For mains it was a no brainer for Tony. We have a copy of Mike’s Fit for Table book, guiding home chefs on preparing meat, particularly wild produce, ready for cooking. The whole Lavinton hogget appealed to Tony, keen to see how the different cuts would be prepared. Sourced from award-winning shepherdess Sophie Arlott from her Lincolnshire farm, he said the meat, served in four different ways, was both tasty and tender with the faggot coming out as his favourite. My meat-free main of celeriac baked in the embers was the perfect autumnal dish with accompaniments of apple, hazelnuts, mushroom ragu and the unusual-looking maitake, not the sort of mushroom I’d be daring to forage.
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The main event though was dinner at The Forge, one of the city’s newest restaurants sited on the ground floor of Hotel Indigo. The hotel only opened in the city in 2019 and offers contemporary, boutique style accommodation. With a quirky eye on décor, the hotel’s 75 rooms are designed to reflect the city’s fabulous architecture and its famous racecourse. Our bedroom, a deluxe double, was adorned with horse-themed memorabilia, including bits from a bridle holding up our headboard. The spa-themed bathroom, with its Molton Brown toiletries and metro tiling, had perhaps the most powerful shower I’ve ever stepped under, perfect for revitalising us before dinner.
Downstairs, there is a relaxed bar and lounge area, all tan leather, squishy cushions and sumptuous velvets in rich colours, leading into the Forge restaurant. The dark teal walls make this an intimate and stylish dining space perfectly reflecting the ethos of chef Mike Robinson who opened the 70-seater restaurant, cocktail bar and private dining room in May of this year, following on from successful similar ventures in other Hotel Indigos in Stratford and Bath.
Fans of Mike Robinson will be familiar with his passion for British food, with an emphasis on wild produce and sustainability and the menu here at The Forge did not disappoint. Starter choices included whipped chicken livers and smoked mackerel tartare while the mains had an emphasis on meat with pavé of English Wagyu, duck and fallow deer all making an appearance. For fans of hearty meat flavours, there is also an option for ‘sharing mains’, with choices of sirloin, ribeye and T-Bone beef on the bone as well as slow cooked shoulder of roe deer, all available. All dry-aged on the premises in maturation cabinets where customers can select their own piece of meat, these are cooked over wood and charcoal in the open kitchen making for some rather theatrical cookery.
My husband chose the hand-dived Orkney scallop, again baked in flames and finished at the table with a jug of dashi, while I ate from the vegetarian menu, which the Forge also does really well, and had a starter of Jerusalem artichoke minestrone with confit egg yolk and black garlic gnocchi.
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Service throughout was superb, staff were attentive and knowledgeable and I particularly loved the cocktail trolley wheeled to each table offering that day’s special cocktails. The following morning the restaurant area reverts back to the hotel where a delicious breakfast awaited - Continental or Full English - perfectly setting up guests for their day ahead.
Work commitments didn’t allow a further day exploring the city but those with more time will find plenty to fill it. The River Dee is fabulous in good weather with the opportunities for rides on a trip boat and smaller rowing boats as well as paddle boarding and kayaking. A walk round the council-run Grosvenor Park, a stone’s throw away from Hotel Indigo, with its miniature railway and stunning gardens, is always a delight and in the summer months there is an extended season of various open air theatre productions staged here too.
For history lovers, as well as the Cathedral and guided tours, visits to the Grosvenor Museum and the recently opened and entertaining Sick to Death Museum give a vivid glimpse into Chester’s past. And just outside the city is of course Chester Zoo, seen on TV in Our Zoo and Secret Life of the Zoo, and a firm favourite for family visits.
Hotel Indigo Chester: Room rates from £119. For parking the hotel has an affiliation with the nearby NCP Pepper Street, £12 for 24 hours instead of £20. For hotel reservations visit
www.chester.hotelindigo.com For restaurant bookings visit
www.theforgechester.co.uk Hotel Indigo Chester, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QQ.
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