What is it with my home city , eh ?
Loads of places to eat.
Always chocker at the weekend, but how many places that you actually want to eat at ?
Or that feel like they aren’t just coasting along on a wave of over friendly and not that well informed service ? How many interesting places ? Or pleasant rooms to be in ?
Eh ?
Not many, that’s how many.
Well now, happily, we can add Manifest to the list.
We approached with some trepidation as its hard to get in on a weekend and is in a popular part of town ( Baltic Triangle ) where bars and murals rule. So, will it be noisy, will the focus be on the bar ?
Actually, no.
Yes its got the industrial vibe, but its nicely lit, & even if you are sat at the bar/pass its not hectic. It feels like a proper restaurant.
The staff were both knowledgeable, helpful and accommodating ( I don’t drink much but really like to enjoy my one glass of wine and we ended up trying three before I chose one )…and most importantly… the food was really good.
Menu is here
We had the bread and heritage carrots as snacks. Lovely warm bread, good butter ( which hadn’t been messed with in an attempt to make it taste like some thing else - hooray ! ) carrots crunchy and a punchy pesto which went nicely in leftover bread.
For starters my other half had courgette flower and I went for tartare. Mine was good but she got the better of the split - lovely red pepper sauce in particular. For main we both went with halibut as we’d seen it at the pass - and it did not disappoint. Nothing showy or clever - just cooked well, good sauces and the fish the star of the show.
For puddings we went for the apricot/elderflower and strawberries/sweet cicely combos. Both worked really well - especially the strawberries ( a real so that’s what strawberries taste like, now I remember, moment ) and we had an interesting natter with the head chef about how elderflower grows wild all over the city and where to find sweet cicely ( lots of places).
So, all in all, a lovely evening, good food and happy times.
One for your list if over this way.
