The Clink is the training restaurant at Styal women’s prison and your meal will be cooked and served by prisoners. They are coming to the end of their sentences and are working towards nationally recognised vocational qualifications. The Clink charity continues to support the women before and after release, helping them find accommodation and employment in the hospitality industry. By eating there, you are also doing a little bit towards their rehabilitation.
The restaurant itself is housed in the prison’s former chapel, so an interesting space in itself, although the high ceiling did make it a tad chilly on this November day. We used to come for lunch quite often but this was the first visit since before Covid. The food remains pretty much as before – fairly straightforward bistro type dishes. So, there was a mildly spiced carrot houmous to start. It comes topped with crispy chickpeas and accompanied by flatbread. Beetroot salad was an attractive looking plate – different coloured beets, prepared in slices, cubes, puree, gel. There’s also a very goaty cheese mousse and, for contrast, candied walnuts. Welsh rarebit came from the brunch menu. It was a fairly mild topping on toasted foccacia, finished with a couple of rashers of crisp bacon. Keema and peas is almost a classic of your high street curry house. The Clink’s spin is to turn it into shepherds pie. So, there mildly spiced mince (I’d happily have had it more spiced) and peas, topped with mashed potato. Alongside, a crisp onion bhaji and a red cabbage and carrot slaw. We both went with the same dessert – probably no-one from the Manchester area is going to turn down the offer of a Vimto cheesecake. Good base – just the right thickness of digestive biscuits, topped with a flavoursome cheese mix and a gel made from the iconic local drink.
A decent lunch all round – although you have to accept the limitations that this is a training restaurant and staff are not professionals (although hopefully they soon will be). Worth a mention that, perhaps unsurprisingly , The Clink is alcohol free. Similarly, tipping is prohibited. A discretionary service charge is added, but, here, it is as a donation to the charity, rather than a replacement for old-fashioned cash tipping., And payment is card only – again for perhaps obvious reasons.