Prior to our national lockdowns and pandemic closures, the reviews for this very Mancunian restaurant were on the whole 4 and 5 star; and having had a personal recommendation that their French Onion Soup was indeed "the best they'd ever tasted"; it was a visit I was looking forward to. Mamucium (taken from the Roman name for their settlemet here, and named after the breast-shaped hill that was obviously a part of their contemporary panorama), is a part of a boutique hotel, The Indigo, next door to Victoria Station in the centre of Manchester.
The restaurant is crescent-shaped with the bar at one end near the entrance and the kitchen at the opposite end with the dining area in the centre. It's nicely furnished and roomy. This is a plus. And there is no annoying muzak in the background either, and so they get an extra tick for this too. The waiter showed us our table, which, despite us having made a booking, had not been cleaned and prepared for our visit. And even after he had wiped the table down, it was still full of salt / sugar which I had to brush away myself with my hand. So where they gained points, I'm afraid they immediately lost them again.
Further, and more disappointingly, one finds that post lockdown and post Brexit, the restaurant has had a completely (almost) new staff, and now 'boasts' a startingly small and simple menu - all British standard fayre - and no French Onion Soup. In fact, no soup at all. The menu would not have been out of place in an average pub-diner. For a restaurant of a boutique hotel this was both surprising and dispiriting.
The restaurant too, for a Saturday evening, was really very quiet, it felt much more like a Monday. However, this did mean that the service was not overlong, and our waiter did his best, being attentive and polite, but also keeping his distance too.
Our food was a mixed bag of excellent and very poor. The beef and ale pie was indeed beautifully cooked and a lovely rich mix of steak and gravy. I suspect though, that this was not made on site, but bought in frozen en masse. The chips which were served with it however were the worst chips I think I have ever tasted from a restaurant. Strangely-shaped, strangely-tasting, and extremely salty. The boiled cabbage was lovely, but a serving sufficient to feed a mouse only.
A bowl of fresh fruit - the only item on the minimalistic dessert menu list of I think only 5 items which appealed - came with lemon sorbet. Asking for cream instead caused a hiatus, as they had to apologise to us to say that the restaurant did not, in fact, have any cream in stock!
The restaurant owner came to our table to ask us about our experience. We spoke, she listened. I can only hope that some of what we said will be taken on board. The restaurant has potential and was obviously much different from when it first opened. The prices are about on par for the style of restaurant in the city, but the food presented was no different from the pub grub found in many a local ale house which serves food.
The restaurant too, for a Saturday evening, was really very quiet, it felt much more like a Monday. However, this did mean that the service was not overlong, and our waiter did his best, being attentive and polite, but also keeping his distance too.
Our food was a mixed bag of excellent and very poor. The beef and ale pie was indeed beautifully cooked and a lovely rich mix of steak and gravy. I suspect though, that this was not made on site, but bought in frozen en masse. The chips which were served with it however were the worst chips I think I have ever tasted from a restaurant. Strangely-shaped, strangely-tasting, and extremely salty. The boiled cabbage was lovely, but a serving sufficient to feed a mouse only.
A bowl of fresh fruit - the only item on the minimalistic dessert menu list of I think only 5 items which appealed - came with lemon sorbet. Asking for cream instead caused a hiatus, as they had to apologise to us to say that the restaurant did not, in fact, have any cream in stock!
The restaurant owner came to our table to ask us about our experience. We spoke, she listened. I can only hope that some of what we said will be taken on board. The restaurant has potential and was obviously much different from when it first opened. The prices are about on par for the style of restaurant in the city, but the food presented was no different from the pub grub found in many a local ale house which serves food.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 31.7.21
on - 31.7.21
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