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Now well into its second decade, Telford's earns the coveted fifth Chester@Large star as much as anything for the astonishing consistency of its achievement. To have created this place, this centre of leisure, with its excellent bar, enjoyable restaurant and imaginative booking policy was impressive enough. To have sustained it, recovered from a major fire and continued to improve puts Telfords in a special place.
Located just outside the city walls in the midst of a confusing maze of railways, flyovers and canals, this Victorian warehouse has been adapted to provide a large bar, small restaurant and music room. But historic buildings impose design constraints and no architect would have set things up this way, given a clean slate. There are snags that are here to stay: the gig space is cramped and its acoustics are bad, the restaurant suffers from being directly over the music. These issues aren't trivial, but nor can they detract from the fact that Telford's is a great bar.
And the bar is the star. Long enough to keep waiting times to a minimum, its polished counter houses hand pumps for at least five real ales as well as the big porcelain pump housings for a couple of European beers. Telford's seems to make a point of supporting local breweries - Weetwood's from Tarporley, for example, is served in excellent condition. Beer lovers will find more to please them in the bottled ranges. There is a good choice of wine. You can probably get a very good cocktail here too, but that’s not what this place is about.
A glass wall lights up evening sessions with dazzling sunsets. The bare brick walls and a cargo crane in the middle of the room hark back to an original purpose. Large pictures (landscapes by local photographer Stu Jackson) give colour and life. The robust furniture is not that comfortable, but then there isn't that much of it anyway: Telford's is more of a stand-up kind of place.
The restaurant is upstairs. There are only a few tables and it's very popular, so you should book - certainly at busy times. The menu is eclectic. There are the bangers and the burgers you would expect, but also more interesting options like wild mushroom crostini, chicken burrito and several fish dishes. My herb-crusted rack of lamb was well presented and tasty. Tracey's steak was good though she found the recommended Boheme sauce (the steaks, like the fish are offered with a choice of sauce) somewhat heavy-handed. The whole thing was done with enthusiasm and commitment. But chasing vibrating cutlery around our plates as a 10-piece R&B combo performed a couple of feet beneath ours was never going to make it an exercise in fine dining. It is hard to make the most of a three course dinner when your innards are having a party of their own.
It is a long way off the 'circuit', both geographically and spiritually. Hen parties give it a miss. Its clientele seem more cosmopolitan, more relaxed than you find in the centre of town. They give it its personality. Though it is near the University, it isn't a student pub. Nevertheless, it does have that feeling you get when most of the customers don't seem to have to worry too much about getting up in the morning.
A Chester institution that it doesn't hurt to do time in.
The following review was contributed by Adrian Mugridge
As it was my wife’s birthday recently we decided to celebrate by having lunch at Telfords Warehouse on a Sunday. We arrived quite early, just after 12, and were invited to sit anywhere apart from the one reserved table by the window (which happened to be the best). This was a pity since no one ever bothered to arrive and to sit at it in the two hours we were there eating.
To start with I had the Gamberi, which consisted of tiger prawns in a garlic, chilli, lemon and shallot butter and came with two slices of garlic bread and salad. The dish was well presented and tasted as good as it looked, if a little lacking on the prawn count relative to the amount of sauce that they came in. My wife had the Clam and Mussel Mariniere (which she consumes like a hoover) which was again well presented and smelt and tasted very good. It could have perhaps done with a tad more bread to mop up the sauce.
To follow we had the Chargrilled Swordfish steak with mussels, clams and prawns. The swordfish and broth were nicely cooked (having a good texture) and the sauce had a fresh taste which did not overpower the rest of the fish. As for portion size, the swordfish was plenty big enough, with plenty of broth to accompany, but not to overwhelm it.
The other main course was the Aberdeen Angus Ribeye steak which was ordered, and came, cooked medium. To me it seemed a tad bigger than the stated 10ozs but that’s hardly a complaint. It was accompanied by chips, which were just standard restaurant chips, and quite crunchy veg (carrots, beans, cauliflower and broccoli), again very nicely presented and nice and hot.
Finally, my wife finished with a Lemon Tart, which had a good pastry and a tangy filling, which again was quite sizeable. I went for cheese and biscuits, which had plenty of both cheese (applewood, brie, stilton and a goat’s cheese) and more than enough biscuits.
The service was pleasant, friendly and unrushed, with our meal taking a little over two hours, which is quite a time for a lunch but much better than being hurried. Prices are restaurant prices (Telfords is a pub, after all, but with a separate dining area). Three courses each, a bottle of wine (Italian Merlot) and three pints came to around £70, excluding the tip.
One final comment, don't let the web site put you off Telfords (www.telfordswarehouse.com). The staff profile’s page tries to show the staff to be 'whacky and off the wall!'. I think this is rather to its detriment as it’s not like that at all, and neither are the staff: they are normal, friendly and welcoming and have a casual demeanour.
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