Fifty three years ago, to the day, we were having dinner in the restaurant of Manchester Airport’s then only hotel. We’d seen singer Matt Munro in the bar (this was before “celeb spotting” was a thing, so it was quite exciting, even though he was an older generation’s star)). And we’d ordered corn on the cob as a then very fashionable starter. It came, inelegantly, with a fork stuck in each end. And it was cold. It was one of the very rare occasions over our life when we have sent food back in a restaurant. We had no such worries for our anniversary meal at the White Swan.
It’s a set four course menu, at £65, with a few “bits” added on. The first “bit” was a single bite cheese tart. The cheesiest thing we’ve eaten in ages. Thin, crisp pastry; a dab of walnut ketchup in the base, topped with a cheese sauce and then with grated cheese. Then they serve serve a small housemade loaf of bread. It comes with butter, a pea and mint houmous with, I think, a little chilli and a very simple salad – just the soft leaves of a butterhead lettuce with a mustard and tarragon dressing. It’s a cracking opening to a meal.
The first of the menu courses was a lovely tomato consommé – enhanced with a bit of basil. It was the essence of tomato and the essence of summer. Served alongside, a single goats cheese gnocchi . Then roe deer, perfectly pink. They serve it, oddly and unnecessarily, with a slice of foie gras (which doesn’t appear on the menu description). It’s accompanied by “summer beans”, maybe haricot, and girolles giving an earthiness and a freshness from marjoram.
There’s two desserts. First up is intriguing Blueberries with a beetroot ice cream. Beetroot, I hear you say. Fear not, this is perfect balanced. You get the sweet/earty flavour of the beetroot but it doesn’t dominate. Second is a much more conventional dessert and bang-on for seasonality. Blackcurrant soufflé – light as a feather and zinging from the fruit, with a jug of blackcurrant sauce to pour into it. Served alongside was a liquorice ice cream which tasted more of toffee to us and, perhaps, all the better for it.
We finished with good coffee and a chocolate. We’d had a great evening. Well worth the 50 minute drive. Service had been lovely – entirely on the ball and very friendly. And the chef hadn’t put a foot wrong.
