Review: Food meets theatre at Manchester House

IT’S often said that appearances can be deceptive, and despite its recent external overhaul and rebrand as Avenue North, Spinningfields, Manchester House is not much to look at.

Encountering the 1960s white edifice from afar, you’d never expect to find a high-end restaurant led by a chef of national repute, let alone a stunning 12th floor bar – where funky glass lockers containing bottles of spirits greet visitors as they exit the lift.

In terms of experience, guests’ appetites are whetted in the cocktail bar – with tasty canapes, including a flavour-some, translucent red pepper crisp, and a dainty savoury macaroon.

Having sampled my first ever Old Fashioned (yes, I was inspired by Mad Men to try Don Draper’s favourite drink) in the Alchemist on New York Street, I was pleased that the Manchester House version was every bit as good.

We were well looked after in the bar by a bright-eyed, energetic and eager-to-please early 20-something called Steve.

All the staff, and there are a host of waiters, meeters, greeters, and general go-fers, are beautiful people to a man and woman.

In line with Manchester House’s pledge to be unstuffy, there is not a white shirt, black suit or bow tie in sight. Staff are dressed instead in smart blue jeans and a brown waistcoat.
 
After descending the erratic lifts to the second floor restaurant, the spectacle really begins.

Pre-starter we were served pea and bacon brioche with centrifugal pea butter and a green pea shot. Creative genius.

If Masterchef’s ebulient Gregg Wallace were there, he’d be rendered speechless.

To the starters. My wife ordered the prawn cocktail, and being adventurous I went for the frogs legs kiev. I was impressed by the taste and lay-out of my dish, the roasted black garlic, combining well with the succulent meat on the bone.

The prawn cocktail – that mainstay of the 1970s dinner party – could not have been further removed from the everyday pub version comprising of lettuce, prawns and marie rose sauce.

It was served, with a flourish, from under a silver platter, and looked like it should be on the dessert menu. Bedecked with an orange dome of mango crisp, which when punctured dissolved to form a sauce to accompany the prawns. Wow.

For main course, I felt I had to follow my Mancunian roots with the selection of the Boddingtons steak and ale pie (despite Boddies no longer being brewed here), which although pleasing on the eye, was a little bit unfulfiling in quantity, but was still very tasty.

I may have been more satisfied however, had I not been suffering dinner envy, as  Mrs Barry had again chosen wisely with the “beer can chicken with onion macaroni”, pictured, which was frankly fantastic.

The macaroni stuffed with sweet, aromatic onion puree was superb, and a perfect complement to the delicately poached chicken.

For ‘afters’, I enjoyed the Manchester tart – I had high expectations and was not disappointed, while the peach, pistachio and milk chocolate dessert, received a hearty thumbs-up too.

The service throughout our meal, was attentive, friendly and informed. Our server, Alice, although a little nervous at first, after six weeks of intensive training and dummy runs, soon displayed her excellent knowledge of the menu and the technical processes used by head chef Aiden Byrne and his team.

As one would expect from Living Ventures – there is a very extensive cocktail menu, with the masterpiece being the Imperial Tea.

Serving two and costing £20 on its own, the drink – which was going down a storm with other diners too – is served in a brass coffee pot, and served hot over ice with liquid nitogen, creating a dramatic smokey effect. 

The verdict:

Overall, a wonderful experience, with fantastic service in a quirky but smart restaurant. The food is fun, creative and most importantly delicious. The owners are aiming for a Michelin Star, and on this evidence, they will not be waiting long.