Urmston has become a bit of a food related hot spot in fairly recent times, with a few quality operators popping up across the area.  But the town centre's highlight is undoubtedly Owen's Kitchen and Bar which sits prominently on Station Road bang in the middle of Urmston.

Named after the owners' Grandfather, Owen's showcase a menu packed with Mediterranean inspired flavours and dishes, so on the hottest evening of the year when you'd usually be sat a beer garden, we instead jumped in the car with aircon on full blast and headed over to Urmston to take a first-hand peek at what's happening at Owen's.

As soon as you enter it's a fabulous looking place with bags of personality and some retro inspired décor, lovely panelled walls and a truly cozy independent feeling vibe.  We were given the option of sitting in either the downstairs dining room, or upstairs in the airconditioned space, which based on that outside weather felt like the sensible choice, so up we headed to take our seat.

The menu is compact yet well balanced and full of quality, with something for all tastes and budgets.  The starter section also doubles up as a tapas/meze type option so you can either order entirely off this and eat small plate style, or go full a la carte/starters and mains style of dining.  We went with the latter!

We started with a glass of white each to help us cool down, following some solid recommendations from our host as we made our picks from the food menu.  A zingy, vibrant Sauvignon Blanc fitted that 32c climate outside, and a freshly herbaceous Pecorino also hit the spot.  Our choices were soon made, and it wasn’t long before the goods started leaving the kitchen.

We decided to start with a cheeky little pre starter snack in the form of some Poppadom Nachos (£7).  Superbly crunchy and loaded with guacamole, salsa, and some deliciously spiced mango chutney.  A fun and tasty way to kick things off, and these would make an ideal bar snack for those who've popped in just for drinks.

Chilli Butter King Prawns (£10.5) were delightful and served in a much bigger portion that our photo gives the dish credit for.  The prawns were a good size and cooked really well, coated in a lovely vibrant tomato sauce, and served with warm stick loaf.  It's a Mediterranean based  classic for good reason.

Our second opening course of Watermelon, Feta and mint (£10) was the pick of our initial plates though.  Super clever flavour combos, contrasting temperatures, and a really interesting plate which absolutely paired up with the season. We will be shamelessly ripping this off at home when the next heatwave drops!

Main courses kicked off with Pan Roasted Swordfish (£25.5), which took us right back to a recent holiday in the Med.  Firm yet juicy fish served with fondant sweet potato, along with a lovely Canarian red mojo sauce, sitting alongside some dressed salad to round things off with a bite of freshness which brought the whole thing alive.  Seeing swordfish on a menu in the UK is less common than it should be.

But Owen's Cheshire Lamb Rump (£27) was an absolute stunner of a dish.  This plate would without question grace the menu of any of the city centre's top a la carte focused dining rooms.  It really was that delicious and so well put together.  Well-cooked protein with every other component enhancing that lamb, not to mention looking wonderful as per our proud shot!  You need to try this plate!

And to round things off, we just had to explore Owen's sweet offerings, starting with their Chocolate Marquise (£10) with salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb.  It wasn’t really possible to fit any more indulgence onto this plate.  Every element was delicious.

We decided on a lighter option for round two, going with the Peach and Elderflower Pavlova (£9).  A New Zealand (Australia would argue) classic which seems to be having a bit of a resurgence as of late.  Owen's present theirs with white chocolate shards for a bit of extra luxury, along with mint to give the whole dish a bit of freshness.  Superbly enjoyable.

And there came the end of our experience.  The world needs more places like Owen's in our view.  Properly run indies who do things to a really good standard, driven by people who really care about their product.  In a market where more and more customers want a night out closer to home rather than always visiting the city centre, restaurants like Owen's are so important to communities.

So if your own suburb isn’t blessed with a venue as good as Owen's, which is a likely scenario, then why not make that trip to Urmston yourself?  You will be rewarded.