AS far as new restaurants go, Red has done everything right so far.

It quietly opened as a bar in December last year followed by an equally soft opening for food in May, and now has built its reputation solely through word of mouth.

Owner Jo Fielding lured a brilliant young chef, Alex Worrell, and the front-of-house manager Michelle Chisholm from the five-star Lowry Hotel River Restaurant in Salford. The result is that Red is now probably the best restaurant in Bolton.

I don’t say this lightly, but, believe me, Red is a gem.

In fact, it’s a polished red ruby of a place, from the tasteful plum decor with huge chandeliers through to its truly wonderful food.

The staff are attentive, but not intrusive, and on arrival we were immediately shown to a table in the bar where we ordered drinks and chose from a short but intriguing menu.

We enjoyed a bottle of house Rioja, recommended by the young lady who took our order, and a good choice it proved to be.

My starter of ham hock terrine was fabulous — not overly smooth, but managing to retain that meaty texture that marks out a good ham hock.

My wife ordered the warm salad with a smooth, delicately creamy goat’s cheese that again was a perfect blend of texture and flavour.

This fantastic start to the meal had us salivating in anticipation of our main courses as we watched the kitchen staff beavering away.

My roast rump slices came with a rich, dark burgundy sauce, complete with roasted shallots, and it tasted as great as it looked.

The beef was mouth-wateringly tender, with the wine sauce and chunky chips being the perfect accompaniment.

Calf’s liver was my wife’s main dish and, though it’s not something I would normally order in a restaurant, I sneaked a little taste.

Once again the quality of the produce shone like a beacon as the liver was melt-in-the-mouth delicious in its satisfyingly dark sauce and the accompanying cauliflower and caramelised shallot puree was sublime.

One minor quibble is that I would have liked more vegetables — a small dish of seasonal local vegetables, steamed, roasted, pureed or otherwise, would have been welcome on our table.

We decided to wait a few minutes before setting about the dessert menu.

When we were ready, I went for my childhood favourite of rhubarb and blackcurrant crumble with a dollop of thick cream (sadly no custard), while my wife ordered the lemon and thyme brulee.

Both puddings gave a fantastic finishing not-too-sweet note to a superb meal, so much so that we booked there and then for my birthday. The food portion of our bill was a little over £50, which, for the outstanding quality of the meal, we thought was excellent value.