Mel finds a lovely village chophouse.....

Yet again, Mel needed to eat. This time, both Mel and her fortunate friend were in Cheadle and heard of a new restaurant in town – the Victory Chop & Ale House which is a fresh concept to the Village Urban Resort.

I know what you’re thinking, ‘chop house’? What’s that? Well conventionally it is a type of steak house or where meat was prepared, and this restaurant has certainly maintained this tradition.

Upon arrival, Mel was astonished by the change in decor. Bright chandeliers with coloured wine glasses, comfortable leather seats and a huge open-theatre kitchen in the middle. The atmosphere was turned right up and even had the lead singer of The Hoosiers performing - instantly Mel knew she had made a great decision.

Along with a lovely Sicilian white, the starters were a great success. A shrimp & crab cocktail as well as a tuna Carpaccio – not together of course. The Carpaccio was full of flavour combining fresh lime, coriander and chilli – delicious! The cocktail was also great which had small cubes of grapefruit adding a real zing to the dish.

Once recovered from this, the mains came out, both looking a treat! A lamb shank pie (with bone poking out) was incredibly moreish with slow cooked lamb in a red wine sauce. The hake dish was equally scrumptious with mussels, chorizo and a tomato fondue; the butter in the fondue was velvety and pure indulgence. The tomatoe salad gave a fresh lift to this and made Mel feel like she was eating her 5 a day.

Although both were full to the brim, they couldn’t help themselves from the enormous cheese board on display and were told to eat with a selection of ales (maintaining the ale bit in the name). This too worked well, but to be honest, Mel is a traditionalist and preferred it with the Merlot which was flowing nicely.

There was one thing which stuck out during the evening, which was the service. As well as the usual checks and politeness, Mel’s waitress was on the ball informing of waiting times for courses, suggesting great wine and dishes and generally being very nice.

If you do one thing this month, check out this new (and refreshing) restaurant – not only does the food serve well, but the service and atmosphere work incredibly well too. Mel was very happy.

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Posted: Monday 11th February 2013
ID: 1993 - 815