Working for The Best of Altrincham can be really great - especially when you get to try out some of the best local cuisine. Late 2007 I was sent on a mission to discover the best 7 restaurants in the Altrincham area. What a great idea I thought. Where to begin though? After all, who determines what's best? And what does "best" mean? Best quality? Best price? Best taste? Best service?
Although the idea of personally visiting every restaurant in the area and tasting their food sounded appealing, I didn't think this would be the most accurate way of determining the best local restaurants. After all, any restaurant can have a bad evening and at the end of the day, my opinion is only my opinion. What I like may not be to the linking of everybody else. What I think qualifies a restaurant as best doesn't necessarily mean everybody thinks the same way too.
So I decided the best way to find our 'Magnificent 7' would be to let the Altrincham locals decide who is best.
Every week from August to January I spent a few hours calling door to door around Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale and Timperley speaking with the locals and asking them to nominate their favourite local restaurant. The 7 restaurants with the most nominations would be considered our 'Magnificent 7'.
At first the idea of going door to door didn't really appeal to me, but after having done it a few times, I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it can be, and how friendly and helpful most people were. Hundreds of people readily nominated their favourite restaurant and gave varied reasons as to why - many mentioned service, others food quality, whereas others felt the location and atmosphere were important factors. For a few it was good prices that made a restaurant best!
After gathering all the nominations we finally had Altrincham's Magnificent 7' restaurants! They're listed in order below:
1. Little Italy, Timperley Italian restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/59508/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
2. Danilos, Hale Pizzeria and Italian restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/63778/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
3. Franks, Altrincham French restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/3402/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
4. Dee Thai, Hale Thai restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/63771/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
5. La Vina, Hale Spanish restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/63783/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
6. Juniper, Altrincham Fine Dining restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/63789/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
7. Dilli, Altrincham Indian restaurant
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/altrincham/63785/1/1/the_best_of.aspx
Click on the links to read more about the restaurants and see why people nominated them.
What do you think to the Manificent 7? Would they be your Magnificent 7 too? Is your favourite restaurant included among them? Who do you think deserves to be in the top 7? I'd love to hear what you think and why.
If you've recently enjoyed eating at one of the 'Magnificent 7' restaurants, why not write a little review for it - your comments would be much appreciated. All you need to do is go to the restaurant feature on this site, scroll to the reviews section at the bottom and register with your e-mail address. By writing a review you'll get the chance to win an i-pod touch.
Miguel N