John Dalton Street, Manchester
As I dragged myself into
Manchester City Centre last Wednesday morning, beads of rain rolling down my
umbrella and splashing onto my shoes, I was trying not be too disheartened by
the rain. Exactly one week ago, the temperature in work had reached the dizzy heights
of 31 °C and I could barely string a sentence together. I’d longed for the rain
to come and wash the heat and humidity away. So, on this rare day off, I was
determined not to moan.
While I wouldn’t like to admit
that the entire day was focused around my pre-planned lunch date, that was,
indeed, the case.
The, intriguingly titled
Restaurant Bar & Grill was on my dining bucket list. Situated on John Dalton Street, just off
Deansgate, it’s in the heart of the city centre and surrounded by dozens upon
dozens of other restaurants and bars. It’s one of Manchester’s more upmarket
areas for dining, so I’d expect restaurants to up the ante a little in order to
compete for customers. The Restaurant Bar & Grill certainly sets the bar
high.
From the outside, it’s
minimalist. It looks rather like an office building. Inside, it’s modern,
shiny and suave, with a sharp black and white colour scheme. It’s set across
three floors, with a bar on the ground level and the more formal restaurants
upstairs. It was quiet when we arrived on Wednesday lunchtime, mainly full of
businessmen in suits. We were all seated in ‘The Terrace’ area of the second
floor, which is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, making for a light,
spacious dining area.
We chose from the Lunch and
Early Evening Menu, which is available every day until 6.00 pm and gives you
the choice of one, two or three courses for up to £22.50. There’s a varied
choice for each course, and something to suit most tastes.
To start, I had smoked haddock
risotto with leeks, topped with a poached duck egg. The risotto was deliciously
flavoursome and creamy, and the texture was spot on: not too wet, not too dry.
The rice was infused with the smoky flavour of the haddock, which complemented
the fresh, watery taste of the leeks. The duck egg was poached impeccably, with
a fluffy white and a yolk that oozed out into the risotto when the egg was cut.
This is available on the a la carte menu, both as a starter and a main course
(a bigger portion for main, of course). I would have absolutely loved to have
eaten a bigger portion of this for a main meal. It was so beautiful I didn’t
want it to end.
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| Smoked haddock and leek risotto |
Moving from the extravagant to
the traditional, I had fish and chips for main course. When it’s done well,
fish and chips is truly the very best of British. It doesn’t get any better.
The fish was huge, coated in thick, crispy batter, perfectly cooked and making
for a satisfying crunch. Although the skin-on fries which accompanied it were
delicious, in my opinion, fish should be served with proper chunky chips. Fries
belong with burgers. The minted mushy peas were a little too pungent for my
liking, but the texture was spot on. It was a very generous portion too, which
always scores extra brownie points in my book. As far as fish and chips go,
this was one of the best I’ve had. If it hadn’t been for the fries, it may have
been a perfect ten.
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| Fish and chips |
My dessert of choice would
have been the strawberry cheesecake, but they’d sold out. At just after two o’clock
on a Wednesday lunchtime? I can’t say that impressed me. However, it meant I
opted for the sticky toffee pudding instead, which was a good choice. The
sponge was deliciously moist and sticky, topped with vanilla ice cream which was
melting on top of the hot pudding, swirling into the toffee sauce. Not at all
stodgy but tooth-achingly sweet, it completely satisfied those sweet cravings
and left me feeling satisfied for the rest of the day.
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| Sticky toffee pudding |
The Restaurant Bar & Grill
offered excellent value for money with their lunch menu. My dining partners had
steaks which looked and tasted delicious, but I’m just not a steak person, so I
was more than happy with my fish and chips. It’s not often I get through a
whole meal without getting food envy at all! With such a range of choice on the
set price menu, I’m not sure I’d rush to pay full whack at night.
All the menus are available to view at:
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