A Restaurant Worth Travelling To: Moor Hall

I visited on one of the year’s first sunny evenings, but even if it had been miserable weather, the garden tour would have been one of the highlights. Before dinner, we were invited to stroll around the Victorian walled gardens, peer inside the many greenhouses and walk among the rows of vegetables, trees, flowers buzzing with bees and herbs, each labelled up to whet the appetite for what might make it onto the plate later on. From one of the garden’s many seating areas and firepits, guests are able to see inside the back of the kitchen, where a small army of chefs can be seen prepping dishes for the evening ahead.

The dining experience begins with snacks in the bar in the oldest part of the building – picture grand stone fireplaces, wood panelling and cosy nooks, all vibrantly punctuated with modern art, such as pop-art style works of local legends the Beatles. In contrast, the main dining room is housed in a modern extension, in a space that mirrors the high ceilings and wooden beams of a barn. On two sides, there are huge panels of glass that give diners a view over the lake and into the gardens, while another side showcases the open kitchen, wine cellar and cheese room. White and bright, the room is decorated with beautiful abstract pendant lights and flowers, no doubt from the estate gardens. With just a handful of tables, all spaced out nicely, the atmosphere is special and exclusive – even at breakfast, where multiple courses replicate the experience of the night before.

At Moor Hall, the ten-course tasting menu is anything but. In the bar, I was presented with a parade of bite-sized snacks: a selection of in-house cured charcuterie; crunchy parcels of black pudding and pickled gooseberry that explode in the mouth; a bite of baked celeriac with chorizo and egg yolk; langoustine with redcurrant, radish and nasturtium; and finally a tin of chicken, chervil and caviar topped with cod’s roe and served alongside delicate, flower-pressed biscuits. It’s a wonderful start, raising anticipation levels even higher for the main event.

At the table, diners are treated to a well-paced rollcall of inventive, flavour-packed dishes, each presented with flair and a clear understanding of every ingredient. You can always judge a restaurant on its bread and Moor Hall doesn’t disappoint – neither does the gorgeously bright green herb-packed cultured butter that accompanies it. There are bright orange carrots served multiple ways alongside Doddington cheese, chrysanthemum leaves and sea buckthorn; then a delicate turnip and crab dish with anise hyssop and sunflower seeds (you’ll need even more of that bread to mop up every drop of the accompanying broth). This is followed by Birchall’s signature dish: an amazingly mustard-packed Spoutbank Farm beef tartare with prettily barbecued lattices of pablo beetroot and shallots. In striking form, it delivers all the flavours of the best burger you’ve ever eaten. Other courses that left an indelible impression were the scallop, served with green tomatoes, asparagus and truffle; a stunning dish of turbot served with roe and sea vegetables; and the first course we tried in the main restaurant – a poached oyster theatrically plated up at the table alongside white beetroot, dill and buttermilk.

Pudding is rarely my meal highlight, but Moor Hall is an exception. Among the four great dessert courses, the sticky Ormskirk gingerbread (a nod to the nearby village that’s been making and selling the dish since 1732) served with pine was sensational, as was the beautiful bowl of green strawberries with sweet cicely and cream cheese. Back in the bar, we ate our final course – a sweet-and-sour bite of honey and blackcurrant cake with mulberry and sour cream, which ended the meal on a high note.