Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 30 September 2019

Our food-inspired Quote of the Week is back for the autumn! 

"Chocolate is health food for the soul." 

Miranda Gray

Author

Eden

The Printworks, Withy Grove, Manchester

Eden is a new botanical-themed restaurant, bar and club which has opened up in the site previously occupied by Tiger Tiger in Manchester’s Printworks, one of the busiest city centre spots for a night out. Set across four levels, you can drink, dance, dine and discover, designed for a whole night out under one roof.

For dining, there’s a bottomless brunch and varied main menu. For drinking, there’s an extensive cocktail menu and a daily happy hour, as well as a worldly gin menu and selection of international craft beers. For dancing, there are three club experiences.

Eden officially opened its doors on Friday 16 August, with former TOWIE star turned TV presenter Mark Wright making a personal appearance. For the first two weeks, there was 50% off the food bill to be claimed simply by pre-booking. It was an offer that was simply too good to turn down, so we visited on a very sunny Bank Holiday Monday for a leisurely lunch. 

Inside, the ground floor is half restaurant, half bar. The dining area isn’t that big and, although it’s beautifully designed, it feels like there are too many tables crammed into a small space. We sat on a table for two along the back wall, but I was glad the restaurant was quiet and there was nobody next to us, as they would have been a little too close for comfort.

The menu is varied and indistinguishable. They do a little bit of everything, not specialising in one cuisine in particular. There are loads of starters and nibbles, 2ft long flatbread style pizzas perfectly designed for sharing, burgers, sandwiches and a range of main courses cleverly categorised into ‘From The Land’, ‘From The Earth’ and ‘From The Sea’ groups.

To start, I had the Chorizo Scotch Egg. This was a delicious take on the picnic classic, the perfect appetiser for a summery day. The egg was perfectly cooked, still warm with a yolk that was still slightly runny. It was surrounded by chorizo, which was much tastier than your standard chewy sausage meat, and coated in panko breadcrumbs. It was accompanied by a garlic mayonnaise dip, which seems unusual, but it worked really well. Let’s be honest, you can eat garlic mayo with anything. I wouldn’t know exactly what the correct accompaniment would be for a scotch egg.

Chorizo Scotch Egg

I struggled choosing a main course, as there’s so much on offer. I plumped for the King Prawn Linguine and I was more than satisfied with my decision. It was one of the best King Prawn Linguine dishes I’ve ever had. The juicy King Prawns were cooked with chilli, garlic and parsley, all tossed in delicate linguine in a creamy, tasty yet surprisingly light white wine and cream sauce. King Prawn Linguine can often be a little bit bland, as the pasta is usually just tossed in olive oil. The creamy white wine sauce gave the dish much more flavour but wasn’t overly rich; they managed to strike the balance just right.

King Prawn Linguine

I can’t explain what happened next. I decided against ordering dessert. Why? I’m not sure. At the end of a week of endless meals out for birthday celebrations, I thought I should be a little bit sensible. There was a scrumptious sounding sticky toffee pudding with honeycomb and salted caramel sauce which was screaming at me to give it a try. To think it would have been half price, too! What a silly decision. Still, there’s always next time.

I’ll definitely be returning to Eden. The botanical themed restaurant and bar is a green and pleasant space which, by daytime, is relaxing but, by night, is no doubt buzzing. There’s so much to try on the menu and food to suit all times of day.

The staff were friendly and chatty, willing to answer questions I had about the menu and sharing their opinions on the dishes they’d sampled prior to the opening.

It was a lovely place to enjoy a tasty, chilled out lunch on a hot August Bank Holiday.

The 50% opening offer may now be a thing of the past, but there are plenty of other deals to tempt you into the garden of Eden. On weekday lunchtimes, you can tuck into any Classic Eden Pizza for £6. On Monday to Thursday nights between 5:00pm and 10:00pm, there’s an exclusive ‘Dine Out £20 For 2’, where you can claim a 2ft long pizza, a bottle of house wine and a dessert to share.

Full details of the food, drink and details can be found online at: https://edencollective.co.uk/manchester/.