Restaurant in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
Michelin-recognised dining inside Wedgwood's home.
Lunar sits inside the former staff canteen of the World of Wedgwood complex in Barlaston, where Michelin Plate recognition (2025) and a commitment to prime British ingredients place it firmly above the casual visitor-attraction dining typical of heritage sites. The restaurant serves modern cuisine on Wedgwood china, with a hidden bar and a chef's table overlooking the kitchen adding depth to the format.
Lunar is the right booking if you want Michelin-recognised Modern British cooking paired with one of the most distinctive dining settings in the Midlands. The Wedgwood connection is not a gimmick — the tableware, the heritage, and the visitor experience around the restaurant create genuine context for a meal that rewards curious, engaged diners. If you are travelling from Birmingham or Manchester for a destination lunch, this clears the bar. If you want a quick mid-week dinner with no planning, look elsewhere.
Lunar sits inside the former staff canteen of the World of Wedgwood at Barlaston — a detail that gives the space a scale and character most restaurant conversions cannot buy. The room is vast, and Wedgwood's own fine china and tableware appear throughout service, which means the plates you eat from are not an afterthought but part of a coherent, considered identity. For food and travel enthusiasts who find context as satisfying as cooking, that layering matters. The Lunar Society itself , the eighteenth-century Birmingham collective of industrialists and thinkers of which Josiah Wedgwood was a founding member , gives the restaurant its name and its intellectual backbone. It is a reference point that the kitchen earns rather than merely inherits.
The chef's table is positioned to look directly through a large window into the kitchen, giving a working view of the team during service. That transparency suits a diner who wants to understand what they are eating, not just consume it. The hidden bar is worth finding before or after the meal , it functions as a quieter, more considered space than the main room. For context on comparable destination-restaurant settings in the UK, L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton set the standard for integrating environment and food into a single argument , Lunar is working towards a similar logic in a very different geography.
The 2025 Michelin Plate recognition , awarded to restaurants cooking at a good level without reaching star territory , is an honest signal for what Lunar delivers: serious intent and reliable execution, with prime British ingredients at the centre of the menu. The Michelin Plate category rewards kitchens that are cooking well and consistently, so treat it as a quality floor rather than a ceiling. Diners who have eaten at hide and fox in Saltwood or Hand and Flowers in Marlow , both operating in the Plate-to-Star range , will find Lunar in recognisable company in terms of ambition and approach.
Wine programme at Lunar is not detailed in the public record, but the setting and price tier (£££) suggest it is designed to support the food rather than compete with it. At this price point and with this level of recognition, expect a list built around classic British and European pairings with enough depth to hold interest across a longer meal. If the wine list is a primary factor in your decision, call ahead to ask about the list's depth and by-the-glass range before booking. For comparison, destination restaurants at a similar level , such as Gidleigh Park in Chagford , typically carry extensive cellar lists; Lunar's list is likely more focused given its context as a venue restaurant within a heritage site.
Reservations: Moderate booking difficulty , plan at least two to three weeks ahead, particularly for weekend lunch slots and the chef's table. Getting there: Barlaston, ST12 9ER , the World of Wedgwood site is accessible by car; check local transport options from Stoke-on-Trent city centre if arriving by train. Budget: £££, mid-to-upper range; factor in drinks if building a full-evening spend. Dress: No confirmed dress code in the public record, but the setting and price point suggest smart casual as a baseline. Experience: Allow time before or after the meal to engage with the wider World of Wedgwood visitor experience , the restaurant works leading as part of a longer half-day rather than a standalone booking.
For more options in the area, see our full Stoke-on-Trent restaurants guide, our Stoke-on-Trent bars guide, and our Stoke-on-Trent hotels guide if you are planning an overnight stay.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunar | £££ | Moderate | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| The Ledbury | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | ££££ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Lunar and alternatives.
At £££, Lunar sits in the upper tier for Staffordshire and the wider Midlands, but the 2025 Michelin Plate recognition confirms the kitchen is cooking at a level that justifies the spend. You are also paying for a setting — the former World of Wedgwood staff canteen, served on fine Wedgwood china — that no comparable regional restaurant can match. If you want pure value-per-plate, look elsewhere; if the full experience matters, it earns its price.
Specific dishes are not documented in available data, but the Michelin Plate listing flags prime British ingredients as a defining feature of the menu. Booking the chef's table is worth doing if you want to watch the kitchen at work through the large window — that seat changes how you engage with the food. Ask the team on booking what is leading the menu seasonally.
Dietary information is not publicly listed for Lunar, so check the venue's official channels before booking, particularly for the chef's table format where the kitchen may be running a set menu built around specific ingredients. For a £££ Michelin Plate restaurant, advance notice of requirements is standard practice and almost always accommodated at this level.
Lunar has a hidden bar noted as a good spot for drinks, though whether full dining is available at the bar is not confirmed in current venue data. If a bar sitting is important to your visit, call ahead to clarify. At minimum, the bar works well as a pre-dinner option before moving to the main dining room or chef's table.
Tasting menu availability and pricing are not confirmed in the venue record, so verify on booking. If a tasting format is offered, the chef's table with its kitchen view is the strongest case for it — the format makes most sense when you can watch the progression being prepared. For a la carte flexibility, the main dining room is the practical choice.
Yes, and the chef's table is the specific booking to make for it. The combination of Wedgwood china service, a kitchen-view counter, and Michelin Plate-level cooking gives a special occasion dinner a setting that does the work for you. Book the chef's table two to three weeks out minimum — it will be the first seat to go on weekends.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
