Review of '9 Mill Street'

Formerly the site of The Townhouse, “9 Mill Street” is a completely different vibe entirely, now, dramatically, specializing in “Pan-Asian small plates” rather than modern English/French. The prices are still fairly steep though.

The restaurant has a small car park just inside it's gates with the imposing edifice of the restaurant fronted by some outdoor seating. Inside there is a small atrium containing the toilets then you enter into the bar area with the dining area to your right. The interior is very dark and, I supposed, sophisticated looking which extends to the cocktails, wine list and, of course menu. We were a group of five and shown a booth with seating on a semi-circular bench at the end of the long room against one of the two windows. My companion and I opted for a couple of non-alcoholic drinks before the group arrived. It was nice to see that there were options that were a bit more sophisticated than a Shirley Temple.

I had the “Forest Bloom” (£7.45; “EVERLEAF FOREST 0% GIN, ELDERFLOWER SYRUP, LIME JUICE, GINGER ALE”) which was very nice indeed. Not sweet, with a bit of tang from the lime and gin, but very refreshing.

My companion had the surprisingly sweet “Passionfruit Martini” (£5.45; “PINEAPPLE JUICE, PASSIONFRUIT JUICE, PASSIONFRUIT PUREE, LEMONADE”), though it was still quite tasty.

The main food menu is sparsely populated and spread out over 12-14 pages. The server was clear to explain to us how it was to be used: Choose between 2-3 dishes from the ENTIRE menu (other than the first few pages) so things like “starters” are not really available. The dishes arrive whenever they are ready which proved to be the case with some of us having to wait up to 10 minutes after others to receive our food. The menu itself is divided into “Dips, Spreads & Breads”, “To Share”, “Light Bites” (just slightly lighter dishes), “Land”, “Sea”, “Soil”, “Char Grill - Yakiniku”, and “Quirky Extras”. Dining with others there was at least one vegetarian amongst us (who was happy with what she ordered) but otherwise we just found what we liked.

For the table, we shared the “Mill Street Confit Dipping Oil and Breads” (£9.5; “DELICATE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, GARLIC, ROSEMARY, THYME, ROQUITO PEPPERS, CRUSHED WALNUTS & PISTACHIOS, ORANGE ZEST, BALSAMIC & HONEY, ACCOMPANIED WITH WARM BREADS”) which was quite delicious with two different types of in-house breads accompanied by an amazing dip (the description given here is of the dip alone). The amazing fresh bread with it's perfectly chewy texture was topped up throughout our visit though the dip, sadly, was not.

I had the “Soft Shell Crab” (£12.5; “JAPANESE STYLE, WASABI AIOLI DIP, LIME”) as I am a sucker for soft shell crab. This was very nice with a larger portion than I might have expected. The crab was not in any way greasy and the dip was tasty but not so flavourful to completely overwhelm the crab.

Arriving at the same time, I also had the “Duck and French Green Beans” (£15.5; “LIGHTLY CRISPED DUCK PIECES WITH SAUTE FRENCH BEANS IN A RICH TAMARIND & GINGER CREAM REDUCTION”) which was quite nice and reminded me a lot of the “crispy beef” you get in a Chinese takeaway but this with the meat a lot more delicate.

My companion had the “Baked Sea Bream” (£14; “BAKED HALF SIDE OF SEA BREAM, MARINATED IN TURMERIC, SMOKED PAPRIKA & GARLIC ACCOMPANIED WITH A LIME WEDGE & PICKLED GINGER”) which she was a bit concerned would be on the bone but turned out to be boneless. She found it very delicate and delicious. She also had the “Stir Fried Vegetables (£6.5; “STIR FRY CHINESE CABBAGE, SUGAR SNAP PEAS, EDAMAME SOY BEANS, PEPPERS, BEAN SPROUTS & RED ONION IN A SWEET SOY & CHILLI GARLIC GLAZE & TOPPED WITH CRISPY ONIONS”; picture above to right of duck) which she found quite sweet, but quite tasty with the vegetables still slightly al dente – as you would want.

For dessert I had the “Trillionaire Tart” (£8.5; “CHOCOLATE BASE PASTRY CASE WITH TOFFEE SAUCE & CHOCOLATE GANACHE ACCOMPANIED WITH MACERATED BERRIES”) which I found fairly bland but a nice texture. Surprisingly, I did not find it terribly sweet which is perhaps both a good thing and a bad thing…some of our fellow diners found it quite a disappointment as they wanted to be overwhelmed by sweet.

My companion had the “Vanilla Crème Brûlée” (£8; “CLASSIC RICH & CREAMY CUSTARD BASE WITH HINTS OF VANILLA, TOPPED WITH HARD, BRITTLE CARAMELISED SUGAR, ACCOMPANIED WITH GINGER SHORTBREAD”) which she found very disappointing. It tasted more like a vanilla custard or pudding in taste and texture than a brûlée should be – Quite grainy and very sweet.

We split the bill evenly which came to about £50 per person which is reasonable considering the quality of the food and the number of dishes we ordered. The service was friendly but not overly so, though certainly professional. They had a long way to go from the kitchen near the bar area to our table at the far end of the dining room. To be sure the place was quite busy but not full despite it being a Saturday evening so they were not overly taxed.

Though pricy, the food was quite good though there were the occasional missteps such as with the desserts, but I would certainly be interested in returning. They do have a range of menus offered at different days of the week so if you want to go, be sure to check out their web site for any deals they might have otherwise be prepared for the bill…

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2026-06-13

---

Cuisine: Japanese

Address: 9 Mill Street, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5ST ENGLAND

Public Transport: Nantwich

Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich

Map:

 

Show in Google Maps  Get Directions

Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 904970

URL: https://www.9millstreet.com/