Planet Pavilion Cafe, Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield
Sat in the eerie shadow of Jodrell Bank's magnificent radio-telescopes, it can feel as if you are eating on the set of a Cold War spy drama. Except, in the 1970s, the food would never have tasted this good. The Pavilion's owner, chef Peter Booth, is something of a local hero. His Manchester cafes, at Whitworth Art Gallery and Gabriel's Grocery Store, in Chorlton, knock-out bright, punchy globally-inspired dishes with an emphasis on seasonality and local artisan ingredients (Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire cheese, Bury black pudding, Cheshire honey). The MO at Jodrell Bank – note, entrance to the cafe is free – is exactly the same. It is good, varied stuff: handsome pastrami sandwiches, well-turned mezze plates, goat's cheese frittata, a slow-cooked ragu pasta or, in summer, a warm salad of roast pork, sweet peas, broad beans and new potatoes. Which you can wash down with a bottle of superior lager from Liverpool brewery Cains (£3.50).
• Breakfast dishes £1.50-£6.50, sandwiches and mains, £5.50-£9. 01477 571908, jodrellbank.net
Gusto, Alderley Edge & Knutsford
£10 doesn't buy you a lot in Alderley Edge. The archetypal well-heeled Cheshire village, it is a world of Bentleys, big sunglasses and tiny dogs. Gusto, a high-quality northern pizza'n'pasta chain, chooses not to exploit that moneyed customer base. Consequently, its wood-fired 12" pizzas (authentically thin, blast-cooked bases; fresh, sweet, expertly seasoned tomato pulp) still come in under £10. The set lunch menu (main plus drink, £9.95, until 5pm) is good value. Alternatively, in the evening, split a pizza and a couple of side salads with two beers (from £3.65; Sam Adams Boston Lager, £4), and, if you are strict, two of you should be able to eat here for £22. If it is a sunny day, grab a seat outside, on busy London Road, and watch the world go by. It can be very entertaining.
• Most mains, salads and pizza, £6.95-£11.25. 75 London Road, Alderley Edge, 01625 583993 and 81 King Street, Knutsford, 01565 755487, gustorestaurants.uk.com
The Fish Bar at Sunnybank Road, Crewe
In a previous life, Craig Buckley was an estate agent. He is now making a far more useful contribution to society by helping drive up the standard of fish'n'chips in Cheshire. The 2011 Young Fish Frier of the Year's flagship Fish Bar (there is a second Crewe branch at 287 Alton Street) is a smart modern premises – all glazed, brick-effect tiling and gleaming ranges – serving A1 suppers. Chips are thick cut, fluffy and, on their exterior, mix a good crunch with a little chew. Buckley's thin, gnarled batter is exemplary. It is crisp and apparently "dry", but once you bite through, to the pearly, sweet fried-to-order cod, it is rich and unctuous, leaving a beautiful glossy stain on your fingers. With a pot of gherkin and caper-packed homemade tartar (50p) on the side, it is a fine meal. Buckley also makes his own fantastic pies. They're up there, if not on par, with Pieminister's creations and, yet, they're only £2.25 each. Bargain.
• Fish'n'chips, £4.90. Unit 2, 645 West Street, 01270 580055, crewefishbar.co.uk
Vale Inn, Bollington
Brewery-tap for the excellent Bollington Brewery (its pale, hoppy Long Hop and White Nancy beers are recommended, pint from £2.80), this cosy, sparely-decorated stone village pub also serves highly creditable food. Lunch and dinner, you will find a mixture of walkers, cyclists and locals snaffling hot baguettes or mains such as sausage and mash with sweet onion gravy or the steak 'n' Vale pie. Of two sample meals, the chilli was good pub chilli, as opposed to the dark, smoky auténtico Mexican dish. It could have been a shade hotter, but it was tasty. The burger, meanwhile, was superb. The pub marinates its mince in beer and spices, but in such a way as it had, simply, drawn out this stout, juicy patty's natural beefy flavour. The bun needed toasting, to help it hold together, but topped with a serious piece of mature cheddar, and with crisp fat chips on the side, it was a very satisfying plate of food. If you feel the need to burn off the calories, you could explore the nearby Macclesfield canal. The Vale also publishes its own walking guide: 18 walks for £9.95. All the proceeds go to Cancer Research.
• Starters, £3.50-£4.95, mains, £6.95-£9.95. 29-31 Adlington Road, 01625 575147, valeinn.co.uk
Chilli Banana, Wilmslow & Macclesfield
Tucked behind an Esso garage, on a busy junction, in an newer extension to an old Robinson's pub, the Wilmslow Chilli Banana looks rum. It is a Thai restaurant reminiscent, with its big windows and booth seating, of a roadside American diner. Nonetheless the kitchen, overseen by May Wakefield, delivers fresh, home-style dishes that are a cut above the Thai norm. Rather than the usual sweet chilli gloop, sweetcorn fritters arrive with a dipping sauce that is packed with chopped peanuts, cucumber and onion. A bowl of tom yam gai hits the mark, too. It is zesty, chilli hot, anchored by a lip-smacking fish sauce saltiness and flush with pieces of ginger and lemongrass. At night, the veggie stir-fries, noodle dishes and curries hover around £8, with many meat dishes also dipping under £10. Alternatively, take away (all the dishes are a couple of quid cheaper) or visit at lunch, when the Banana offers a two-course express menu, £8.45.
• Evening menu, most mains, eat-in, £7.45-£11.95. King's Arms Hotel, Alderley Road, Wilmslow, 01625 539100, 59 Buxton Road, Macclesfield, 01625 422332 chillibanana.co.uk
The Wizard Inn, Nether Alderley
Considering that this pub sits at the start of the walk which takes you out through Windmill Wood to the famous sandstone "cliff" from which Alderley Edge takes its name, it is much better and cheaper than you might expect. Rather than screw the tourists, the Wizard – all flagstone floors, beams, old rugs and "shabby" antique furniture – takes the long view. Its lunch menu includes sandwiches, served with great, darkly caramelised chips, which are a meal in themselves. The homemade fish finger butty, on a toasted muffin, slathered with a caper-rich tartar, is fantastic. A couple of the à la carte mains dip under £10 or, if you can push the boat out, the butcher's platter (£11 for cheeses, thick roast ham, tracklements and, brilliantly, a warm scotch egg and a mini meat pie) is delicious. There is also a £10 two-course set menu available Mon-Thu, 6.30pm-7.30pm, that includes the likes of bangers'n'mash and gnocchi in a creamed spinach, mushroom and goat's cheese sauce. Thwaites' so-so Wainwright is the permanent ale, one of two (pint, £3.50).
• Sandwich meals, £6.75-£7.95. Macclesfield Road, 01625 584000, thewizardofedge.co.uk
Swadesh, Wilmslow
You will have to take away and possibly pool your money, in order to bring this in under £20, for two (if possible, take advantage of the 20% discount on orders before 7pm), but it is definitely worth it. A world away from the generic high street curry house, Swadesh's broadly north Indian food is alive with flavour, fresh herbs and the reverberations of real cooking. Its methi murgh is typical. It uses flavoursome chicken thigh, not breast, doesn't overdo the heat and comes dense with irony, tangy fenugreek. Swadesh's tandoori chops – that arrive part charred, but still moist in patches from their exceptional marinade of yoghurt and crushed herbs and spices – are probably the best you will eat north of Whitechapel's famous Tayyabs. It is revelatory stuff. After which, the ordinary British curry, knocked up with jars, pastes and cheap meats, may never taste the same again. There is also a second Swadesh, in Bowdon, just over the, still disputed, border into Greater Manchester.
• Takeaway prices, after 7pm, vegetarian mains from £6.75, meat mains from £9.30. 26-28 Green Lane, 01625 525902, swadeshrestaurants.com
Roses Tea Room, Ness
Part of the visitor centre at Ness Botanic Gardens, on the Wirral, this Tea Guild member serves sensational homemade cakes and fine loose leaf teas. A (huge) slice of Victoria sponge (£2.95), one of more than a dozen choices, was fantastic: texturally dense, yet light, and unusually filled with real fresh cream and a thick farmhouse-style strawberry jam. With a two-cup pot of Earl Grey (£1.95), it was a fiver very well spent. Roses makes a big play of its local, ethical sourcing and scratch-cooking, but, personally, I was less impressed with a plate of Welsh rarebit. It was fine in itself, properly mustardy and served with a neat pear chutney, but, for £6.50, the actual rarebit topping was thin and the accompanying, slightly watery salad not up to much. The sandwiches going out to other tables looked reasonably good, but, again, seemed a touch toppy at around £6. The cakes, however, are worth a trip out in themselves.
• Light and full meals, £3.95-£7.95, cakes £1.75-£2.95. Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston Road, 0151-353 1573, rosestearooms.co.uk
The Smokehouse, Wilmslow
If you are planning a picnic, or you are nearby and just want to grab lunch, then this upmarket food hall (home-smoked products are a speciality, unsurprisingly) is a must-visit. Yes, you could spend a lot of money here. But the Smokehouse also sells many items: zippy gourmet salads, sandwiches, terrific scotch eggs, pies, quiches, biscuits and cakes, that rarely break £3. All of it is made on the premises, from the bread up, and all of it is of remarkable quality. A pastrami sandwich with gherkins and mustard mayo was, pound-for-pound, probably the best £2.95 that I spent on this trip. There is an on-site cafe, too. But forget picking up a bargain there. Its sandwiches – and you may want to sit down while you read this – cost over £10 each. For a sandwich. Grab a beer to calm your nerves (local breweries such as Mobberley and Bollington feature), and concentrate instead on the shop's best buys. Which include whole rotisserie chickens at £5.95 each.
• Various snacks, salads and sandwiches, £2-£3. Vost Farm, Morley Green, Wilmslow, 01625 548499, cheshiresmokehouse.co.uk
Cock o' Barton, Barton, Malpas
The Cock continually forces you to question your assumptions. From the outside, this white, half-timbered boozer looks like a traditional country inn. Turn the corner and a new extension stretches out into the car park. Step inside, and the first interiors pieces that you see, a huge mirror and a modern chandelier, suggest the kind of naff Cheshire pub where taste comes a poor second to bling. Explore further, however, and the tone is more Wallpaper* magazine. That is, tasteful high-end design. Which, you think, should make the Cock's menu very expensive. Not so. Midday to 7pm, it features affordable sandwiches, salads and topped flatbreads, as well as several sub-£10 mains, such as fish pie and a wood pigeon Kiev with creamed savoy cabbage. A bowl of Gratin Normande, a thick, rich, cider-laced cream of white onion soup, topped with Gruyère and crutons, was about as luxurious as life gets for £5.50. A half of Excalibur (£1.70), a pale, spicy ale from the regional micro, Merlin's, proved a good foil.
• Daytime menu, flatbreads, £6.50-£7.50, sandwiches and lighter dishes, £4.50-£7.95, mains, £8.95-£10.50. Barton Road, 01829 782277, cobcheshire.com
Cheshire Food Festival, 29-30 September, entrance £3.50, Walton Hall & Gardens, Walton Lea Road, Higher Walton, Warrington, 01925 479140, cheshirefoodfestival.com. Travel between Manchester and Warrington was provided by First TransPennine Express (tpexpress.co.uk)
