a soy tartlet. An umami treat and on of my favourite courses.

We then moved onto a superb plate of line caught Cod, Orkney scallops and young carrots. The salt baked carrots and juiced carrot sauce went perfectly with the sweet, hand dived scallops and tender Cod and I think this was my favourite course. Absolutely exceptional!

Following on from the Cod was a dish of Herdwick Hogget, courgette, pine nuts, loveage and sheeps yoghurt. Hogget from Yew Tree farm in the Lake District, is paired with chunky and sliced courgette and pine nuts as well as a pot of slow cooked meat in a loveage infused yoghurt. This was Steve’s favourite dish and my least favourite.

I really really wanted to have the cheese course now, paying extra to choose from the extraordinary array of cheeses on the cheese trolley, but I was just too full unfortunately. So it was onto dessert.

Bruce’s strawberries with clotted cream and Daresbury Marigold was our dessert of choice. The classic combination of strawberries and cream is elevated here with locally grown herbs and meringue matchsticks. A sweet, fragrant way to end our meal.

Every course was immaculate, tasted incredible and was delivered with a smile. By the time we finished we’d been in the restaurant nearly four hours! A great addition to Chester and brilliant if you really fancy a treat.

Check out the menus here