The Oystercatcher — Restaurant in Manchester

Proving it disheartening trying to book somewhere for our first anniversary..my other half found this place.

I had never heard of it apart from the one in Anglesey so after pulling up some reviews I soon got excited.

We rang ahead on the day to ensure there was a table available; despite it being the middle of the week the venue looked small and intimate.

Table confirmed we strolled around narrow cobblestone streets from the Firswood tramstop (8 min walk).

On entering I loved the ambiance...golden soft light emanating from candles and fairy lights..brown soft leather seats and sea themed abstract art.

We were greeted and asked to sit anywhere. I chose the window seat it being cooler. The waitress provided the menus stating the asparagus wasn't available or largers and the special was chargrilled lemon sole.

The drink menu consisted of some tasty craft beer and various bottles of wine and fresh juices. I swiftly ordered a juicy IPA and a large house white to accompany the main. Himself had a beautifully made flat white.

Okay the menu.. starters averaged £8 including mussels, prawns and squid etc. For this I selected the oysters..himself the tiger red prawns with sour dough bread.

The oysters were nice..however pricey for 3...the prawns looked lovely however I personally never understand the reasoning behind cooking/serving in its shell..soon as you messily dissect it all the flavour gets discarded with the shells..the bread was like a giant crouton..soaked in the garlic oil..hmm overall okay ...better value than the oysters.

For mains . These averaged around £20.. from halibut, steak, fish stew to cockle spaghetti. I almost went for the stew but monkfish is my weakness..here they served it in a tandoori style along with pickled cabbage and chargrilled baby gem lettuce for £22.

Himself had the chargrilled lemon sole which didn't come with any sides..surprising for £19..so some £3 skin on fries were added.

Mine looked pretty but the star of the show was physically overshadowed by the cabbage. There was very little monkfish especially once I removed it from the bone..tasty though. Himself didn't use the overly powerful parsley sauce..the fish was tender but lacked the lemon...

Finally dessert. Now these were reasonably priced at £6 each. I decided on the raspberry creme brulee..himself the pistachio chocolate brownie. Mine was light and tasty however I imagined raspberries to be in the creme brulee not as a coulis on top..his brownie was the winner though..hands down the best brownie I've had in ages...

Overall this was a one man show..i.e one lovely lady working her butt off taking orders. Serving food and drink..the food came out at a good pace and the place had a lovely ambiance to it.

Will I be back? Despite enjoying ourselves the bill was pretty steep for what we got.. I personally think they need to readjust their prices and provide more...

My review for oystercatcher used to be 5*. My gf and I loved this place. Recently we went for what was a lovely three course meal here following my gf's graduation. We had a great meal with really friendly attentive service from the front of house staff. However, about two or three hours later after returning home, we both fell extremely and violently ill. Apologies for being graphic, but I pretty much projectile vomited four times in the space of about three hours. I then had three hours of nauseous and restless sleep before having to catch an early train to London.

The next day, my gf rung up to let the restaurant know and got through to the owner and got only a really defensive and terse response. The owner immediately stated that they have strict processes they follow and frankly was quite dismissive leaving my gf quite upset about having rung in. I wasn't happy on hearing about the dismissive attitude and rang up myself the following day. I sadly received the exact same quite brusque and defensive attitude from the chef/owner and had to explain that all we really wanted was an apology for the quite intense discomfort we had to experience - I've never been that ill in my life... It's sad that we had to ask for an apology to be given before receiving a gruff and resentful response. The whole encounter had sadly ruined our feeling towards what was probably our favourite restaurant in the area and one we went to quite frequently.

Neither of us were looking for freebies, nor accusing any kind of gross negligence. We understand that even with the best processes in the world sometimes somethings can slightly go awry when you're dealing with shellfish. What we expected at the least after spending £80 and experiencing a genuinely distressing night was at least a shred of empathy in the response and not to be treated with indignation and have the brick wall put up in our attempt to let them know out of goodwill the fact that something wrong might have happened in that instance. It's a real shame. The absolute lack of any sense of ownership over what might be an appropriate response to what were quite loyal customers has been truly disappointing. It probably won't matter to the owners in the grand scheme of things, but we won't be eating at Oystercatcher or continuing to recommend it again. A little more empathetic customer service can turn a bad experience around. Sadly it hasn't...

Fish are finicky.

For some reason they don’t like being caught and eaten by pescatarians. Likewise, shellfish can selfish in this regard, unless a clam, mussel or oyster.

The situation then arises as to what to do with them once you’ve finagled them into the kitchen. The tried and tested way has been to batter them up and rest them side by side with chips doused in salt and vinegar.

So far, The Oystercatcher might be only the 4th seafood specialist restaurant I’ve eaten at in Manchester, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare it to the ones in Padstow or Saltburn-on-Sea.

In terms of location, it’s in delightfully wannabe bohemian Chorlton. So not far of a trip from Didsbury but a bit of trek if now living off junction 6 on the M56.

Staff are friendly, which is always good. In terms of the menu knowledge I tend to ask their thoughts when ordering. Something tells me that they may not have tried all the items but were able to verify spice levels suitable to my child.

In terms of food offerings, it’s predominantly a choice between grilled and fried (which is not a bad thing) with an aside for battered to cater for kids. Simplicity is the name of the game after all and here they are in the same ballpark as Randall and Aubin but with less emphasis on sauces.

Full marks to the choice of sides. Sometimes one can be so focused on the main that sides become an afterthought and let the side down. The cabbage, salad and fennel au gratin were scrumptious in their own right.

But what about the fish?

So, the sea bass ticked the boxes for flavour, but if being spoiled by having it boned and filleted in other restaurants just remember that you’re getting the whole sea bass, crispy skin, head and all.

The monkfish tandoori immediately caught my eye. It was not overdone, which is a risk with monkfish, but my thoughts were that it might have benefited from grilling in separate chunks albeit at the risk of drying it out. The spices were not overpowering so it toed a fine line. Yes, they do it better at Yahya in Deira, but we’re not in Dubai are we?

So all in all, a worthy addition to the collection of seafood restaurants...