They were replaced by Morecambe Bay shrimps, sauteed on a bed of Welsh rarebit. Maybe not. Mark had salivated over fresh sardines and they had swum away. Instead, he had timbale of snow crab mousse. That was a special, along with baked avocado, stuffed with crab meat and topped with Parmesan cheese. I chose crostini of chicken livers, which were rich and succu-lent. In this, there was a clever combination of sweet and savoury. The sauce was quite beautiful, almost a meal in itself. Once Mark's arrived, he was well pleased. "Wonderfully tasty," he suggested. "Just like you used to get out of a paper by the sea-side. It's wonderfully presented and tastes brilliant." Was that the wine talking? As we were beginning to eat, the wine arrived: a Mazzolada Pinot Grigio. "I'm getting sweet, pink grapefruit," said Mark. "It's crisp, light and highly refreshing." Our mains arrived promptly, Mark's Moroccan style lamb shank, served with a fruit cous cous, turned baby vegetables and a rich aromatic jus. "I've got a family joint just to myself," he explained. "It's a touch on the salty side but it is wonderful. The rice is spicy and the meat tender to the point of destruction." I chose Bouillabaise - fish stew. It arrived, beautifully presented, in an earthenware pot. Red hot. And it went on for ever. The fish was brilliant. But unshelled prawns at nuclear heat was not good. They cannot be handled, they cannot be de-shelled with standard knives and forks, there was no finger-bowl, no napkin. If not prepared, you ended up a charred mess. For dessert, we rather copped out. The selection is very good indeed, but we could manage little. We went for shared apple and cinnamon charlotte with a cider sorbet. Except they forgot. We sat for ages and then had to scoff it all too quickly. Good place, yes. Would we return? Maybe.
 Ciro's Brasserie, The Grosvenor Pulford Hotel, Wrexham Road, Pulford, Chester Telephone: 01244 570560
Ambience: Quietly al fresco
Value for money: Reasonable
Service: Fairly slow at times
Disabled access: Full access.
Parking: Very easy. Plenty of space. The Bill: £60.05 including a bottle of Mazzolada Pinot Grigio at £15. | 
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