GASTRONOMY REVIEW: Annies Restaurant, Manchester.

I remembered a few years' ago, visiting this restaurant tucked away on a small side street just off St. Anne's Square in the heart of Manchester, and being verily impressed not only by the food, but the service and overall ambience of the estamina. Therefore, when thinking about a place to bring a few friends to celebrate a special occasion, it seemed like the perfect choice.

Sunday also seemed like a good day to choose since Manchester would probably be quieter than other days (although now it's Christmas-shopping time, that actually wasn't the case!.. however..).

Annies Restaurant has the feel of a very old European 'keller' style restaurant; very central European in flavour - this being what drew me to the venue in the first place. The upstairs (actually ground level) part of the establishment is a cafe / bar area, with the restaurant downstairs and under the street level. My memory must have been playing tricks with me, since although it was correct with most things, it seemed a little more worn and tired than in my memory. 

The waitresses and staff in general were polite, attentive, but not over fussy; and this certainly earned them Brownie points, and our waiting time after ordering was not overlong; but the ambient background music was a little too loud, and the lights just not quite bright enough (a failure with many a restaurant unfortunately!). 

With it being Sunday there were two alternative menus: either the normal a la carte, or a choice of 4 different Sunday Roasts (beef, chicken, ham, nut roast). Between our party we chose items from both menus, and although the food was nicely presented and well cooked; there was absolutely nothing special about it. The a la carte menu items were served a little more neatly than the Sunday Roasts which were handed to us as a rather overflowing plateful of food (perhaps a little offputting), including a large Yorkshire Pudding, and the gravy having already been poured over the meal before serving. What should have happened was the meat should have been served on the plate whilst the vegetables and potatoes should have come in turines and the gravy in a seperate boat for us to pour as we wished. We were not eating pub grub in our local - although this did smack of that sadly. 

The desserts proved to be little better sadly. At least one of our party chose apple pie, which had pieces of apple inside which had barely been cooked at all, and when served hot it was little more than tepid. The "hot" apple pie was also minus any fresh fruit dressing strangely.

The food was, in general, good and tasty, but was very ordinary and plain, and a lack of attention to the way in which it was served. The aura and atmosphere that I remembered were still present, but the standard and quality of food wasn't. I'll keep my memory thanks.

Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu.