Review of 'Taste Cheshire Food & Drink Festival 2025'

https://chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk/

Having attended the Cheshire Food & Drink Festival in 2023 we decided to again attend in 2025 though we were even less impressed than we were two years ago. The show takes place on the grounds of the Chester Racecourse with (paid) parking on the grass in the middle of the course though it was not entirely clear this option would be provided this year (we took a chance and found it was).

“The Pavilion” is a building at the main show entrance and contains a number of stalls selling all sorts of things from dog food to cheese to holidays in Scotland. The rest of the show takes place under tents or in stalls scattered through the grounds including around the show ring. There were a number of “fast food” vendors selling “ready to eat” food though not a huge amount of variety and certainly not selling anything we had not seen before. Innovation was not really a big thing here. If you want your German sausages, pizza or, yes, nice hamburgers you were all set, if you wanted something a bit different, not so much.

At the far end of the site was the “shopping village” tent which had more stalls like were in “The Pavilion” only not so many with a view out the window of other, empty tents in the surrounding area. Attached was the single tent hosting live events, “Chef Demo Kitchen” which over the course of the weekend featured mostly unrecognizable names though one stood out to us and was there when we visited on the Monday: Nisha Katona who will be familiar as a former judge to viewers of Great British Menu.

Nisha recently stood down as judge as she found the logistics challenging and difficult to balance with managing her expanding chain of “Mowgli Street Food” restaurants (26 and counting). Nisha gave an amazing demonstration of how to prepare simple, honest Indian food (a daal, chicken curry and Indian “fried” rice) in clear, easy to understand language. She was at pains to point out that she does not consider herself a chef but rather a “home” cook. She was far and away the highlight of the show for us.

We noticed considerably less stalls than when we visited two years ago and the talent in the chef demo kitchen was nothing like what was on show back then as well. Of course, with inflation the way it is, what was there to buy was quite expensive with no massive “bargains” to be had which likely has also impacted the size of the show.

So, generally, a disappointment. Unless things change in the future this will likely be the last time we attend.

Rating: “Not great, but not the worse”

Review Date: 2025-04-21

Location: Cheshire (England)

Address: New Crane St, Chester, Cheshire CH1 4JD ENGLAND

Public Transport: Chester

Telephone: +44 (0)1244 304600

URL: https://www.chester-races.com/

Founded in 1539 this is the oldest racecourse in the world that continues to hold races to this day. Located on the south-west corner of the city centre, this grass circuit has impressive facilities and plays host to various events throughout the year.