CityLife

Olivers

JAMIE Oliver is a celebrity chef that splits opinion. Depending on which side of the table you sit at, he’s a fashionable food champion rescuing the nation’s diet or a self-righteous irritant pushing his nanny-state agenda.

Love him or love the idea of curing his lisp with a swift swipe at his educated palate, it’s surely impossible to ignore him?

That is unless, it seems, you live and dine in the cultural backwater of Woodford on the edge of Stockport – where eating out has snubbed the need to move with the times and settled itself firmly on comfort food from the mid-1990s.

Here a taste of Middle England, served up by the unapologetically conservative Gary Rhodes or Anthony Worrall-Thompson would be more welcome than an innovative dish from a relatively young upstart like Jamie.

Tracksuit tops

By rights, a restaurant called Olivers should be a trendy Northern Quarter eaterie where hip, young media-types arrive on Vespas in retro Puma sneakers and Sergio Tacchini tracksuit tops and spend far too much money on a jackfruit and sapodilla salad.

Instead it is a rather ugly, odd-shaped building that sits opposite the end of a Cheshire bus route where double deckers line up impatiently waiting to make a quick getaway back to the city centre.

Designers have clearly done their best to spruce up the post-war exterior with a Mondrian-inspired paint job of stark white and black painted window frames.

Inside was rather more elegant with moody lighting illuminating a modern stylish setting.

Modern look

Bare white walls and solid wood furnishing gave a warm yet modern look to the interior.

Taking a seat at the cosy bar immediately inside the entrance, we looked over the menu and the choice could be described at best as a homely list of traditional British favourites.

Nothing too exciting but something for everyone – cheese tartlets for the vegetarians, steaks for the carnivores and tuna steaks for the unadventurous fish fans. I opted to start with a terrine (£5.95) of game, smoked bacon and juniper berry with spiced plum and damson chutney on a toasted rosemary ciabatta. 

Mouth-watering episode

It was extremely meaty but a bit dense and a little on the filling side for a first course.

My dinner guest Jessica chose the pan-seared scallops with chorizo and black pudding croquettes, rocket salad and raspberry dressing (£8.50) after watching a particularly mouth-watering episode of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s fishing travelogue the night before. 

Hugh, as ever, cooked them in a back-to-basics way in a spot with idyllic views of the sea and using  minimal extras – just a bit of seas salt and chilli.

He, along with Jamie, might be considered a bit too adventurous here. However, the addition of black pudding actually sounded like something he might go for. 

Seafood lover

So with a little nudge from me Jessica, not normally a seafood lover, made the decision to go with it. The scallops were a fraction overcooked but never the less the choice made me quite envious.

They were well complemented by the croquettes, though neither of us was entirely sure about the addition of the raspberry dressing. 

For my main course I went for the seared fillet of sea bass (£15.25), with vanilla pomme puree (by that, they mean mashed potato), tempura king prawns, chorizo and beetroot compote, watermelon and spring onion salsa.

By far the best item on the plate was the lightly-battered king prawns with a subtle kick, which were so delicious they left me wanting more.

Tender if slightly sparse

The sea bass was good – lightly done and it melted away onto the fork.

Jessica ordered a rack of autumn lamb (£16.50) that came with a cassoulet of puy lentils, sweet potato, pancetta and chargrilled peppers, asparagus, minted jus and carrot crisps. 

The lamb was tender, if slightly sparse, and the vegetables nice enough – but the dish paled into insignificance and seemed a little bland after the delicious scallops. 

We also ordered a side portion of hand cut chips (£2.95), which arrived at the table arranged like a Jenga tower – a nice throwback to the 1990s. I felt I should bemoaning Tony Blair or Britpop as I snatched a brick from the bottom to knock over the potato blocks.

On the gooey side

Added to that came some buttered spinach and bok choy (£3.95), which proved to be an unexciting and probably unnecessary purchase as the flat veg remained mostly in its dish for the meal. 

For dessert I had a Baileys and white chocolate crème brulee (£4), which was a bit on the gooey side, while Jessica left just about enough room for an unremarkable, but nice enough, white and dark chocolate torte with pistachio ice-cream (£4.75).

Service was extremely attentive if a little reminiscent of the tailors from The Fast Show with every sentence starting and ending with the word ‘Sir’. 

But it would be hard to condemn people for being nice and, indeed, the whole evening could be considered nice.

From the environs, to the décor to the food. If you’re looking for a nice night out with nice food, Oliver’s is a nice choice. 

However, if you’re after pukka tucker, I wouldn’t stray this far from the city. 

Olivers Restaurant, 547 Chester Road, Woodford, Cheshire, SK7 1PR (0161 440 8715, oliversrestaurant.co.uk)

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