Home cooked food and home grown ingredients at Wirral's top restaurant

And Refreshment Rooms owners Alan Tuohey and Ian Joyce, together with head chef Matthew Fairbanks have clearly got it mastered, having been doing it for decades.

The talented trio are celebrating this week after winning our final Best of 2023 award – Wirral’s Best Restaurant 2023.

Each week, we will be searching for the best Wirral has to offer in different categories and we’ve given out 23 awards this year.

The winners so far:

Best for Hair – The Hair, Beauty and Nail Lounge

Best for Pies – Pies4U

Best for Nails – Ebony J Nails & Beauty

Best for Roast Dinner – Fox and Hounds

Best for Cocktails – Shaker Shaker

Best for Breakfast – Twenty Sixteen

Best for Fitness – Matt Colligan

Best for Fish and Chips - SelFish

Best for Tattoos – Nomad Ink

Best for Pizza – Pizza Mamma

Best for Pets – Sanderson Vets

Best Independent Shop or Business – Bromborough Flowers

Best for Dessert – Our Coffee Shop

Best for Beauty – Glow Aesthetics

Best for Kids – Spanish Tots and Bebes

Best Gym – Dream Body

Best Beer Garden – The Red Fox

Best for Afternoon Tea – The Coffee Shop

Best for Burgers – Chuck Wagon by Taylors Kitchen

Best Café or Coffee Shop – Aroma

Best for Curry – Kerala Kitchen

Best Pub or Bar – The Scrap Yard

Next on the menu was the search for Wirral’s Best Restaurant and Refreshment Rooms on Bedford Road East on Rock Park took the final Best of 2023 crown.

Ian Joyce, Matthew Fairbanks and Alan Tuohey

The Refreshment Rooms opened on the Rock Ferry waterfront in 2012 with Alan, Ian and Matthew having all worked together at popular local eatery Villa Jazz in Oxton, Heswall and West Kirby in the 1990s and 2000s.

They all grew up in Wirral and share a passion for local produce.

Alan said: “We have lots of ingredients that are grown on site in polytunnels and the vegetable garden under the watchful eye of head gardener Pete.

“Our focus is on good quality, home cooked fayre with fresh, seasonal produce and this is key to our success together with an emphasis on value for money.”

Fresh home grown produce

The business survived the Covid-19 pandemic offering a home delivery service, which allowed key members of staff to remain employed but The Refreshment Rooms barely broke even.

Ian said: “We introduced popular promotions, mindful of the impending financial crisis felt by everyone.

“Our early week over 60s menu, which offers smaller portions for smaller appetites at a more manageable cost, has proved massively popular together with our Monday steak night, which saves customers £10 from 3pm.

“The most popular dishes on the menu are our Sunday roasts and traditional fish and chips – which is supplied by local food heroes Ward’s Fish from Seafood Shack in West Kirby every day.

“We always place an emphasis on seasonality and local produce.

“The homemade steak and ale pie is another firm favourite and our head chef Matthew is very innovative with cutting edge specials such as roast hake which is served with a pea and mint purée and roast garlic and rosemary potatoes.”

Reeses peanut butter crème brûlée

The Refreshment Rooms caters for small weddings and family celebrations in the new garden room, which has a capacity of 30 guests.

But what do customers think about The Refreshment Rooms? Why did they think the business should win our last award?

One happy customer gave the fish and chips a huge thumbs up.

Fish and chips

Another said: “Refreshments Rooms is the best by a country mile.

“It’s dog friendly and has such friendly service and the food is beautiful.

“I have been proud to take many friends and family members there to show them just how lovely the food is.”

Alan said: “We were very excited to be shortlisted again this year and to finally win it is a massive shot in the arm for the whole team.

“We can’t thank our loyal band of customers enough for all their support and for taking the time to vote for us – it really does mean everything to us.

“We would like to send our congratulations to all our fellow nominees who made the top 10.”

For more details go to facebook.com/refreshmentrooms

The new garden room that's available for special occasions