Podium Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Manchester

Was disappointed with our second visit to the Podium restaurant, we had booked using Manchester confidential for a deal which included the a la carte menu. Upon arrival we was presented with a fixed menu with a 1course, 2 course, 3 course option. We queried this and asked to see the a la carte menu as advertised on the website. We was told this was the a la carte menu and these were the options. Granted the menu may slightly differ from the website based on seasonal ingredients I get that but forgive me if I am mis judging this but a al a carte menu would have more than 3 choices? This was more a table d'hote. If this is the full extent of the Hilton menu then this is very limited for their customers in terms of choice. The food we had was cooked very well and enjoyed the starter and the main however the pudding which was described as chocolate melting pot for two to share was probably the worst pudding I have ever experienced. The fruit was three tiny pieces which had seen better days and the chocolate sauce was cold not really what you expect for a valentine weekend ? The final straw was when we then asked for our glass of champagne at the end of the mael as this was part of the 3 course option to be told by the waiter I did not think you wanted the champagne ! so basically we did not get the option or choice. The waiter was must be a great mind reader if he can tell which of his customer would like or not like...

We had some meals here at Podium restaurant & bar.

Restaurant

🥩- Hanger steak - Our favourite dish so far. The steak is very tender and juicy, not dry at all. Vegetables on the side are flavourful and you can taste the grill flavor with it. We got pretty full after finish the steak. Down part is, the quality of the hunger steak is kinda unstable. For few time the steak we had, it was a bit too raw, and the grill flavor wasn't there for the vegetables as well, the whole dish was plain and tasteless. We did end up ask for extra grill for the steak.

🦆 Duck Breast - it wasn't a very memorable dish, portion was kinda small compare to the price, won't recommend if you want a property meal that will make you full.

🥦- Cauliflower Katsu (v) - The cauliflower itself taste amazing, it's fried with thin layer of batter, and covered with some kind of sweet sauce, taste kinda like teriyaki sauce. It came with a bit kimchi, white raisin, some nuts (i think) and some kind of puffed rice sprinkle on the side. Nice option for vegetarian. Both bar & restaurant have the same dish.

🐦 Quale - Don't have the pic for it unfortunately, but I'd say it's not my dish. The portion was pretty small, and the quale, it had some kind of "wild" flavor that I didn't like, not sure if that's the right taste for it as it's my first time to try quale.

Over all the quality of the dishes were over average for sure, atmosphere was...

I’m staying at the Hilton deansgate hotel and all I can say is this restaurant is just magnificent!. I left this review on Tripadvisor but they deserve to have it on here too

I have a lot of food allergies yet nothing was ever too much for them, they cooked everything separately to avoid the risk of cross contamination easing my anxiety due to my stomach problems and knowing what would happen if I accidentally had something I was allergic too so knowing they cater well for food allergies is very reassuring.

The first night I arrived I booked a table and had steak and chips, I cook all the time at home so I’m a bit of a critic when it comes to dining out but I wish I could of spoken to the chef to ask his secret of cooking a perfect steak because despite it was very well done it was the softest steak I’ve ever had and by far the best!. The bar is also wonderful with the most professional and friendly staff, I’ve had lunch in the bar and the food is out of this world and the chips are not just your basic chips they are absolutely delicious.

I also hope his manager sees this because if so your colleague Bob deserves some recognition for the incredible customer service, he’s so friendly, polite, kind and a real star in your team!

I highly recommend this restaurant as its 5 star service and the most...