Telephone: 0161-929 4008
Address: 21 The Downs, Altrincham, Cheshire
Rating: 18.5/20

We ate: exotic vegetable pizza; cauliflower and apricot mousse, saffron sauce and crispy black pudding; quail leg beignet, chocolate mayonnaise; beans on toast, glazed hollandaise, curried quail egg; chicken boudin, green grape and tomato salad; "shooter" of fresh pineapple juice, beetroot cream; ragout of wild mushroom and peas, smoked butter sauce; baby artichoke and caper salad; smoked bacon, white asparagus, beetroot dressing, vanilla glaze; poached monkfish, sweet ginger sauce, lavender; glazed tomato and hollandaise; wild mushrooms, pimento chewing gum, tomato consommé, poppy seeds, dried leeks, fennel powder; poached halibut wrapped in courgette, crab bisque, garlic beignet, morels; roasted fillet of beef, truffle glaze, horseradish; French cheeses; melon and vanilla milk; sherry trifle; baked lemon tart; milk chocolate soufflé; espresso and chocolate truffles.

You may find it hard to believe, but I don't often get faced with 20 courses, one after the other. Come to think of it, there aren't many chefs who can cook 20 courses, not on the spur of the moment, not to a consistent polished finish, and make them interesting, contrasting and different - but Paul Kitching is one of them. Those chefs who know him and his cooking tend to smile fondly at the mention of his name, and then they add, "But he's quite mad, you know. He cooks 20 courses for the hell of it. And the next day he'll cook you another 20 courses. Bonkers." So he may be, but he's brilliant as well.

I reviewed Juniper and once before, several years ago, just after it had opened, in the same company, one Paul Heathcote. We had a splendid dinner then, but commented that the cooking was rather overcomplicated. What did we know? Clearly, Paul Kitching did not take my comments to heart, but has gone on piling ingredient upon ingredient happily ever since. But something has happened along the way. Somehow complexity has become disciplined. While before there seemed to be one ingredient, or even two, too many in each dish, now they seem to be just right. Refinement, affinity, balance, point and counterpoint - these are the qualities that spring to mind.

In particular, I remember the cauliflower and apricot mousse, saffron sauce and crispy black pudding; the poached quail's egg, baked bean purée and glazed hollandaise; the shooter of fresh pineapple and beetroot cream; the ragout of wild mushrooms and fresh peas and smoked butter sauce. Oh yes, and the smoked bacon, white asparagus and beetroot dressing.

Inevitably in 20 courses, there are going to be one or two that don't work that well. The lavender sauce with the monkfish was going it a bit; lavender is a devilishly difficult herb to handle. The halibut dish didn't hit the spot, either, partly because the halibut was wanting; and the melon and vanilla milk was a curiosity rather than a triumph. But for the rest? They were, by turns, delightful, intriguing, delicious, diverting, sensational, exquisite and generally fun all round. And not just fun, but satisfying, too, at any number of levels of taste and texture, no matter how unlikely the ingredients.

At first sight, there appears to be a generic similarity with the cooking of Heston Blumenthal, the same liking for combinations of apparently unlikely ingredients. It is at first sight only. True, they share a certain playfulness, energy and thoughtfulness in challenging our accepted notions of cooking, but that is as far as it goes. Blumenthal's cooking is highly considered. He achieves his ends through logic and analysis rooted in a grand understanding of what is good to eat.

I can't be sure, but it seems to me that Kitching cooks by instinct rather than design. Luckily for us, his instincts and his tastes are inspired. The dishes, although complex in their parts and their appearance, have the air of being conjured up there and then, of being the spontaneous expressions of irrepressible creativity. Some may find the sequence of dishes and sensations wearing, but for me this is truly wonderful cooking, more exciting, stimulating and pleasurable than almost any other in the country.

Kitching is lucky. He is backed by a staff, led by Kate O'Brien, who are not only knowledgable in the ways of his kitchen, but who can memorise the ingredients of every dish, and give you chapter and verse on every cheese. They seem to share his abundant energy and enthusiasm for the job in hand. The dining room has had a makeover, too. It is less austere and Scandinavian than it was before, more cosy and just a touch more senior, but not enough to be in the slightest stuffy or formal.

I drank a glass of L'Esprit de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Cru Classe, Graves 1996; Chteau Laplagnotte-Bellevue, Grand Cru St Emilion 1997; Morsi di Luce, Cantine Florio 1998. And I paid £142. Rarely have I parted with so much money with so much pleasure.

· Open Lunch, Tues-Fri, 12 noon-2.15pm; dinner, Tues-Sat, 7-9.30pm. Set menus: Lunch, £15 for two courses, £19 for three, £30 for six and £40 for eight.