Another hand — Restaurant in Manchester

I'm on the fence with this one and wish I could give 3.5 stars. Having heard amazing reviews and taking a sneak peak at the menu I decided to book a table for my fiancé's birthday. I am pretty certain there was meant to be a January deal of sorts but this was never mentioned.

Anyway, when I'd popped my head in during the week the atmosphere was more relaxed but on a Friday it was loud and claustrophobic.

We were greeted warmly and our coats taken. A server then throughly walked us through the menu, suggesting how many plates each and ideal pairings. Of course I wanted try them all pretty much but I was firmly told no when I tried to order the 5 dishes (looking to share 1) and my partner knocked his selection down to 2 as consequence.

While we waited for the food the hyped up natural wine menu was presented to us, all based Italy, France, Spain and Argentina, after trying x3 wine samples graciously offered we only thought one was palatable but not worth the asking £12 a glass price. I stuck with the beautifully made old fashioned cocktail and my partner water as they did not stock any rum.

The first dish came out promptly which was the beef flatbread. It was the cheapest and the most flavoursome dish on the menu. The portion was easily divided too to share. This set the bar high and the ideology "oh perhaps the server was correct advising me on the dishes" While waiting for the next dish I envied the pork belly skewer being served next to me which looked amazing and quantiful for the price, unfortunately it was the dish I'd dropped to fit the criteria.

Eventually the Shetland scallops turned up with burnt orange and creame frieche. For £19 and x2 scallops cut up with a bunch of cream freiche my heart sank. The sauces combined were tasty but felt underwhelmed.

Another half hour seemed to pass and I felt others were getting food delivered more regularly than us and it was awkward having a server either side of us explaining the menu to other diners passionately. We could not converse easily. Finally the next £12 dish of smoke beetroot arrived with charcoal cream and horseradish. This was difficult dish to share, a single blackberry sliced, few pieces of beetroot and two giant leaves smothered with the cream.

It had been 1.5 hours and we were starving having had just those components and we were getting hangry. By then the restaurant had started to wind down so at least the atmosphere was better.

Hurrah the £30 sirleon,cheek and tongue dish arrived (so glad we ordered two, the waiter was surprised we had) and a shared hassleback potato. Passionately they went on to describe the dish again but we were impatient by this point.

The beef dish was very tasty, my partners seemed a touch tougher than mine but they don't have steak knifes on premise. The potato I found overrated for £8 and a little overburnt.

Overall for £119 for a cocktail and the dishes mentioned we felt it was very over priced in terms of substance and there seemed to be a heavy reliance on cream in the dishes. The star of the show was the flat bread and I think the server should have relaxed on the plate recommendation because it obviously depends on what your order. For what we ordered my partner was still hungry especially as we there for 2 hours receiving the odd tidbit. The service was very attentive though consistently topping up glasses of water and taking plates away quickly.

I am undecided if I'd return, again some good flavours but...

I was invited to this place by a friend who works in the catering trade - this entitled us to attend an "Industry Night".  I think it's a monthly event where the chefs try out their recipes - either way it's a great idea.  It's a fixed menu of four plates, including a generous glass of wine for a very reasonable price (£29). Tonight's menu consisted of a snack - carrot and goats cheese macaron and crispy potato with pickled walnut, followed by a plate of charred hispi cabbage.  The main course was a large pork chop to share with butternut puree, bitter greens and a heirloom tomato and grilled peach salad.  The dessert (my choice) was a honey peach parfait. Usually I tend to frequent places where big flavours and familiar food options with decent portions are the main focus.  I like what I like and I want to be full.  And I have to admit that I still have a strained relationship with "small plates" as I don't have a small appetite or a large wallet! But this experience has made me rethink what I have categorised as good value because the effort and quality of the ingredients and the level of cooking was very clear.  And I left feeling content and satisfied too! I was still recovering from covid (tested negative over two consecutive days, don't worry) so I know my taste buds aren't fully recovered, but I'm confident in my own views, so here goes. The crispy potato bite was lovely, warm and savoury and a welcome contrast to the macaron which I felt was perhaps a little on the sweet side.  The goat's cheese needed a little more salt and tang to combat the sweetness I think.  The charred hispi cabbage was delightful, but I think the amount of crispy seaweed/savoy cabbage was unnecessary.  Plenty of umami from the pickled clams in the dish and lots of saltiness - unfortunately I felt the fennel was a little too delicate and a little overpowered by this.  The little cubes of pickled celeriac (or were they cucumber?) were lovely and sweet and perhaps I would have liked to have had more. For me, the pork chop was the star of the show - perfectly cooked and served with a sauce at the table - the flavours were deep and balanced but without being too heavy.  The sides were perfectly dressed and seasoned - the bitter greens provided a palate cleansing bite, whilst the sweet heirloom tomatoes and grilled peaches were a wonderful combination with the pork. Dessert was beautiful - honey and peaches, garnished very prettily with blood peach and honeycomb (which was crisp and not too chewy, amazing). Had I not been driving I would have experimented with more wine, but the white rioja I chose was actually a very good pairing throughout the whole meal. If the idea was to entice more customers through these discounted events and word of mouth, and to show people what they can achieve, I think it was a very successful one.  Ok, so in principle the flavour combinations are pretty classic and there was nothing too avant-garde about the menu itself, but you can tell this was a menu designed to show strong command of the ingredients, cooking them to their best. So, I feel like I have been taught a thing or two at this place - I've been too complacent in my comfort zone of eating out, partly to avoid disappointment.  But I urge you to do what I did - try this place out, spend the money and experience how differently some familiar ingredients can be made into a memorable and enjoyable meal. I'll definitely be going back to try the...

This place was probably one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to in my life. I had booked at table at this establishment over a month in advance and specifically stated there would be a young child in our group. First, they mistakenly booked us for the the wrong date, which I was very understanding about. When I informed them that they had made a mistake, they correctly it promptly and booked us for the correct day. We arrived for our dinner reservation and we were all excited to try this place out. But after ordering our food, the chef/owner served our dishes along with some pretty mean and "borderline hostile" words. He basically said he would hate to have to ask us all to leave, but the child had to act 'properly'. According to him, children are not usually allowed but since we "showed up" with a child they were kind enough to let us in. Apparently their restaurant is 'high end' and customers spend a lot of money not to be disturbed and it's an intimate establishment so noise must be kept to a minimum, etc. And trust me, I get it! Restaurants have their rules and some times children are not welcome. I am completely understanding of these rules. HOWEVER, I specifically stated a child (and their age) in my reservation email. Your staff and restaurant accepted our reservation and did NOT say or hint in any way that children were not allowed. This is a problem that the restaurant should've handled internally by increased training instead of rudely reprimanding patrons for bringing in a child. Train your staff properly! Tell them not to accept reservations from parties that include children. Lastly, a piece of advice for this 'owner/chef': your approach is completely inappropriate. You might have three kids but that doesn't make you a good parent. If your first instinct to a child entering your restaurant and making some noise is to reprimand the parents, then I suggest you think hard about what kind of person and parent you are. Instead of offering help or understanding, you gave us some pretty harsh words that honestly felt very much like a threat. You ruined a happy occasion. Honestly, your food might be good, but we wouldn't know because everything tasted bitter after...