Upstairs at the Grill

Upstairs at the Grill sits above The Rows on Watergate Street — the medieval two-tier galleried shopping street that is Chester's architectural signature — in a first-floor dining room with timbered ceilings dating to the 17th century. The format is Manhattan-style steakhouse: leather banquettes, dim lighting, a visible dry-ageing cabinet at the entrance, a meat trolley wheeled tableside with the cuts on display.

The beef is all Cheshire — dry-aged on-site for 35–55 days from a herd of native Longhorn and Dexter cattle farmed 25 minutes from the restaurant. The signature cut is the bone-in ribeye (16oz, £52) from the 45-day dry-age; the Tomahawk (for two, £105) is the showpiece; the fillet at 8oz (£42) is the entry point. Non-beef options exist but are beside the point — this is the steakhouse the north-west orders its steak at.

The wine list runs 200 labels with a proper red Bordeaux section, three pages of California Cabernet, and a half-page of Barolo — all the wines a serious steak kitchen needs. The bourbon list hits 60 labels including Van Winkle and Willett. House cocktails use Cheshire Gin and local apple brandy. The cheese trolley at the end is smaller than Simon Radley's but well-curated with four British regional cheeses always on.

Two dining rooms plus a private cellar dining space (seats 12, popular for board dinners). Service is American-inflected — warmer than traditional British fine dining, attentive without hovering — and the restaurant runs a tight two-and-a-half-hour service window for 19:30 bookings.

Deal dinners in the north-west almost default to a steakhouse. Upstairs at the Grill is the Chester choice: the private cellar room holds 12 comfortably, the wine list supports big-ticket Bordeaux, the meat quality signals that the host is spending seriously. Book the cellar room for anything over six people, pre-order the Tomahawk for the centre of the table, agree on bill settlement before arrival.