REVIEW: The Wizard | Alderley Edge

IT ONLY took three moves for the waitress to decide she didn’t like me and I wasn’t even trying.

I watched various customers get up to fetch their own cutlery after their mains had been delivered and go up to the bar to order something to wash it down with.

In fact, when I’m reviewing, I go out of my way not to be noticed. Firstly, I politely objected to being shown to a dark, cramped table, and then I got a bit confused as to which of the different chalk board menus I should be choosing from. Finally, my Diet Coke was flat, with not a single bubble, even though she insisted ‘it had just come out of the can’. I let it go but could sense throughout the meal that she’d marked me out as a ‘bad’ customer.

A former-coaching inn dating back to the 16th century, The Wizard is a striking white pub on the road between Macclesfield and Wilmslow near the actual edge of Alderley Edge. It’s a regular destination for dog walkers and families out for a ramble in the ancient woods nearby. Bowls of water and biscuits are supplied to canine guests. The Wizard is a genuinely traditional English pub with a series of small rooms, uneven stone floors and low beamed ceilings.

The Wizard

Traditional Cosy Interior

Although it’s a Thwaites pub, they also offer guest ales from one of Cheshire’s many independent breweries such as Storm Brewing Company in Macclesfield. The door is plastered with stickers marking its awards and accolades, including a Michelin Guide recommendation (although no Bib Gourmand in recent years) and one that highlights the fact that Square Meal had reviewed it (it didn’t go into detail about whether they’d thought it was any good, just that they’d reviewed.)

The lunchtime menu is shorter than the evening menu, listing a selection of salads, soups, sandwiches and daily specials. You’ll also find a handful of pub classics which, whilst predictable, are the dishes most people would welcome before or after a hearty walk; Haddock, chips and peas, a proper burger, Cheshire cheese and onion pie, gammon, duck egg and fancy chips and so on.

We were after some more inspired choices to start so opted for scallops with crisp Parma ham and salted beets from the special’s board. The fresh, plump scallops were juicy and sweet and my husband has been mithering me to make salted beets at home ever since, but we felt the £9.95 price tag was pushing it a bit.

Seared Scallops

Ham Hock Terrine

Ham hock and caper terrine with piccalilli and toasted bloomer was more palatably priced at £6.95. The terrine was well put together but salty and they’d made a good job of the piccalilli which had good flavour and colour from the turmeric but would have benefited from more vinegar to pack a picklier punch.

My main course also came from the specials board, pan-fried mackerel with green bean and tomato ragout (£16.50, main image). Decent size, good mix of flavours and textures, all served on a well made, crispy fishcake. My husband’s main came from ‘Wizard lunch classics’ with the extremely lengthy title ‘Duo of beef, braised Beef suet pudding, seared 4oz rump steak, saffron fondant potato, beetroot puree, tender stem broccoli, roasted shallots and red wine sauce’ (£17.95). This was good looking but a lot less successful with many of the components having had had their cooking times mixed up. The suet pudding had been cooked for far too long resulting in a heavy pastry casing and a stringy dried out filling, whilst the broccoli had only briefly been introduced to hot water. The rump was tender enough and rare as requested, but actually tasted of nothing.

The service was lax and it was only moderately busy with no particularly large Christmas parties in. I watched various customers get up to fetch their own cutlery after their mains had been delivered and go up to the bar to order something to wash it down with, as no-one had asked.

Over Steamed Pudding

In the end we resorted to being entertained and exasperated by snatches of conversation from the other diners, some of whom were actually mad. I nicknamed the man on the next table ‘the King of Cheshire’ as he robustly regaled his dining buddy with tales of hunting and ‘something point seven million’ business deals in a voice so posh it made Penelope Keith sound like she belongs in Eastenders in comparison.

Eventually, I caught the eye of our waitress, and ordered sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream (£5.95) which my husband (after digging deep to find adjectives) could only describe as ‘nice’ and ‘fine, it was fine.’

I’ve driven past The Wizard a few times on the way to the National Trust forest for a walk but haven’t been in for years. I’m still quite fond of it and would recommend it to others if they were in the area, but am still struggling to find any better adjectives than my husband did to describe the whole experience.

@DeannaThomas

All scored reviews are unannounced, impartial, paid for by Confidential and completely independent of any commercial relationship.

The Wizard, Macclesfield Road, Nether Alderley, Cheshire, SK10 4UB. 01625 584 000.

Rating: 11/20

Food: 6/10 (scallops 7, terrine 6, beef 5, mackerel 6, sticky toffee 6)

Service: 2/5 (not naturally inclined towards the hospitality trade)

Ambience: 3/5 (charming, traditional)