This was my third visit to this restaurant situated next to Victoria Railway Station in the heart of Manchester. The first two were uninspiring visits to say the least, however, the hotel-based restaurant has undergone a few changes since then, and is now under different management. The menu is also changed. The dining area is light and airy, soft music is playing in the background and is not intrusive at all. The only thing which spoils this atmosphere are the strange metallic industrial vents and tubing hanging from the ceiling throughout the place.
However, the waiters were attentive but not over-fussy; always polite, and the food was swerved promptly but unrushed. The menu was correctly priced for the venue and location, and the portions were of a good size, but not over-facing.
I opted for a starter of seared king scallops. The scallops were delicious, and indeed plentiful. However, they were served with a rather odd, dare I say unique, combination of food, some of which worked much better than others. A bed of four-herb salad (lovely), caviar buerre-blanc (rather strange, but actually quite flavoursome and worked well with the scallops once I got used to it), and grapefruit. - the kind you find in a tin of a supermarket and generally have for breakfast. An odd choice, and on consideration, did not work with scallops or caviar at all. The main course was farfalle, steak and broccoli. Again, this was very much a mix of the sublime and the not-so-good. The strips of steak were nicely cooked and tasty, but they had a huge strip of gristle along the side of them which was completely inedible. The broccoli was delightful, and indeed the farfalle pasta was nicely cooked, but it was simply the wrong choice of pasta for this dish. We needed a pasta with a whole or bowl in it in order to capture and retain the sauce, which the butterfly-shaped pasta was unable to do. Perhaps there was also a little to much sauce, and it was far too peppery - even for me, and I tend to put ground black pepper on everything! The pine nuts in the dish was a nice touch and worked well. My dessert was a complete and utter delight. A large portion of passion fruit and mango cheesecake with a dollop of similarly flavoured sorbet, beautifully decorated with edible flowers.
Overall the quality of the food was very good and I would happily dine there again; but a little more attention to flavour combinations, details, and presentation (no garnish on either the starter or main dish), would be the icing on the cake.
REVIEWER - Alastair Zyggu
