Harters

I first posted this review on a local board and the site owners assured me that I had lost my bet. Well, even though I remain absolutely gob-smacked that this wasnt frozen, the fiver has winged its way to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for East Africa. Coz I'm an "Honest John". Innit.

Cynic that I am, I often wonder if the more factual statement might be "Our chef cooked at X, but was sacked after a fortnight". I'm thinking of a claim outside a very touristy "steak & chips" place in Tenerife.

PICCOLO, GATLEY A new place near home , so it had to be tried. I’d always hope that the food at an independently owned Italian restaurant would be better than the chains – like Ask and Piccolino. And usually it is. But, I’m afraid to say, not here. I like the way the conversion of the building has been done. And service was pretty good. That said, when there’s only one table occupied, you’d expect service to be pretty good. A tomato bruschetta was much as you’d expect in northern Europe in December. Decent crisp bread but the tomatoes were under ripe. And straight out the fridge so whatever taste they might have had was pretty much destroyed. Yep, a bit of a mistake ordering it. Frito misto was decent. Some salad leaves, topped with whitebait and squid rings with a blob of mayo on the side. Now, on first bite of the squid, there was a pleasant crunch from the very crisp batter. But the squid itself was chewy. I’d risk a fiver that this was frozen battered squid rather than anything freshly made from scratch in the kitchen. A vegetable pizza came without its advertised black olives and cherry tomatoes. They would have perked up an otherwise quite boring offering. An accompanying salad was OK but had no dressing, nor was oil and vinegar brought until we asked for it. Penne diavolo was fine but nothing to shout from the rooftops about. Al dente pasta and a creamy sauce with a few chunks of spicy salami stirred through. There was, shall we say, a lack of generosity in the portion size of both pasta and sauce. We finished with coffee. It would have been nice if these had been served with sugar and a spoon, without us having to ask for them.

So absolutely true and accurate in my case. In fact, I wouldnt have a clue how to run any business. But then I'm just a customer. You know customers? We're the ones in restaurants with wallets and credit cards. And opinions about what we've eaten.

GURKHA GRILL, WEST DIDSBURY This Nepalese restaurant seems to have been there for donkeys years. Certainly I’ve walked past it many times but this is the first time we’ve been. Much of the menu is the bog standard offerings from any number of north Indian places – the “any protein with any sauce” type of meal. But there are some more interesting things to be had. We passed on the usual poppadums offer but were pleasantly surprised to receive a freebie salad – tomato, onion, pepper, chickpeas – brought together with the zing of lime juice and a hefty chilli kick. My partner enjoyed her chana chaat – the same ingredients as the freebie salad but a less intense flavouring and with a good sourness from tamarind. I’d ordered a very Nepalese dish of momo – minced chicken dumplings, very similar to Chinese dim sum, but served in a very spicy tomato sauce. Although interesting in itself, it wasn’t a dish I’d be in a rush to return to – the sauce overpowered what was probably a delicately spiced dumpling. We both went with lamb mains from the Gurkha specialities menu. First up was Khasi Ko Bhutwa – the meat had been cooked first long and slow, so that was very tender and then finished in the pan to crisp the exterior with ginger, garlic and cumin. It is served dry with the spices just forming the crisp coating. It was lovely and such a change from the very wet dishes you often come across from this part of the world. Speaking of very wet dishes, I’d ordered Aduwa Khasi. A fragrant dish of, again, excellent tender lamb; the sauce with lots of sliced ginger and “al dente” green pepper and finished with fresh coriander. It worked very well with the pilau rice that we had to accompany the mains. Unfortunately, the pretty good food was let down by less than stellar service. My main course had to go back as they’d prepared it with chicken rather than the lamb as ordered. And a side order of tarka daal had to be chased and didn’t arrive until we’d all but finished.

Like David, I'll be getting my free Hardens in due course as their thanks for contributing. Getting a freebie of course means I don't buy a copy. I've bought a Good Food Guide for years and find it generally reliable. I've sent then reviews for years - certainly much longer than I've posted them on egullet. I quite like it when I see they've used some of my phrasing. It's particularly useful when visiting parts of the country I'm not familiar with. Needless to say, I value the recommendations/reviews posted on egullet but with a comparitively small number of folk posting reviews, it's not always the case that there's information available about places. It's something of "horses for courses". Good Food Guide tends to have far fewer mentions for a locality than Hardens but they are likely to be at a generally higher level. Hardens has a fairly broad brush approach and includes quite a number of reasonably decent casual places that wouldnt get into the GFG in a million years. For example, the GFG has 9 listings for Manchester, Hardens has 58.

I have no problem with this. Business is business. When I was last at Fraiche, Marc was telling how much no shows cost him until he introduced the penalty charge. Gobsmacking effect on a small business. Looking at another service industry, if I book a chain hotel, I can often get a much cheaper deal by paying their "no refund" price, rather than their price which permits cancellation.

Thanks, David. Literally just up the road, I've had this on the "to try" list for ages but have always been put off by their "Golden Triangle" pricing - and the lack of reading any reviews from someone who seems to like the food I seem to like. Must get to it soon. By the by, I am a child of the Alderley/Prestbury/Wilmlsow triangle (born in Prestbury in 1950).

Andrew Had an underwhelming meal at the Yang Sing last year (see upthread) and wouldnt really recommend it. Wings is fine but if you can stretch your definition of "city centre" to the town end of Oldham Road, you'd be able to include "Glamorous" which, IMO, is the best Cantonese in the area (it's above the Wing Yip supermarket). If you're wanting a bash at Sichuan, then Red Chilli certainly works, although my preferance is for Red & Hot, just round the corner on Faulkner Street.

I've never been to Room. Not that I've heard anything against it - just never fancied it. Other options for decent food in an informal, but nice, setting, might be Grill on the Alley or the recently acquired (from the Paul Heathcote empire) the Grill on New York Street. San Carlo will do you glitzy Italian - sighting of Premier League footie player all but guaranteed. Round the corner, decent steaks at Gaucho. And, possibly best for "character" Sams Chop House. http://www.blackhouse.uk.com/restaurants/the-grill-on-new-york-street http://www.sancarlo.co.uk/manchester http://www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant.php?id=manchester http://samsmanchester.thevictorianchophousecompany.com/

I'm sure I recall a thread (here or Chowhound) about one of the "big name" Chinese places in London which does not permit photography and actively tackles punters who try to take piccies.

I remember the Mark Addy when it opened in 1981. It was a manky city centre pub at best. Renovated in 2009, it looks like the cellar of Victorian riverside warehouse. For me, it’s a place for which the word “gastropub” was invented. That’s the right mix between “gastro” and “pub”. When you enter, you hit the bar area serving a good range of beer. There’s also a range of bar snacks that set the style of the place - Spam fritters or a Blacksticks Blue bhaji, for instance. And then there’s the more restauranty end – with an open kitchen so there’s chefs to watch should conversation flag. There’s a changing menu which reflects the seasons and local produce. It’s supplemented by the odd special or two. And my starter was one of the specials – mushrooms on toast. Now, these weren’t just any old mushrooms. These were foraged wild mushrooms, lightly fried and retaining some bite. They sat on the toast which, unfortunately, had collapsed into a soggy morass due to the generous portion of sauce which had been ladled around it. Tasted fab though. The other starter also had issues on the soggy front. A baked Morecambe Bay shrimp soup topped with puff pastry. Again, a fab flavour but the pastry kept falling into the liquid which drowned it. Possibly a deliberate reference to history – the real Mark Addy saved over 50 people from drowning in the Irwell during the 19th century. For mains, two mackerel fillets had been lightly smoked, providing an interesting little backnote of flavour. There should have been another backnote of Leagrams blue cheese. Presumably it was in the sauce but, although this was savoury and enjoyable, there was no real sign of cheese maestro Bob Kitching’s work. There was a little chard, some new potatoes and a scattering of chestnuts which seemed an odd combination with the fish. Mutton was absolutely bloody delicious! Long cooked melt in the mouth mutton. Packed with flavour. Rich sauce. A spoonful of a celeriac cream. And Nodding Pudding. No, me neither. It’s a mashed potato and flour mix – a sort of bubble and squeak without the squeak. Just the thing for mopping up the sauce. I really liked this plate of food. I liked it a lot. Service was that sort of relaxed, friendly, efficient style that was well suited to a pub. Also well suited was the excellent range of well priced wines by the glass. I think we might just become regulars. Well, there’s the brawn and piccalilli toast to try. And the oxtail/tongue combo main course. Oh, and the dandelion & burdock roast duck with Lyth Valley damsons. And it’s probably the only place outside of an Oldham chippy that you’re going to see rag pudding.

From what's already been said, I don't he did. What it appears he booked was their package deal of accommodation and dinner. The website clearly states this is for two people and the email which Howard received confirmed that.

Yep. He was definitely cooking this lunchtime.

Finally got there for lunch. This is a pub very definitely in full gastro territory. I’m sure you’d be welcomed if you just wanted a pint of one of the local speciality brews on offer – but you’d probably get a quizzical look as to why you weren’t eating. As far as I can see, they’re trying to push all the right buttons, even if not always necessarily in the right order There’s an attractive looking, and attractively priced, set menu. Three courses for £15.95 with a couple of choices at each course. And that was certainly the route most tables seemed to be going down. But the more interesting stuff was on the main carte, so a different route for us. I warmed to them even more as, within a minute or so of sitting down, a jug of water was provided, so no pressure to be buying bottles of overpriced Hildon. Bread was offered – an indifferent granary and an equally indifferent white. We scoffed that quickly and more was offered and accepted. Our starter experience was a bit mixed. I’d gone with a lovely rich venison “sausage” – think Bambi fishfinger for the crisp breadcrumby coating over a soft and rich filling. Quince and apple cropped up in puree and a slice in a little tart. Both a pleasant sweet flavour and, I have to confess, the similarity in taste meant I wasn’t sure which was which. Yes, I know that says something about my palate but there you go. On the other hand, a pumpkin and Parmesan veloute, served in a tea cup, was less of success. No discernable taste of Parmesan and the soup topped with a thick layer of a bland creamy mousse. Perhaps the intent was to mimic serving a cup of cappuccino but this really didn’t work – we were not the only table to think so – next one scraped off the foam. I am turning into a grumpy old man and one of my regular bugbears in recent times has been inordinate delays between one course’s crockery being removed and the next course arriving. It irritates. And so it did here. Nearly 30 minutes had passed and then one of the servers volunteered an unsolicited apology saying the mains were “on their way”. Another ten minutes passed. These were a mixed pair of dishes as well and, again, I got the better of it. Partridge was pretty much autumn on a plate. There were poached breasts. And a “Kiev” of the leg – as with the venison starter, this was rich well seasoned meat encased in a crisp coat. A little disc of a full flavoured Morteau sausage – you’d really like to have some more of this; girolles and kale contributed to the five a day. And there was a good sauce. Missing the mark was a “cannelloni” of another bland mousse. Grilled haddock had also seemed a good bet but came under-seasoned and with flabby skin but was, otherwise, nicely cooked. Some wilted pak choi and some very good chips were spot on for accompaniments. As often, we passed on dessert but there was good coffee to finish. Service from front of house had been good – except for the almost inevitable delay in trying to pay the bill. My partner had drunk a half of the Wiswell bitter that had been on offer and had been pleased to see a good range of wines by the glass which had offered up a decent Chilean Sauvignon Blanc at well under a fiver.

Possibly. Simply taking, say, Manchester, ignores the immediate surrounding metro area of nine other boroughs. Not that this would add a single starred restaurant to the area'a count! But it would with Liverpool & Merseyside. A quick flit through the Mersey tunnel will get you Fraiche in Birkenhead.

SOUTHERN 11, SPINNINGFIELDS The nephew and I both reckon that one of the pleasures of eating States-side of the Atlantic is southern BBQ and, in particular, pulled pork. Long cooked, over smoke, and with the tang of a sauce mixed in. We might disagree about whether the sweeter tomato based sauce is better than the Carolina mustard one but we don’t disagree about the meat. This can be piggy at its finest. I take the view that it is one of the cuisines of the world that simply doesn’t travel well and I’ve never come across decent BBQ north of Dixie, let alone the UK. So, it was with some surprise that we found ourselves in Southern 11 this evening. It’s a slick modern room, with slick modern service, in Spinningfields, that newly developed slick, modern part of the city centre. The sort of place that might make you think you’d walked into a little known chain that was striving to expand. You hadn’t – at least not yet. And what had attracted me was the reference to sourcing. This isn’t any old pork that was about to be pulled. This is free range, rare breed pork, supplied by Yorkshire’s Ginger Pig. Longhorn cattle turn themselves into steaks and what the menu describes as “Li’l burgers” but Americans would know as sliders. Chicken, almost needless to say, comes from up the road in Goosnargh. All good signs here – but can they cook it? Well, yes they can. There was a salad starter – a wedge of iceberg, topped with blue cheese and bacon. I like this in the States where the iceberg is ice cold. Here it was just OK, but the cheese and bacon added a nice tang. As for the main event, the pork had been properly long cooked and pulled perfectly. It was mixed with a tomato based sauce – perhaps a little too much sauce – sweet, sharp and with a kick of chilli. Alongside, decent coleslaw and a piece of cornbread. Now I’m glad we’d ordered extra portions of fries as this was a dainty piece of cornbread. Soft & moist – a well flavoured piece of cornbread – but dainty. And the fries really were good, dusted with a little Parmesan. Desserts were cheesecake, chocolate brownie and the like. And were fine, although the cheesecake biscuit base would have been better if had not been a choccie bikkie – it started to make it a bit over sweet. Overall, this was not at all shabby by way of casual meals. Of course, it didn’t quite whisk me back to North Carolina – everything was all a bit too refined for that. But not at all shabby.

I see Jay Rayner "does for it" in today's Observer.

BUTCHERS ARMS, HEPWORTH, YORKSHIRE The Butchers is striving to strike that difficult balance between gastropub and village pub. On the village side, there’s a comfy looking bar set aside for drinking but the larger room is entirely focussed on food. Clearly making a play for a gastro tag by association – that is associating with the country’s well known high level restaurants by displaying framed copies of menus. Unfortunately the quality of the food doesn’t hit the mark of those pubs which gain Michelin stars. But, don’t get me wrong, it is trying. There’s a good looking carte with significant use of Yorkshire produce – a starter of wood pigeon with black pudding and quails egg or a main of local venison loin. But it was the two course, fifteen quid set menu of the day that caught our eye. Another couple of quid will get you a third course and there’s around 5 choices at each course. Starters were very much assembly jobs. But very enjoyable assembly jobs. And very generous assembly jobs –almost a meal in themselves. One plate with a selection of smoked and marinated seafood – salmon, both hot and cold smoked, herring, prawns and some delightful vinegared anchovies very much in the Spanish tapas style. There was a handful of rocket and dish of Marie Rose. The other plate, a doorstep slab of goose liver pate, some salad leaves, homemade piccalilli (tangy with mustard & vinegar) and, to my mind, a perfect match on the carbs front with toasted brioche. “Pie of the day” was steak & kidney. Excellent flavour of tender meat with a goodly amount of kidney, topped with a spot-on shortcrust lid. Chips and peas to accompany – well, of course, it was chips and peas to accompany. Roast beef didn’t quite hit the mark on the other side of the table. An absolutely cracking Yorkshire pudding, good gravy, nice veg but the meat, although quite well flavoured, was overly chewy. We passed on dessert, needing a good lie down to recover from the amount of food we’d eaten. Perhaps not a place to go much out of the way for, but pleasant enough if you’re around Holmfirth, maybe on the “Last of the Summer Wine” trail.

Thanks for the piccies. Amazes me that Simon keeps missing out on the second star.

Pam I'm old fashioned about canapes - for me they should be a single bite of something on bread or pastry. For Christmas, something with reindeer (or, more likely, venison)?

I think there are fair points being made here about starred pubs. I've eaten at both the Harwood Arms and the Sportsman (latterly on a non-tasting menu night). Both were thoroughly enjoyable meals. But, on both occasions, we wondered about the star, thinking that either it wasnt warranted or, if it was, there was a lot of places equally worthy. And,indeed, if there are correctly one star material, then there are a goodly number of other places that should be into two stars

I'm used to seeing a service charge, of course. And generally have little objection (although I'm more of a fan of the French "service compris") But levying one on bar service drinks is taking the piss.

Must admit, I can't think of a good reason to drive south from Cheshire.

We have a rule about non-celebratory restaurant trips. If TomTom says its 60 minutes or under, then it's in. Hillbark came in at 59. So glad it did - in spite of the dire surroundings.