There’s a bit of history and a bit of culture associated with this review, so please bear with me.
We’d driven to the tram’s terminus out in the suburbs not too far from home. It’s then a 30 minute ride into the city centre. We’d schlepped in to go to a string quartet concert - Candlelight: Hans Zimmer’s Best Works. And very good it was too - although the candle bit was somewhat underwhelming. It took place at the Cathedral , which has stood on this site since 1215. From then until 1421 it was a rather simple parish church . That year the king redesignated it as a collegiate church - not really a monastery but something a bit similar apparently. The 1400s and 1500s saw the church extended and refurbished. With Manchester’s growth in size and wealth during the Industrial Revolution, the Collegiate Church becomes a Cathedral in 1847 and in the second half of that century there was a lot of rebuilding and restoration work undertaken. The last major building works took place after the German bombing in December 1940 - the so called “Manchester Blitz”. The bombing also destroyed the offices of the company of which my grandfather was a director. The family had stored all their important papers there in the office safe but all went up in smoke. Apart from this, my family has a closer connection with the Collegiate Church. Living in the immediate area, two ancestors, Benjamin and Robert Hartley both married there. The former had a son who they called John – subsequent generations all seem to have had a John. But none since 1950.
We’d had a snack beforehand at Pret and, afterwards, walked up to Chinatown for dinner. We’d made a reservation , knowing they are always flexible if you’re early or late. It was a return visit to an old favourite, where there’s nothing new to comment on. We shared a couple of vegetarian dim sum – crisp vegetable spring rolls and “spring onion baubles” – pastry balls stuffed with finely chopped spring onions. Both OK but nothing to shout from the roof tops about.
There was a veggie main course – kunpo vegetables. This is the restaurant’s Cantonese veggie version of the Sichuan gong bao – hot from chilli, yet slightly sweet. It’s a regular order for us and, truth be told, it’s not always consistent. Sometimes, as tonight, not quite enough chilli. Sometimes, like tonight, a bit gloopy in texture. No complaints though about their version of the takeaway classic of sweet and sour pork. Generous serving of succulent pork, with crisp vegetables, in a well balanced , not overly sweet, sauce. Probably goes without saying that rice was light and fluffy.
As always, service was on the ball. The phrase “well oiled machine” comes to mind
