When Climat opened in 2022, it was in the forefront of the now ubiquitous trend of “sharing plates”. Not something that has ever appealed to us. But possibly (and hopefully), it’s now in forefront of a move away from that and back to a traditional menu of starters and main courses. Which is why we were trying Climat for the first time. It’s not a place you’re going to casually come across. It’s on the top floor of a 1920s office building, backing on to the River Irwell. You need to be buzzed in at the building entrance, make your way down a not very inviting corridor to the lift at the back of the building and press the “8” button (which isn’t labelled for the restaurant). It’s all a bit of an adventure but worth getting there as there’s terrific views over the city centre, attentive staff and an interesting menu (not published online so you have fingers crossed there will be things you want to eat). It’s a nice room, with open kitchen, and my only observation is that the chairs aren’t particularly comfortable and, truth be told, someone of, ahem, substance might find it a challenge to squeeze themselves into the wraparound chair back.
As for the food, it’s a short menu – just five starters and four main courses, so some folk might find their choices limited. We were OK. It’s not a French restaurant but there were heavy French influences, both in technique and ingredient choice. For instance, soupe de poisson (that’s fish soup to you and me) was based on bouillabaisse, so came with a very garlicky rouille and Gruyere for sprinkling. It was lovely. Pear and chicory formed the basis for a salad, the sweetness of one and the bitterness of the other contrasting nicely. There was a crunch from hazelnuts and a salty hit from nuggets of a French blue cheese – Fourme d’Ambert.
Venison haunch for one main course, cooked perfectly to rare. Bambi comes from Lyme Park (food miles 22) and comes with earthy beetroot, Puy lentils and chopped walnuts. Very autumnal. Across the table, cod was also bang-on for cooking. It’s flavoured with vadouvan – the curry powder from France’s former colony in southern India. The flavour isn’t as aggressive as many curry flavours favoured by Britons and, here, it’s softened further with the use of pumpkin and raisins. We shared a portion of deep fried crushed new potatoes –delish.
Only one of us wanted dessert. A dark chocolate mousse was rich but not overly sweet. It was topped with crème fraiche and a scattering of griottines cherries – produced in France, the cherries are marinated in kirsch. It’s understated and a little belter of a dessert. We finished with coffee – they only have filter but it was a tasty one.
Worth a mention that the restaurant refers to itself as being “wine led” and, indeed, they do have a good list, including several by the glass. They are likely to significantly impact on the overall cost of dinner, the food element being a very reasonable £65 for three courses. We’d had a nice evening but it’s probable that this won’t get added to our list of places we visit with some regularity – possibly jut not worth the schlep into the city centre.
