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Infrasonic

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Everything posted by Infrasonic

  1. ^^ There needs to be a charity run by the top end chefs that treats aspiring children to free meals. Think of it as long term marketing clawback...
  2. The other thing of note about Glamorous is that it will do you a nice private dining experience (with karaoke if you want) for larger parties of people. It's a good laugh, honest. (Well once everyone has had a bit to drink anyway)
  3. So as Dick Emery used to say..."you are offal, but I like you..."
  4. Totally. And you won't have any silly undercooked meat there, oh no...
  5. Ha ha..spot on. Well done Jay. I've never undestood the problem of the savoury ice cream!!!!!! types. What's cheese made out of? Milk. What's ice cream made out of? Errr, milk.(Alright pedants, I know it's curds, whey and cream, but...) So it's just that because ice cream is always percieved as a "sweet" it therefore follows that to make it savoury is some sort of anathama...
  6. Tom, I don't think there was a "fit out" per se. I know there was an all hands on deck facebook plea to help paint...(sadly I missed it, damn...) I have to be careful what I say knowing one of the parties involved, but I think the world financial situation at the time of planning sort of scuppered the intentions of banks to lend on anything restaurant wise, so they went ahead and opened anyway...(but don't quote me on that ) I think the intention is to make some money, prove the business plan and then perhaps tart it up properly with some financial backing. Time will tell I suppose. I didn't know there was no set lunch menu, that does seem a bit remiss.
  7. You're Michael Winner in disguise, aren't you? Must get meself round the M60 for a nosy at Aumbry. I only found out Winner had a thing about Hildon about a year ago, it did make me laugh. My hatred goes back many years...
  8. Aumbry 2 Church Lane Manchester, M25 1DB 0161 798 5841 (No website as yet) Ok first caveat. Katie on FOH duties is a long time friend (20yrs +), ex next door neighbour/employee of mine. So in the interests of transparency I'll get that out of the way first! Secondly. Although it's not strictly city center, it is only ten minutes drive up Bury New Road and the tram stop is five minutes walk away. So I'm posting it here as it will get more viewing traffic. Table for four booked for 7pm last night, bit of a combined birthday bash for my sister and I. My mum had rung ahead to discuss veggie options/dietry needs/position of the moon etc. and generally fuss as only mums can. She was very happy with their responses. After entering we were shown upstairs for drinkies and nibbles, and a menu peruse. Although that should be menu(s) as there were ALC, tasting (£45),and veggie tasting (which I didn't get to see, so can't comment on). Phew. So sis. and I decided to have the house italian white as drinkies @ £12ish a bottle. Very nice. They also do all the usual suspects, Chablis, SB, Viognier,etc. I can't do red wine any more so I didn't look at the list. My mum had a nice ginger beer and the driving non drinker had a mineral water. The tasting menu was an amalgamation of all the ALC dishes, additional amuse (Braised Cheshire beef & Ale w Thyme dumpling), and the fish main swapped out for Poached fillet of wild Sea Bass w truffle creamed potatoes & chive broth (instead of ALC Plaice). ALC options on the night were (it changes daily); Starters Celeriac soup w toasted chestnuts £4.50 Potted Lyme Park Venison w pickled cucumber and grilled wholemeal sourdough (toast to everyone else!). £6.50 Bury Black Pudding Scotch Egg w Mushroom relish & tomato ketchup. £6.00 Seared Mackerel w Fennel & cranberry. £5.00 Mains Cheshire Rib Eye Steak w buttered curly kale,chips and bone marrow sauce. £18.50 Roast Mallard w Pumpkin purée, savoy cabbage, and braised leg meat parcel. £15.50 Pan fried whole Plaice w chive creamed potatoes, spinach and caper butter. £13.50 Winter Vegetable Hotpot w onion purée & pickled cabbage. £11.50 Deserts Pedro Ximenez Sherry Trifle. £6.00 Treacle tart w lemon jelly & Earl Grey cream. £5.50 Hot chocolate pudding w rosemary & hazlenut. £6.50 British & Irish cheeses. £6.00 So ordered, seated downstairs in the small light cream dining room, 28 covers. Open kitchen (tiny) with three chefs looking very focused. (More of that later). 2 FOH staff. First an amuse arrived. 3 beef/dumpling from the tasting and 1 veggie thing (toasty/cheesy?) that I have forgotten from the V. tasting. Very full flavoured beef 'n ale underneath the thyme dumpling, ate with a teaspoon, mmmm gorgeous. Sis' was very happy with her v.amuse. Starters were 1 celeriac soup, 2 venison, 1 mackerel. Very good presentation on all dishes, soup was a decent portion (no thimble stuff here). Venison was in a small ramekin with three bits of very acutely angled toast triangles. Small amount of pickled cucumber. Mackerel was a good sized fillet, no postage stamp pretensions. (Although I'm sure the tasting menu would be cut down portions). All the starters were quite delicate in their flavouring (bearing in mind how strong they could have been), the exception being the cucumber pickle which had a real lemony kick. Fantastic, unlike any pickle I've had before. Fish was very moist, just cooked, flaked instantly. All 'n all very good. Smiles all round. Mains were 2 steak, 1 Plaice, 1 vegetable hotpot. Again, presentation was spot on and I noted that my steak had a very fillet looking quality to it. This extended to the eating as it literally fell apart, the fat content was pretty minimal, but bags of rib eye flavour accentuated by the bone marrow sauce. Best steak in a long long time. I've got a feeling there may have been some slow cooking shenanigans going on initially as it was unlike any pan fried steak I've ever had. Curly Kale was nice, no bitterness. Tried the Plaice, very delicate again, capers and butter complimented nicely. Sis' was very happy with her veg hotpot. Deserts were 2 trifles, 2 chocolate puddings. 15 minute wait for the chocolate puddings (cooked to order), so I amused myself with a glass of Pedro Ximenez NV (£3.95 for 50ml.) Very glad I did. Trifles came in a tumbler style glass, chocolate puddings were small and round (I know my descriptive powers are amazing aren't they ) Trifle was extremely good, quite light and loose, biscuit base at bottom of the glass. Could have eaten several. Didn't get to try the chocolate pudding but asked about the rosemary. Sister could taste it very subtly and the other diner couldn't, so go figure. It wasn't overpowering which was my main concern. A few observations. Mary Ellen in the kitchen has that serious chef aura about her. Every time I looked up she had an intense focus thing going on, and she's not afraid to communicate to the others what she wants. (no shouty stuff, but some firm banter). I can see why Bertie raved about her upthread. She has star quality. The house mineral water is.....HILDON....aaargh. I moaned about this to katie, the excuse is it's British. So no Pellegrino then. I'm sure there is a better UK water than HILDON!! Even tap water... Service is pretty spot on. No hand behind the back Michelin star nonsense, but friendly and informative. I suppose if they really want to go for the star they'll have to tweek a few things. But basically it's ninety percent there. All the diners in my party have done various 1 stars a few times and we agreed Aumbry was up there. We all left very happy and can't wait to return, which is about as good as it gets really.
  9. Sketch should win an award for its website...truly annoying.
  10. I'm eating at Aumbry on Thursday, I'll try and do a write up.
  11. http://www.harveynichols.com/output/Page693.asp Monday 25 January Marc Wilkinson, of Fraiche on the Wirral, will be hosting an evening for just 40 guests this January. Marc achieved Michelin Star Status this year, making him the first to do so in Merseyside, so we are delighted that he will be showcasing dishes from his signature menu at our Second Floor Restaurant. The evening includes five courses matched with wine, including water. coffee and service charge. All for £90 per person. Please call 0161 828 8898 to book your place.
  12. ^^ Fraiche in Manchester!! Please expand, dates times place etc. Cheers!
  13. As we've seen with the Dubai scare in the news, there is still plenty of potential pain (massively leveraged debt) in the real world waiting to bite us on the arse. I'm firmly in the double dip camp.
  14. http://www.manchesterconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNwy6JWbnJaqiNwF6IHqi&realname=Aumbry, Prestwich, review The Roadhouse connection is Katie on the right, good friend and ex next-door neighbour/employee of mine.
  15. A good point. Similarly you'll find that many reservoir trout fisheries that have competitive matches, often end up binning the catches! Once you have a freezer full of the things the novelty wears off. I remember having a chat with the co-owner of Stocks in Clithero about it, and trying to work out if I could make some money picking up the trout and flogging them to restaurants in the area. Line caught you know...
  16. I'm asking this on behalf of a member of a different forum (financial). Manchester is an unknown city to me so I am requesting some help here. We want to hold a presentation over a lunch somewhere in the centre. I've been given the name of one hotel but it is charging top rates. Does anyone know of a decent restaurant or club that has a private room that would take about a dozen people for lunch? So if I could get a range of responses I'll post a link over there, to here... TIA Infrasonic
  17. Well I think this snippet is right. Quite how you think your customers can consider a markup of 200-300% on a bottle of wine is right less than a rip off is beyond me. It used to be about 100-150%, but over the past eight years or so, it seems to be considered fair play by restaurants to up their gouge to astronomic proportions. Sadly I have yet to see the good old days return, but I live in hope if they see we're all drinking Thames tap instead. H ← I wonder if this is some sort of deliberate marketing psychology. Keep the food prices "low" ( compared say to Paris) to get people in, and get the GP up from the wine?
  18. On an entirely different tack...Kabana are up for nomination in the Mcr food and drink awards. As a very regular customer, I can only concur that it is about time they were recognised. (Although I don't really want them getting any busier.)
  19. Koffee Pot. Five minute walk from City Inn. Do meat or veggie brekky. Address, map etc. below. http://www.qype.co.uk/place/78782-Koffee-Pot-Manchester
  20. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/new...staurant_shares INVESTORS today showed their appetite for the Manchester-based owner of the Piccolino and Restaurant Bar & Grill chains when the company trumped its goal of raising £2.1m through a shares offer. Seems as though sentiment may be turning the corner...
  21. http://www.citylife.co.uk/restaurants/news...longer_for_sale PRESTON'S Longridge restaurant has been taken off the market, owner/celebrity chef Paul Heathcote is delighted to confirm.
  22. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/new...l_restaurant_co THE owner of the Piccolino and Restaurant Bar & Grill chains is tapping shareholders as it looks to cut its debt pile. Seems a prudent move.
  23. ^^ It is better than when it first opened, but if you remove the view I don't think anyone would make a special detour to visit. There are much better places for cocktails.
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