Leather's Smithy — Restaurant in England

A Scottish, Irish, and Brazilian walked into a bar... and they were so very happy they did I thoroughly recommend anyone visiting the area to go for a meal and a drink at Leather's Smithy. It's already in such a stunning location, and after our long 7 mile walk around the forest, we were very much in need of a nice sit down in a warm place and some nourishment. We found the perfect place and the staff were so welcoming too.

We are all so glad to have visited here, it really was the tastiest meals we've had in a long time, and there was many a pause in the conversation to truly savour the delicious flavours! We are glad to have met the chefs and have had the opportunity to say well done and thank you.

My friends ordered the Wild mushroom Truffle Gnocci as they were vegetarians. They commented that there were some lovely creative options for vegan or vegetarian to choose from. Not always the case in most pubs/ restaurants in rural locations. I was recommended the chicken and leek pie, and l was not disappointed, and the gravy was tasty enough to have to mention here! The desserts were truly delicious too!

John, one of the owners, took the time to speak to us and was very personable. In fact, we were introduced to all the staff, who were so helpful and friendly. I could feel the warmth in this wonderful place. I need to say that it can be all too easy to become complacent as a pub that is already in a stunning location with no competition, however, this is most definitely not the case here, they have outdone themselves with the quality of the food and the diversity and creativity of their dishes on their menu.

Suffice it to say we will be 100% going back here and look forward to trying more dishes and having a chat with the lovely staff again, after our next walk around Macclesfield Forest Park. Thanks, Leather's Smithy, for a great...

Usually think people are being dramatic when they post negative reviews, but found this place hard to like at all. 6 of us eating in, sat on a table next to the only exit, according to the Covid-minded one way system. The amount of times we had to move to let people past carrying drinks was pretty annoying as they had squeezed the table in next to the exit. Also people, including staff, constantly coming through it the wrong way and holding it open for ages. Food took a good 45 minutes to come and had some weird stuff going on. My wife got the Thai curry and it had 3 big visible salt mounds in it (imagine the top has come off the salt shaker as you shake it) kind of made us laugh, but whatever, she ate around it. My fish and chips was like a 70/30 batter to fish ratio, but each to their own. The weirder thing was when we got to dessert, my wife has a bad dairy allergy so ordered the chocolate and orange vegan pudding. The server came out and put it down in front of her and declared it was a "sticky toffee pudding". We managed to stop her and ask "are you sure? As we ordered the orange and chocolate pudding." She said it was probably what we ordered and walked off. We asked if she could check and she said sure. She then disappeared for, no joke, 10 minutes whilst it got cold and the ice cream turned to gloop. We finally got her attention as she walked past serving another table and she said "oh yea, it's the chocolate thing". So yea, just a bit rubbish really. Oh, and to top it off, only one person ordered a pint, rest of us got soft drinks but they charged all the soft drinks as pints of bitter on the bill. Wouldn't recommend but maybe we just had an...

Although I no longer live in the area, I tend to visit the Leather’s Smithy every Christmas Eve with my family, to commemorate my late father’s birthday, as the pub and surrounding area were somewhere he was very fond of. This is generally a very important and meaningful day for us all. This year, however, we didn’t have a pleasant experience. My wife, who was the only visibly non-white person in the pub (but who is British, and speaks only English) went to the bar to order some drinks. The staff member/waitress serving her asked where she was sitting, and so she pointed to our table and stated that she was with us, describing the other members of the group. The response from the staff member was to ask “well, have you asked them?”, to which my wife responded that no, she hadn’t done, because we were all part of the same group. My (white) sister-in-law was next in the queue at the bar behind my wife, and when being served by the same staff member, after my wife had returned to the table, was immediately asked if ‘she’ (my wife) was actually with us. Needless to say this strange degree of suspicion, the apparent assumption that my wife couldn’t be part of the same party as the rest of us, and in particular the need to check with my sister-in-law that my wife wasn’t lying, (and presumably wasn’t some kind of threat, or at the very least imposing herself uninvited), was extremely upsetting. I can’t imagine this is a venue in which we are likely to feel welcome or comfortable again any time soon, which is a real shame given the memories it holds for me...