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Situated in the beautiful Cheshire countryside, The Cottage's design is in keeping with the location and a warm welcome awaits guests at this charming hotel. The twelve spacious ensuite bedrooms are tastefully decorated and could be just the kind of place you'd want to come back to after spending the day shopping and walking down the narrow cobbled streets of Knutsford.

On the food side the homemade chicken liver pâté with Cumberland sauce and hot toast, and hummus with marinated black olives are refreshingly light. If grills are your idea for a main course there's char grilled king prawns and salmon, rib eye, prime Scotch and fillet steak, and lamb cutlets, all served with chips, side salad and red wine sauce. The menu's Italian nod is demonstrated in frutti di mare pizza of salmon, cod, mussels and king prawns with a dill hollandaise, beef lasagne, and saffron risotto with baby spinach topped with goats' cheese.

It's bright, it's vivacious and it epitomises Italy perfectly, bringing you a lovely and continental setting, right here in the UK. Chic and modern elements fuse seamlessly with traditional charm and classic brasserie feel, and what you get is an ambience that resonates with a vibrant and contemporary buzz. The food is simply some of the best you can have outside Italy, and the fresh and superb quality ingredients along with the Neapolitan wood stone oven, makes sure that every dish is turned out authentically.

The fritto misto with fried squid, king prawn, asparagus and roasted garlic mayonnaise is a great way to begin, and crispy duck with honey roasted apples and Valpolicella red wine sauce makes a delicious main course. Pasta options are plentiful with favourites such as spaghetti carbonara and tagliatelle alla Bolognese; dessert includes the refreshing baked vanilla cheesecake with citrus blueberries.

Predominantly Italian, the wine list at Piccolino offers a number of choices alongside spirits and liqueurs.

Whilst the 42 Loch Fyne restaurants have a shared background there is a welcome degree of individuality encouraged throughout the group, which makes for customer interest. If you like wholesome, fresh and reliable seafood caught and reared under carefully controlled conditions, well presented in unfussy surroundings, and you enjoy being well looked after by pleasant staff, Loch Fyne is for you.

There is an increasing awareness of other food staples with an extended choice of meat dishes, but it is the original fare upon which their success was created that prevails. Loch Fyne kippers, a fine bouillabaisse, braden rost, kiln-roasted salmon fillet, and the toothsome oysters on ice, with a selection of accompaniments, all are to be found throughout the various restaurants, as well as Glen Fyne 21 day aged rib-eye steak and Scottish smoked venison. There is invariably a well-travelled wine list available which is sensible, both in content and prices.

Loch Fyne's greatest achievement has been to prove to a sceptical populace that chains or conglomerates can be made to work in the eating-out public's best interests.