Harters

I'm looking forward to a meal at Hibiscus next week - not least to see if it remains our favourite place.

Steven Any thoughts on Panoramic? Looks like some decent food and absolutely cracking views. Worth a schlep from my end of the motorway? John

And a return lunch visit to SUTTON HALL Some pretty decent food, although there were inordinate delays in bringing it (including getting on for 40 minutes between starter and main). Butternut squash & sage soup – warm autumnal flavours, nice little note of sage Pigeon breast salad – nicely rare meat, a scattering of bacon over watercress, sherry vinegar in the dressing, spoilt a little by the poached egg which should have added to the dressing being cooked all the way through. Fish finger sandwich – homemade. Nice. Nuff said Braised silverside – I would have cooked this a tad longer for “cut it with a spoon” tenderness but it was none too shabby. Mash, veg & gravy. Good plate of comfort food. And Mrs H had a pint of Lord Lucan pale ale from the very nearby Wincle brewery. She said it had a mysterious and elusive flavour – or was she talking about Lucan?

NAWAAB, STOCKPORT ROAD, LEVENSHULME Now, OK, it’s a stuff-yourself-silly Indian buffet, but Nawaab is a South Manchester institution so it’s “in” for this thread. It’s not that it’s massive – although based in an old cinema, it is. It’s not that it’s mainly visited by punters of south asian background – it is, but we know this is no guide to “good” – Harvesters are similarly packed out. It is actually about pretty good food. And, of course, the opportunity to be damn greedy. As with a number of places that have found their way to the area, Nawaab started in Yorkshire and they now have a number of branches. There’s always a good selection of salady starters, yoghurty things and chutneys. There’s always a range of hot starters – fish masala, boti kebabs, vegetable pakora and the like. A large array of main courses – perhaps 20 dishes – all under the watchful eye of the chefs who keep the heated serving dishes topped up and kept looking clean and tidy. Several of the meat dishes are cooked on the bone and the vegetarian offerings are particularly good. But what sets this apart from the run of the mill high street buffet is the range of “specials” which you have to ask the chefs for. That’s things like the lamb chops, the handis, a very tasty haleem, lamb paya. There’s desserts as well which, as usual with Indian sweets are, erm too sweet. Nawaab used to serve alcohol when it was mainly serving Anglos but no longer does. There’s a very delicious mango lassi on offer as well as a good range of other soft drinks. The buffet costs £12. And it’s well worth it.

Hmmm, interesting question Pam. I'm looking forward to a revisit to Hibiscus in a couple of weeks - we're interested to see if it remains our favourite place. This year, we've eaten at the Fat Duck and six 1* places - Fraiche, Harwood Arms, Northcote, Plas Bodegroes, Sharrow Bay and Sportsman. I think I'd only put Plas Bodegroes in the "disappointment" category. I enjoy the intricacies and interest that comes from, say, the tasting menus at Fraiche and the Sportsman. No, there isnt too much on each individual plate but there are a number of plates. What pisses me off is when a restaurant serves fairly similar sized portions on a standard three-courser. And I go away considering whether I should stop for a bag of chips on the way home. That said, I am thoroughly enjoying visiting and revisiting places around home that offer "proper" sized portions over three courses.

I see next week's is the Yorke Arms. Anyone know where the final place is?

L'ECOLE, HEATON MOOR In the ordinary course of things, L’ecole wouldn’t get a mention on an internet foody site. The food quality is no better than fair pub grub and the service is, at times, awkward. Yet, I’m including it as it’s impossible to overestimate the importance of this place to South Manchester’s “restaurant scene”. It’s the training restaurant for catering and hospitality students at Stockport College. I imagine that there will be few folk who have eaten in the area who have not, at some point, had their meal cooked and served by an ex-student. It opens to the paying public several days a week for lunch and dinner. Obviously, these are youngsters still learning their cooking and serving craft and, as this is work in progress, I’m not about to critique their skills in the way that I might for a full-blown trading restaurant. Not least, as they offer a three course lunch, including coffee, for a bargain £7.95. But, to give a flavour of the place, there are four or five choices at each course and the menu reflects wherever that day’s students are in their course. Similarly, front of house has a mix of experience – obvious first year students trusted with no more than offering bread and water, ranging up to a couple of much more experienced students who are “in charge” and who were clearly ready to be taking up employment somewhere fairly decent. As to food, our starters were pumpkin soup and a mixed platter of very crisply battered and fried vegetables, served with a mint yoghurt. There was damn good bread served with them. Mains were plaice fillets with a prawn/butter sauce and, for me, pork chop with sweet potato and a mango salsa. Desserts were a plum tart and a chocolate/chestnut gateau. Enough said that not a scrap was left on any of the plates. And it was all rather good fun

Unless I'm missing something, there's still no mention of Aiden on the Hillbark website. Is there a separate website or something?

HABESHA, SACKVILLE STREET It’s not often I get the excitement of a new eating experience. And, I have to confess, I may possibly have known slightly more about astrophysics than I did about Ethiopian food. That’s now redressed after a visit to Habesha which may be the only African restaurant in the metro area. It’s an unprepossessing place above a kebab shop, just round the corner from Canal Street. It’s a bit dark and dismal inside but my partner, who notices these sorts of thing, said it was absolutely spotless. And there was a friendly welcome, which is always a good start. Place was empty except for one table which was just finishing up as we arrived and no other customers arrived. There’s a short menu – a dozen dishes, mainly stews of chicken or lamb. There’s no starters and no desserts. There’s also no crockery or cutlery. The deal here is that you share your dishes, ladling portions of your stew onto a large round of flatbread called injeera. You eat with your right hand, picking up the stew with pieces of the bread (of which of “extras” are provided). The bread is odd – not a flatbread in the usual sense. This is thicker, softer and spongier – more like a thick pancake or very thin crumpet. It does the job of filling you up. With nothing to go on by way of experience here, it was very much potluck about our ordering choices. Lega Tibs was small strips of lamb, the “tibs” indicating it was fried before going into a thinnish sauce, with vegetables. We didn’t think this was a complete success – meat was bit chewy, sauce was a bit bland, although there was a hint of chilli and other spice there. Although it was OK, much better was the Yebeg Wot – a very long cooked stew with onions so tender they were just clinging to the meat. Packed with chilli that left my lips tingling till we got home. And the injeera seemed absolutely perfect accompaniment. So, here was generous quantities of interesting food (you wouldn’t want additional courses even if they were on offer) served at a bargain price. The bill, including for a couple of beers and a bottle of Perrier, was under twenty quid. Has to be worth a punt if you’re after a spicy change from the city centre’s Indian and Szechuan places.

Ooer. Nasty, indeed. I try not to be too sniffy about places, not forgetting that Bernie Inns were where people like me went for celebrations meals in my younger days. Even so......

Although not the "lost generation" sort of place as reviewed today by Jay Rayner. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/21/jay-rayner-aberdeen-angus-london

I keep meaning to nip over to Chester to try the Marco Pierre White branded steakhouse. Unless anyone wants to warn me off?

We're going to be visiting the NEC a couple of times next year. Hotels look like being either on the NEC site or around Solihull. Is there anything worthwhile for dinner in area, without too much schlepping about - decent casual places would be fine, as well as more upmarket? TIA

Phil A bit more Googling indicates that the relevent legislation is the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. This appears to mirror the relevent legislation in England - the Licensing Act 2003. There are various websites with summaries of the Scottosh legislation but I cant clearly see that legislation, as such, prevents a child being in a restaurant. Obviously I understand that pubs and bars throughout the UK have always had restrictions on the presence of children. But a full-on restaurant like this claiming such a legal restriction just seems odd. Unless, of course, it's something it has voluntarily included in its licence application - sort of having a self-impose dban on children but giving it the facade of it being imposed by law?

I was surprised to see this restriction on the website of an Edinburgh restaurant: "As of 1 September 2009, due to new alcohol licensing requirements, children 15 and under are not allowed on the premises during dinner hours. Please be advised that we require proof of age." Is this some new legislation applying only north of the border? Is it going down well with the punters and/or the restaurants? Or is it a matter that this restaurant is simply introducing a specious "no kids" policy. http://redwood-restaurant.co.uk/contactus.aspx John

Pehaps interestingly, Earle's website says he does cook there but there's no similar mention on the flagship Green's website. That said, you know what the slebs can be like for not actually being in the kitchen too much. Perhaps because we were on the ManCon deal and not full paying punters, but we had the ghetto table. Bundled into a corner, we couldnt see a bloody thing so no idea if he was in kitchen. By the by, the bogs at Earle are up a very tight metal spiral staircase on the first floor. So perhaps not the best restaurant to take your elderly granny (or, for that matter, your footballer's wife in her killer heels) - rounding off the evening at Trafford General A & E might not be the best of plans. But, other than that David, it's well worth a shot - Greens gets a GFG entry at a cooking 2 and I'd say this is well up with that.

EARLE, CECIL STREET, HALE Set in the leafy suburbs, this is sleb chef Simon Rimmer’s non-veggie cousin of Greens in West Didsbury. It’s sleek and modern – the sort of place that the local footballers’ wives are going to come to when they’re slumming it a bit. We’ve been before, of course, and tonight we were eating on a Manchester Confidential deal that was getting us three courses and a glass of wine for £26. Good saving this – knocking around a tenner or so off the menu price. It’s a shortish menu, offering around 7 items at starter and main and 4 at dessert. As might be expected, there’s a fairly strong veggie influence and we both went with non-meat starters. Celeriac, blue cheese and sunblush tomato roulade was a belter of a dish. A slice of crisp filo, enclosing the earthy root veggie puree, tangy cheese and very punchy tomatoes. A little salad leaf and a few cubes of pickled beetroot completed it. Seemed very seasonal and absolutely delicious. But – and it’s always a significant “but” for me – it would have been so much better if it had not been fridge cold. The other starter was also veg and pastry – a tart filled with very long cooked onion bound with a little grain mustard. Salad leaf again on the plate in a mustard dressing. A well proportioned and executed dish. As to mains, my partner went with the “classic “ Earle burger. Good tasting meat, bun that held its shape, chunky coleslaw and a tangy tomato chutney. It came with proper chip sized chips – not fries; not the ubiquitous “fat” chips – just proper chips. Not sure why it’s a “classic” but it’s in its own section of the menu, along with other “classics” like fish & chips, moules mariniere and cheese & herb sausage and mash. My own plate brought three scallops, perfectly seared, and a small fillet of salmon. Nicely crisp skin on the fish which was just cooked through. The scallops sat on a bed of pea puree with the vegetable echoing in a scattering of petits pois and mangetout. There were a couple of halved new potatoes and I also ordered some chips as the “free” side order which was part of the deal. The plate looked and tasted lovely and seemed to show that Earle’s cooking is punching a little above its weight. Desserts read as the least interesting on the menu and, in other circumstances, we might have passed. However, it was included in the deal so we both ordered the “crumble of the day”. Turned out to be apple. A generous portion of a very homely cooked and presented pudding. In a good touch, a rich custard was served separately in a little jug. The restaurant wasn’t too busy and the two serving staff were easily able to cope. Hopefully they have additional staff on nights they expect more customers, otherwise it might well be quite iffy. Overall, this would have been a good value meal had we been paying full price. With the deal it was a cracker.

Today, I spotted my local Lidl has four frozen quail for £5.99. Anyone tried them? Oh, and for the same price, two 350g reindeer steaks. I sense Xmas Eve dinner being planned. Ho, ho, ho.

I’d been thinking about coming here ever since I saw it on the Ramsay programme last year. Knowing that the selections on that programme had occasionally been a bit flaky, I hadn’t been in a rush, but its inclusion in the 2011 Good Food Guide clinched the trip for me. So, four of us made the schlep along the M62 to Ripponden. Now, I reckon going to a tapas place in a group – even a small group – has its downsides as well as its upsides. On the one hand, you get the opportunity to give the menu a good seeing-to but, on the other, it poses difficulties in ordering sufficient food that everyone’s going to enjoy. As we walked in, we were immediately welcomed by chef and owner, Simon, who seemed to know I was an egulleter (thanks, Bapi). He suggested some Padron peppers to get us started while we looked over the menu. I like the menu – the actual menu as well as the food. It’s a paper placemat – you tick what you want and give it to the server. It fits the casual style of El Gato. Simon chatted through some of his signature dishes before leaving us to decide, suggesting that we’d want to order around a dozen dishes for the four of us. In the event, I think we clocked up 19 (including three double portions and one quad of bread). Many dishes on the menu are classics of the tapa genre. Others are on good nodding acquaintance with Spanish cuisine; a few seemed to have more tenuous links but were none the less for it. The peppers had been great – expertly fried, not greasy, and with a good sprinkling of salt. Roasted almonds and marinated anchovies on crostini quickly followed. And then, in no particular order as they were cooked, we had: Jamon croquetas – light and delicate Belly pork, roasted scallop and morcilla. Quite a cheffy presentation here, with a couple of blobs of sauce and a foam. Lamb kebabs, chickpea puree, harrisa and yoghurt. Absolutely delicious although perhaps more Moroccan than Spanish (although Spain continues to occupy part of that country so the link is there). A double portion of black ink rice, avocado and squid. Another dish that was absolutely bang-on for rich flavour. Simon seems to spend almost as much time out of the kitchen as in it and on one of his visits to the table told us that it was a simple dish relying on the quality of the fish stock to cook the rice. Fab. Catalan bread with olive oil, garlic and tomato – pa amb tomaquet. This was the quad order of bread – a single order getting you just two slices. Delicious – well worth ordering seconds. Catalan fish stew was much of a soup than stew. Clams, squid, scallop, small fillets of an unknown fish (bass?) in a rich liquid. As with a number of offerings, this cried out for bread – not the above Catalan bread – but just lots of ordinary bread, as you get everywhere in Spain, to mop up the juices. If you're reading this, Simon, just stick a loaf on everyone’s table, and build in the cost. Syrian lentils were good and earthy. Patatas bravas were patatas bravas - always a favourite tapa of mine (thanks for this freebie, Simon). We’d also had a couple of the specials – chorizo cooked with cider was poky with chilli, while a double portion of ribs cooked in Pedro Ximenez sherry were sweet, but the sauce a bit thin for good “clinging” quality. Nice to eat these two dishes in conjunction with each other. And, finally, a small selection of regional Spanish cheese, served with bread, quince paste and pressed fig (pan de higo?). Aside from the above comment about the need for mopping –up bread, this was cooking at a good standard. Quality ingredients, well executed. There wasn’t a single duff dish amongst the lot. And, unlike many tapas places, no sense that the microwave had just pinged. The drinkers had carafes of white and red wine and shared a bottle of Inedit beer developed by Ferran Adria and the Catalan brewers, Damm. Simon said El Gato was, I think, one of only ten outlets in the UK to offer it. The drinkers liked everything. Service throughout the evening had been great. Obviously it was aided by Simon’s personal contribution but he is well assisted by his front of house team. It is possible to eat here cheaply – there’s an offer of 6 tapas (chef’s choice) and a bottle of wine for two people at £35. But ordering from the menu can quickly rack up the bill, with dishes such as the fish stew costing £12 and the bellypork/scallop/morcilla dish at £9.50 – and a single order is designed as a small tapa for two people. But, all in all, well worth the trip.

We had this lunch deal at the beginning of September and it really is a belter. I think I posted a review on the wider "East Lancashire" thread.

Looks like quite few new dishes. Must get ourselves over soonish.

Hadnt realised that Brydon was that good an impressionist. Funny stuff. A mate mentioned only last week that he works with Coogan's brother and, apparently, the whole family is big on the Lake District.

GILPIN LODGE Lunch at Gilpin (as it now styles itself) was an excellent way of spending a couple of hours. I’m sure the chef turns out imaginative dishes at dinner but this was a meal where good ingredients had been cooked and plated up with almost a minimum of intervention. It was great. And cracking value at £27 for three courses. We looked over the menus sat on an overstuffed sofa in the lounge, sipping a drink, nibbling on assorted salty stuff, watching the rain tipple down outside. Seemed to me to be exactly what a retired couple should be doing on Monday lunchtime. Ham hock terrine seems to be on everyone’s menu these days. Here it was a generous slice of well flavoured porkiness – mainly pressed shreds of meat but the occasional little chunk of meat giving a nice change in texture. As often it came with piccalilli – but as not often, this was a good ‘un, sharp from vinegar and with a kick from the mustard. There was a little bit of toast but a basket of good bread had also been offered – cheese ciabatta, granary and a caraway. The main course of guinea fowl came as roasted breast and also ballotine of the legs. Wild mushrooms, mashed potato and a cream sauce also on the plate. Just a lovely plate of unchallenging, perfectly cooked, perfectly enjoyable food. Veggie Vera had ordered a twice baked Stichelton soufflé which was light with the blue cheese coming through nicely. There was also a deconstructed Waldorf salad which didn’t work that well. It needed some more oomph in the dressing and cooking the celery was not necessarily a brilliant idea. This was followed by a pumpkin risotto, with ceps and sage – good texture with some green veg just cooked through but retaining a crispness balanced out the softness of the risotto. Perhaps a tad oversalted. None of the desserts floated our boat but I had some cheese – all British – generous portions of cheddar, Blacksticks Blue and a couple of other softer ones that I’ve forgotten. Bread and biscuits were offered and a tangy apricot chutney.

LINTHWAITE HOUSE Dinner came as part of a last minute overnight deal at this lovely hotel. I like it here – the rooms, bedrooms and public, are well furnished and very comfy. Staff are efficient, formal without being fawning, friendly without being familiar. In my book, that makes them perfect staff. Orders are taken over drinks in the lounge. There were good canapés – duck on celeriac remoulade was a standout but a risotto ball and a cheese biscuit were, in their own separate ways, both light, crispy and delicious. My partner started with what seems to have become a modern classic of scallops with cauliflower puree. A bit stingy offering only two scallops but they were delicious. Just seared through. Perking up the fairly bland puree was a scattering of crisp, salty fried Cumbrian air-dried ham. Also adding an intriguing background note was a little drizzle of curry oil. My own starter was a “pressing” of chicken – shreds of chicken, very lightly bound with jelly. Texture – moist. Flavour – delicate. Also on the plate, as almost a classic accompaniment to chicken, some grilled baby leek and a little salad leaf. An inoffensive starter but not edge of the seat stuff. Much more robust was what must be a regular item (as it features in the 2011 Good Food Guide review of Linthwaite). Loin of Cartmel venison, served perfectly at medium rare, a red onion tart (spot-on crisp pastry), damson puree and a rich chocolate and port jus. Superb. The other main brought Galloway beef in two ways – fillet, again medium rare, and a braised short rib. Served separately, a little dish of smoked mashed potato – an intriguing flavour and very delicious. Both dishes had a scattering of artfully cut root vegetables. Unfortunately, these must have been plated too early and had cooled somewhat. Desserts were both successes. A pistachio cake came with a honey icecream and a grilled fig – almost the eastern Mediterranean on a plate. And a crème brulee, served with rhubarb and ice cream. It was then back to the lounge for good strong espresso and some delicate petit fours – of which the highlight was an orange marshmallow. Dinner retails at £49 and is pretty good value in itself. Value improves when taken as an integral part along with bed and breakfast (which included the finest Cumberland sausage I can recall eating).

BROWN HORSE, WINSTER Possibly everything you want from a country pub. A friendly welcome; a good menu which reflects local produce and the season; beer brewed on the premises; even a room for the night if you need one. We just needed some lunch. Pheasant made two appearances on the menu. I went with the one that put it into a pie. A very generous serving of meat in a thinnish gravy, sweetened by a few cranberries. It was advertised as also having black pudding but there was none that I could detect and the pie was the worse for it. Now of course, I take the view that there are few things not improved by black pudding and here it would have added some meaty richness and, probably, thickened up the gravy. My complaint, if there is to be one, is that the pastry lid was undercooked, leaving it barely cooked at all on the underside. Alongside, there was a small portion of decent non-sloppy mash and some mixed veg. Mrs H was in her Veggie Vera mode choosing a spinach, parmesan and pinenut tart – and coming off second best in the choosing stakes. It looked quite interesting but was underseasoned and a bit greasy. Some new potatoes and tomato & olive salad accompanied it. She had a half of the Winster Valley bitter, served properly without too much of a chill on it, and with a good lingering bitterness. In spite of the quibbles – and they are only quibbles – this was a pretty fair lunch. And good value at under £21.