I’VE LONG HAD an affiliation with the city of Manchester.
The music scene in the late '80s through to the mid-'90s inspired
me to pick up the bass guitar and join a band, and I’ve enjoyed bags of success as a United fan since I was eight years old. But, it always lacked a food scene to satisfy my hat-trick of hobbies. Until now…
Manchester
House is located in the upmarket business district of Spinningfields and is run
by one of the youngest chefs ever to gain a Michelin star, when a then
22-year-old named Aiden Byrne achieved the accolade at Adlard’s in Norwich.
Byrne’s
CV boasts a host of top establishments, including The Dorchester and Tom Aiken's Chelsea restaurant.
He also cooked at The Great British Menu banquet a couple of years back, and
owns another restaurant, The Church Green, in Cheshire. Manchester House sees
Aiden return to his fine dining roots. With a huge £3million investment in
the restaurant from Living Ventures, the aim is to gain a star here
too.
You enter
via lift from the ground floor and are instantly hit by the modern, chic vibe
of the place, with the metal work and exposed brick giving a nod to Manchester's industrial past. We stroll past the open kitchen where the man himself is keeping
a steely eye on proceedings as we take our seats for lunch.
I felt immediately relaxed, despite thinking the restaurant décor would be a tad loud
and modern (I’m an old 30 year old) for my tastes. It wasn’t at all. Actually, I surmised it might be one of my
favourite dining spots. Mind you, I haven’t
tasted the food yet.
The waiting
staff were all dressed casually, with just matching waistcoats and shirts resembling any sort of uniform. Our
waitress Charlie started us off with an amuse bouche of cep brioche that was light as a feather, a light and delightful mushroom consommé, which she suggests "needs a couple of minutes to really infuse" and a delicious seaweed butter that
would set the tone for the entire meal.
To begin,
Sarah and I both had chicken and lobster consommé with Jerusalem artichoke ravioli.
If the beautiful presentation didn’t give this dish instant appeal, the smell
of the consommé certainly did. Crystal clear, it was packed with flavour and seasoned perfectly. The lobster was so soft, and the chicken rich
with the woody artichoke ravioli lending another welcome note of flavour. I
thought that dish looked amazing – it tasted even better.
For the main, I had
Longhorn beef sirloin, with caramelised onions and watercress purée, which was a
variation of Aiden’s Great British Menu main course. For me, this dish epitomises
everything modern British cooking should be: simple, with exceptional produce,
sound technique and not a pointless foam in sight. The beef
was rare and cut with the back of your knife, while the watercress
pureé brought a pepperiness that was an ideal partner for the meat. Aiden later told me the beef is hung in the restaurant for
an extra two weeks in addition to the three on the farm; it's that extra touch that leads to accolades. There were also these
little ox tongue croquettes that gave a contrast of cheap to expensive cut.
Perfectly seasoned, they held their own against the sirloin.
While the
cow was amazing, the real star for me was those little onion petals. It made me sad so many people across the
country were in supermarkets buying tasteless, rubbish alliums while I was sitting
in this fine restaurant appreciating what an onion should taste like.
Sarah had
roasted turbot with asparagus risotto and red Sicilian prawns for her main course. You could tell the risotto had
been expertly cooked by the way it held its shape on the plate, with the prawn’s
head adding a playful touch to the presentation. The turbot was magnificent, with the
sweetness and a garlicky taste of the prawn a notable highlight. I’m big on seasoning, as you can probably
tell, and this dish yet again fulfilled by expectations.
Charlie and
her co-workers really delivered on top service throughout the couple of hours we spent at Manchester House. They were
friendly and chatty, and had an effortless confidence about their work. I
especially liked how she came across and kept Sarah company as I popped to the
bathroom – lovely touch.
I’m a sucker
for a panna cotta, and opted for the lavender version with gooseberries and
Champagne bubbles. The set cream came with some majestic candyfloss that kind
of tasted like Palma Violets. The panna
cotta was creamy and scored sufficiently high on the wobbly scale. Those little Champagne spherifications were little globules of pure flavour – a prime example of molecular gastronomy
actually enhancing a dish. The little
shortbread biscuits brought crunch and counterbalanced the sharpness of the
gooseberries.
The warm
date sponge with parsnip cream and carrot distillation was another eye catcher. There were a few mini parsnip panna cottas in
there that brought a creaminess to the light, warmth of the sponge. The slightly sweet carrot brought texture to
the plate with the ice cream bringing it all together. It was like a carrot cake meets a sticky
toffee pudding, but not as rich and heavy. Delicious.
I’m reading
my words back and thinking through this meal trying to find fault, but I genuinely
can’t pinpoint one. From entry to exit, the
staff were phenomenal and the food attractive, well-seasoned and a joy to eat. At £27.50 for three courses, it’s up there for a Michelin-starred lunch, and I certainly think it was there standards wise too. Hat-trick completed.
Phone: 0161 835 2557
Follow: @MCRHouse
Opening hours: Tues-Thurs Lunch 12.30-14.30
Dinner 19:00-21:00
Fri-Sat Lunch 12:00- 14:30
Dinner 18:00- 22:00
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