our visit to Manchester was a lot about going back to Middle Kingdom but we still had to consider dinner the first night. However, we found a hotel deal that included dinner and breakfast so decided to do that and not worry about the food. we’d choose safe options and as usual share a couple of starters, one main and one dessert with our £40 allowance.
our server was cheerful and friendly, a nice bonus. we chose tuna tartare, beetroot and goat cheese salad, lamb chops with green beans and red cabbage, and a sherry trifle to finish.
views - the tartare was pleasant and mixed with pickled cucumber, the beet salad was carpaccio, earthy and light- the avocado garnish (edit - this was on the Tuna dish) was a bad idea since the avocado was unripe and somewhat rancid. the chops were perfect and delicious but the red cabbage too pickled. The trifle was quite lovely with fresh berries and the sherry on the side - the cake could have been slightly less stale. All in all, a surprisingly pleasant and relaxing meal, nothing to write home about but quietly enjoyable. @Harters, you asked!!
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
2
Having no or low expectations helped in this case. It’s not our usual choice but turned out to be a decent one and allowed us to have a relaxing evening. By the way, they now use the lower level dining room again, although there aren’t many guests. I’ll add the breakfast pictures here!
A small cold buffet section offered up some mini pieces of cheese and ham, as well as a honeycomb, some nutella and marmite mini packs, whole fruit, mini croissants and pains au chocolat, a collection of bottled juices, and a cereal area which included this tiny chia pot (I hated it!)
Hot meals were on the menu and I asked for one poached egg, some smoked salmon and avocado. The plate arrived with two eggs (I gave one to my partner - NOT a fan of eggs, although this one was nicely cooked), way too much salmon (so I had to waste a lot of it) and no avocado (just as well, since the puree last night had been nasty). I didn’t send it back but dug in.
I rate this a 7/10 breakfast. The food was all very good but I like a bigger cold selection. Not a huge fan of cooked breakfasts anyway.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
4
Ah. I was going to ask about the basement room as I’d assumed the new restaurant was a revamped version of the ground floor brasserie. I’m not sure if using the basement is a great idea - it’s felt a nice welcoming space (but, then, I have a thing about restaurants in basements - they never seem to be as good as you hope)
