thom

I am almost sure that's what it is, as we'd comment on the fact the strong yellow colour must be down to tumeric, but to be honest I hadn't noticed any coconut taste coming through. I liked it, but as stated my girlfriend was less convinced. David, I'm sorry you weren't blown away but as Eatenmess said (and as I hope my initial post made clear) this place is a godsend as a convinient neighbourhood place - cheap, honest, friendly service and tasty and interesting food - rather than the sort of culinary epithany you'd make a hundred mile pilgrimage too. I still reckon if you like Viernamese food and find yourself in the city centre than it's a belting little gaff. And Eatenmess I do hope they rotate the menu, as I'm going to be whipping through the existing dishes at a rate of knots and they say variety is the spice of life (though saying that I still tend to have the hot poached lamb at Red Chilli every other time I go...). I think the BBQ pork, the soups and the summer rolls are going to be regulars for me, but that aside I'm always up for something new. I reckon I'm going to try and make a trip to Bubbles this week or next to see how it compares. I'm also hearing the new place on Shudehill is going to be a Korean place rather than Vietnamese. We shall see, but as I also love Korean food and it's only a minutes walk from my office I can't lose either way! Happy, happy days. Cheers Thom

The one on Oldham Street? A mere five minutes stroll! Don't lose your nerve as you're trekking up Oldham Road though, it's slightly further than Wing Yip, just past the HSBC on the right hand-side. Summer rolls and BBQ pork would be my tip, but the phos are good too. On your way back into town stick your head into the Marble Bar on Thomas St which opened yesterday. Teeny-tiny but a nice space, and a fantastic set of beers on sale including three of the main Marble brews. Cheers Thom

Interesting point actually, and one we've discussed within the office. My business partner is as East Manchester as they come (grew up in Beswick/Clayton, family from Ancoats, girlfriend from Collyhurst etc) and he has commented several times that there are a lot of Vietnamese familes moving into East Manchester (from Miles Platting out as far as Blackly and Gorton). Also that Cash and Carry (is it Wing Yip?), although Chinese in ownership, obviously tends to serve all sorts of Asian foodservice operators (Indian, Pakistani, Thai etc) and thus a number of other related Chinese/Asian businesses have sprung up on the surrounding streets to take advantage of the specific ethnic football such a big operation must attract. I'm guessing like them VNam is partly feeding off that, though it's owners are definitely Vietnamese and I'm sure I read in the original review that most of the current diners tend to be friends and family and are thus also likely to be Vietnamese. What with those diners plus adventurous city centre folk, inquisitive foodies and a stream of posties they might just have a viable business there. Cheers Thom

Another return visit, this time with my better half and my youngest in tow (who was half-asleep, and insistently wearing a pair of blue sunglasses despite the overcast nature of the day). It was a quiet lunchtime, though there were another couple in when we arrived, complete with small child, and they all seemed to know the owners who popped in to say hello. Freindly service as always. Although not something I would expect or indeed wish for in a more refined dining experience I was also delighted to see they had the flat screen TV on the end of the bar counter fired up with Disney Clubhouse flickering silently away. For those of you without kids (or maybe just without MY kids) let me make clear that an hour long dinner where you and your partner can talk properly without interuption and appreciate the food as adults whilst your kid mechanically shovels food into his mouth, silent and spellbound by the power of TV, face set like a slackjaw troglodyte (to quote Mr Burns), can be a rare and wonderful treat... Anyhow, on to the food. We started with summer rolls alone as sadly they were all out of spring rolls. These tasted as good as last-time, and although weirdly they seemed to have bumped up the filling (more prawn and pork - the previous sparseness of which was noted in the Man Con review) they did end up a little lumpy and untidy. Possibly prepared by a less skilled hand? Ah well, give me flavour over aesthetics any day. Our request for prawn crackers to keep the little one ticking over was happily dealt with, even though they don't appear as sole items on the menu, only as an accompaniment to a certain dish. The crackers themselves were spankingly fresh, still shimmering with oil and hot to the touch as they hit the table, and did the job perfectly (though they did make me want a beer). For mains we decided to over-order slighly and went for three dishes - the BBQ pork, the BBQ chicken and the pancake. The pork was as good as last time, for me this is the stand-out dish (especially the crushed peanuts sprinkled on top). The pancake seemed maybe a little greasier than last-time, and although crispy on the outside the layer of batter/mix seemed thick and was still runny on the inside where it met the filling of pork and prawns and beansprouts. Not sure if this was intentional but Sophie was not convinced by the texture. Note to anyone who tries the pancake (which I like) - lashings of chilli sauce are the way to go, the egg/spice interaction is kind of like an Asian huevos rancheros. The chicken was a beast, about half a bird I think, and although nicely charred on the outside (and slashed deeply to get the flavourings in the meat) it was actually still juicy within and pulled off the bones beautifully. I liked it, though it was more like a simple BBQ chicken taste than anything spicier or more exotic (unless you dipped it in the fish/soy/chilli/coriander sauce mix). Portions again were huge, and each dish was accompanied by a very decent pile of rice of fine noodles, plus some basic salad. In fact the chicken/rice/salad dish - which seems perfect for more unadventurous/picky child diners - was so big we estimated that if we made a return visit with both our boys and Soph's best mate with her six year-old we could easily split it three ways for the kids and they'd all be full and satisfied. That would work out about £1.75 per portion for a healthy, tasty kids meal (as opposed to about £6 a pop for an excreable children's lunch of limp sandwiches and shit fruit salad at Legoland the other week). The whole meal, which frankly we struggled to finish, along with three soft drinks was £23. Amazing value for such delicious, nutricious, plentiful food. We'll be back again soon. Maybe even tomorrow. And next time I'm not sharing my pork. Cheers Thom

The you'll be delighted to hear that there is already another Vietnamese place in town - Bubbles Cafe on Portland St near Red Chilli, which is more of a casual lunch place but also got a great review on Man Con - and (unconfirmed) rumours of a third Vietnamese operation opening on Shudehill opposite Cafe North (possibly where the ill-fated Nosh used to be?). Happy days indeed!

Ohhhh... happy days. Whilst perusing Manchester Confidential, the increasingly random lifestyle website for Manchester, I noticed a review for a new Vietnamese cafe called Vnam. Big tick number one - I love Vietnamese food; big tick number two - it was two minutes walk around the corner from my office. And fair do's to Man Con, they've turned up a diamond in the rough (well, Miles Platting/Collyhurst) here. It's sited in a conventional main road Victorian terrace shop front, amongst a mixed bag of hairdressers, off licenses and Thai beauty palours. It's on Oldham Road and faces the massive Wing Yip cash and carry (incorporating the Glamorous restaurant, where I rate the dim sum though Jay Rayner wasn't convinced) and the Royal Mail Depot. The recent fit out is basic - simple counter at the back, cheap catering furniture, recessed spots, re-skimmed walls, a few framed Vietnamese landscapes - with the only interesting feature being a row of about twelve waist high plug points along the side-wall which makes me think the unit might previously have been a hairdresser. It is though spotless, tidy and welcoming, light and airy, with a sofa and papers to wait whilst you pick up takeaways, and a friendly staff of young Vietnamese lads. The kitchens are hidden away, out of sight and smell, downstairs. Each table comes with a full set of condiments (traditional chilli sauce, fish sauce etc) and a laminated and limited menu which seems to tick all the traditional and crown-pleasing options: Pork skewers, BBQ lamb chops, BBQ pork chops BBQ quail (notice a theme here?), fried squid or prawns, spring rolls, spicy frogs legs, pho of all descriptions, savoury pancakes, salads of chicken, prawn or lotus root and more besides. The prices are spot on, with starters at £4-£5:50 and mains around £5-£7 (the meats etc served with appropriate salad and noodles). I've been twice in two days; first time a reccie on my own, and today with colleagues in tow. Yesterday I went for the Bun Bo Hue, a Vietnamese style spicy beef noodle soup. Delicious, it came with a plate of salad to stir in (with lashings of chilli and fish sauce) - heat in the nose, good rich broth and tasty chunks of cheap cuts of beef (a bit of gristle or fat is good for the soul I reckon). A return visit today saw two colleagues go for soups again (one chicken, and the other beef similar to mine) whereas my business partner went for the very traditional pancake (omelette filled with shrimp, pork and beansprouts and served with spicy fish sauce) which was awesome - two big fat folded omelettes, well seasoned and well stuffed, which is all one could ask for. I reckon I picked the winner though, BBQ pork served with a pile of sticky thread-like rice noodles and salad. The pork itself was well flavoured with spices and herbs and had then been barbequed - not just "grilled", but properly barbequed, with blackened caught bits and crispy edges - and was just outstanding. The meat itself was slices of some fatty cut, maybe belly, and really carried the flavour and had responded well to the charring. Accompanying that we split two portions of summer rolls, incredibly delicate rice paper-wrapped things filled with rice noodles, prawn, pork and coriander with a piquant dipping sauce. As the name implies they were incredibly light and summery, to the point that one of our party felt compelled to shout out "Picnic!" the minute she tasted them. The soups were £5 and £6 and were BIG portions, the double omelette was £5, the pork £5 and the summer rolls £3 for two. Mental, mental pricing, but they seem serious about it; it doesn't seem the sort of place that is set up to elevate it's prices the minute the critics have been through the doors... Drinks were good too - no license (though the manager grabbed us and said - "If you want to bring wine or beers that's fine, we'll just charge you £1 or something") but lots of quirky and traditional Asian drinks (water with aloe vera bobbing in it, that sort of thing). Apparently they do something unusual with coffee and condensed milk too. My favourite twist to the place is that although their core market is the burgeoning local Vietnamese community as a new business (particularly one in such delicate economic climes) they couldn't ignore the ready market of postal shift workers across the road and therefore also have a small menu of "English" food - Cottage pie and chips, all day breakfast, burgers, lasagne etc. Actually my favourite favourite twist is the fact that the waiter went out of his way to tell us about the breakfast and proudly opined that it was the best in town! A gang of Vietnamese lads who were in whilst we were hoovered their way through a load of the traditional dishes and then ordered full English breakfasts to finish, so maybe he's right... This place is a low-fi low-key gem, and is already a new favourite for me. It's open lunch till 10pm most days, and if you're around the Northern Quarter and fancy a five minute stroll out of town for some heart-warmingly unpretentious, honest and delicious food then I heartily recommend it. Cheers Thom

That's usually with duck's feet in the UK, the wrapping is bean-curd skin and the veg is taro. It's an unusual dim-sum item that one, I like all of the components but that dim-sum is not greater than the sum of its parts! Ahhh... Thank you Prancrackers, I think that's exactly what it was. The Manager did explain that the grainy block was a kind of root vegetable but didn't know the name in English. He also said that he didn't like it either, and that equally he wouldn't eat goose or duck's feet as they reminded him of his baby's feet. A passing waitress and a Chinese family on the adjacent table then also chimed in about how they also find them a bit grim. Yes, I felt like the token Englishman who's been suckered into ordering the most gonzo item on the menu in a pathetically contrived and middle-class pursuit of gastronomic authenticity...

Unforgivable was that fact that in all my year's as a Mancunian food-nerd I had never darkened it's doors. There is a huge amount to say about Ramsons, both the restaurant itself and my experience last night, but today is a busy day so excuse me if keep things (relatively) brief and leave much of the detail for people to discover in their own time on their own visits. Essentially Ramsons is Chris Johnson - the small, bearded chap whose picture is all over the website, and whose heart and soul runs through the restaurant. It's a small place, maybe 30 covers, and has a cosy, informal ambience with nooks and crannies and small leather boothes, as you might expect from a neighbourhood restaurant with ambition. After that it all gets a big unexpected. The cuisine is Italian (though none of the team are), meaning it also has a dedicated wine-list of Italian wines which has to be seen to be believed (this is Chris' MAJOR passion and it shows), and the food is classic, clever and detailed. You begin to see why this place has scooped so many awards (GFG, the Northern Hospitality Awards etc). So what did we eat? Ohhhh... lots of things, we had the tasting menu so the dishes came thick and fast. Standouts, besides the delicious bread, included immaculate scallops with a julienne of apple and apple puree, a ballotine of phesant with pork belly and braised lentils, two cheese plates (one English, one Italian) which were a delight - each English cheese had it's own accompaniment such as quince paste or home-made pickles and jellies - an outstanding chocolate fondant and an impressive slice of custard tart with nutmeg ice cream (the more so impressive as the guy doing pastry is 16 - yes, sixteen). And the wine? Oh the wines... Anyone who knows me is well aware that I have little or no formal wine knowledge but that doesn't mean I'm light on appreciation. Equally anyone who knows Italian wines will know that it is a specialist area, with a plethora of grapes unknown outside Italy, and it can take a lifetime to get any sort of handle on the subject. On this basis if you want the detail of what I drank then call up and ask Chris... But what I can say is that after starting with what I assume was a fine pink prosecco we left ourselves in Chris's capable hands and had a Soave which held up to both the fish and the meat courses and a freakishly atypical Lambrusco, which saw us through the meal start to finish and even danced daintily around the scallops. It was an impressive show of wine-selecting (nothing so crass as wine-pairing!) and Chris being Chris we also got an school-teacherly guide to the finer points of the art of wine-tasting and an insight into the machinations of dealing with small Italian family vinyards. The ten course taster was £60 a head (though I think we might have had an extra course in there somewhere) and we spent about £50 in total on wine. I have to be honest, I'm not quite sure why this place hasn't got a Michelin star. Maybe it's the quirkiness? Maybe, God forbid, it's Chris himself (who is the first to admit his constant chatting to diners can annoy, as he is a passionate man of strong and contrary opinions!). I don't know, but it's a neat little space, with excellent food, a compelling menu, and a wine-list stimulating enough to make the most jaundiced wine-buff skip with joy - what else can they do? Having broken our Ramsons duck we shall certainly be back. Cheers Thom

Infrasonic, I totally understand their constraints (and by "fit-out" I did mean a gang of friend and family with paint-brushes and a power-drill, not some team of corporate shopfitters!) and as I say running my own company in the current climate means I really do have sympathy for anyone trying to do something amazing on a pitiful budget. But I just didn't warm to the space. Amazing things can be done on the cheap - Though very different I love the fit out for Noho, the Northern Quarter bar, for example which must have cost about 8p including the bar - and equally money can be spent badly - see Ithaca, if you can bare it... - but I hope they get the business to enable them to evolve the space on the fly. I did like the food though, and everyone I know who knows the guys involved (ex Ramsons, and possibly some link to the Roadhouse too or did I make that up?) says they're lovely so I have everything crossed for them. Manchester needs more restaurants with the potential of he Aumbry, and it needs them to succeed. I reckon a set lunch menu would help... And Prestwich precinct just needs demolishing. Decent looking cheese shop though. Cheers Thom

I think throw it open to anywhere in GM in Harters, and dammit let's go crazy and loop in any of the parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire that are also inextricably linked into this fine city of ours. Interesting point about Wings, I've not been there for a long time and must admit I didn't know they had a sister restaurant. I always found the food absolutely fine, but over-priced, and the atmosphere a little stuffy. Didn't they start doing sushi or Japanese dishes too at one point? And no Gary, you're right, Ocean Treasure doesn't open for lunch (damn it!) but that's what Red Chill is there for!

Not offal-themed as such, but I'd be suprised if it wasn't an ongoing regular part of the menu. As Rob himself said "my balls are selling better than my steak" and combined with a excellent GP what chef would turn their back on that business in the current climate! Jonathan Schofield, the Manchester Confidential editor, joined us for the tail-end of the meal (in a non offal sense) and he felt quite strongly that Rob should make the offal the centre-piece of the offering, as it gave a USP over other places in town. We shall see what happens, but he mentions the point here: http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Food-and-Drink/Other-Food-Stories/Food-and-Drink-Round-up-11022010_10345.asp If you fancy making a special bollocks pilgrimage RDB I'd just call ahead and see what's on the menu that day.

I'm glad to hear Rob passed his screen testes. You see what I did there?!

Yep, several times, and it's stupendously mediocre (though a journo mate of mine likes the crispy beef). It's not the best Chinese restaurant in the Northern side of Manchester city centre, let alone one of the top eight (or sixteen or whatever) top "local" restaurants in the whole of the UK!!! Utter, utter, madness. They girls who run it are great, there's a fine back-story, and they are consumate PR's, but to pretend their restaurant is anything other than average is bizarre. I'd be stunned if any eGullet denizens put it to the test and came away thinking much different. RE Ocean Treasure the £20 a head worked a treat for our mini-banquet. As I say I'm not sure if what we got was a one off (my friend's warnings niggle a little) but I'd certainly set a price per head rather than slaving through the menu and I suspect having the manager take a keen personal interest may have upped the game with the food we were served. The crispy lamb pancakes and the manage tout tops were absolutely fantastic though.

Once more I pull a restaurant deserving of it's own thread out of the "one size fits all" Mancunian thread. Aumbry DOES deserve it's own thread, but despite some spanking reviews (from people who's opinions I trust implicitly) I have to admit I found it a bit of a curates egg. Firstly, the location. I knew Aumbry was in Prestwich, which is traditionally the heartland of North Manchester's Jewish population and is a pretty mixed district with a cosmopolitan feel - some parts are unarguably rough, whilst other parts are gorgeous with big houses, tree-lined avenues and plenty of disposable income sloshing around. It's always been a puzzle in Manchester why a suburb which such a good dining demographic couldnt support a good restaurant on it's home turf (a decent Kosher Chinese, an excellent chippy, a Pizza Express and a couple of patesseries/delis were the limits of it's culinary offer). I assumed Aumbrey might be in one of the swisher stretches but on getting there it was plain it was somewhere in the skanky main shopping strip, opposite a run-down 1970's precinct. Weirder still it wasn't even on the main street, it was tucked down a non-descript side-street and seemed to inhabit an ex-terrace house. On going inside the space was light and airy, and the service efficient and welcoming but the fit out jarred. I can well understand why it was done to a tight budget but the tightness shone through - pine tables that reminded me of a garden centre cafe, green fabric place mats etc. On to the food though, because that's whaat really matters. A tasty little amuse bouche of chicken liver came and went pretty sharpish (my dining partner got a small cup of leek and potato soup which was velvety, indulgent, and slicked with truffle oil). The accompanying bread was a tad dull, slighly dry and thin slices of white without much in taste or texture to lift them. Starters were great, if repetitive. I went for the leek and potato soup which, as above, was excellent (though the blending created an even texture which was a bit over-facing in a larger portion) and my colleague had... It escapes me. I was hungry! Possibly something fish related? Over to you on this one mystery dining partner (and frequent eGullet lurker). The mains? Ohhh... the mains were pretty damn good. I had the mallard, and it was a tasty piece of breast (complete with a lead shot) though i did find it undercooked (and I like meat bloody) with a raggedy bit of scrappy blood and sinew attached to the underside which should really have been removed at prep. On the upside it was served with al dente veg and a few artful smears of jus and butternut squash which were perfectly smooth and velvety (and pleasing on the eye). My colleague had... Uhmmm... Not sure. Like I say, I was eating, and this was a week or so ago! Desserts were both excellent too. A chocolate fondant across the table (I remember that one!) was bang on, and hats off to the waitress for knowing that the melting centre was based around ganache and unlikely to be a raw-egg issue for my pregnant dining partner. I went for the crumble, because I like crumble, and it was again very good - quince and apple spiked with a bit of spice and a perfectly textured , if over-sweet, crust. So all in all pretty good. The food ate well and showed flashes of real technique (though also had some niggles), the service was good, whats not to like? Well partly it was the fit-out which clashed so much with the standard and ambitions of the food that it just kept tripping me out of my eating groove, and partly it was a slight feeling of trepadation for the business. My fears may be mis-placed, I stress I've been only once. On a Thursday afternoon, it had three tables dining, but maybe it is on budget and it will thrive. I hope so, because you can tell the guys there are putting heart and soul into it and as someone who is running his own company through these challenging times I applaud and support anyone who takes a chance and back themselves. But for a small, suburban restaurant in an inauspicious setting well out of the city centre I'm not sure it was quite good enough to drag me back for a repeat trip. Moreover on the day we went there was no set lunch menu, and the prices for the a la carte were exactly comparable to the dinner menu - £5-8 for a starter and £13-£18 for a main course. I worry about whether the local market can support these prices. I liked it, but I wanted to like it more, and it niggled me in a variety of ways. It's early days though, and fingers crossed they'll bed in, find their level, and go from strength to strength. Cheers Thom

Well everyone else has made the offal joke, so why can't I. Yes, another of my attempts to give Mancunian places of note their own threads rather than them getting lost in the overloaded catch-all Manchester thread. Anyone Mancunian will know Robert (Owen) brown. He cut his teeth at the Chophouses and Lounge Ten (and possible one of the other Caroll restaurants) before making a name for himself doing fantastic hearty British cooking under his own steam at The Bridge. Think lots of game, meat and offal, with much of the produce shot or fished himself, arriving in the kitchen feathered and furred for proper butchery. It was really, really great, and even Jay Rayner liked it (there's a review online somewhere). Then it went downhill, then it went bump. This is to be a recurring theme. Rob cooked at a couple of other places around the North West (too far flung for me to get to) and eventually ended up at The Angel, just by the Northern Quarter. Lots of people like Rob, and lots of people liked it (including Jay), but I had three pretty average meals there and stopped going. Then it went downhill, then it went bump. Once again Rob has reappeared, this time at the Mark Addy, a quirky old pub with a top deck that looks like a 1980's nightclub (all tubular chrome and smoked glass) and a basement space wedged on a Victorian riverside landing stage with barrel-bricked ceilings. I don't think he runs the business, but he certainly runs the kitchen, and on my visit this week that was a very good thing indeed. The main menu had all the normal Rob dishes which, though great, are the same things he was cooking a decade ago (poached ducks egg with black pudding, Morecambe bay shrimps on a crumpet etc). The specials though? Well off the back of some recent media bits and pieces it was even more skewed towards offal than usual, and it read like a dream... Potato and leek soup (next!) Roast bone marrow with parsley salad (Fergus himself had popped in that same week) Heart and tongue terrine Bull's fries with caper sauce Roast partridge or roast pheasant with veg, roast potatoes, jus etc etc... With a chum in tow we skipped the soup, ordered the other three starters and both birds. In brief the bone marrow was excellent (better than my last experience of Fergus' signature dish in the city...) if a touch less refined than St John's in finish and presentation, the heart and tongue terrine was gorgeous with a wonderful sweetness and a tasty (if tough to cut) wrapping of leek, and the bull's fries were a revolation, lightly frittered with the texture of sweetbreads if an earthier flavour and the capers cutting through the creaminess. The two game birds (insert sexist joke here) were both belting, served perfectly moist with a pink blush in the meat, and arranged on a chopping board in a "soixante neuf" with simple veg, fondant potato and a scattering of roast news along with a jug of arse-kickly good game jus (no cutting with chicken or veal stock here!) and the nice touch of a sprig of fresh herbs tucked into a spent shot-gun cartridge. All. Bloody. Lovely. And the best food I've eaten from Rob in ten years or so. He seemed happy and on the ball and is obviously in a good place. If he keeps this mood up (he's getting married shortly so not sure if that is the reason for his bluebirds of happiness) I'll be becoming a regular. I even like the room itself with a mish-mash of furniture, that awesome brick ceiling and stone walls, and the 80's pub carpet. The river view is ace too. Cheers Thom

I just thought it was worth breaking out a few individual Manchester threads, as currently everything is getting piled into the "Is it possible to eat somewhere nice in Manchester" thread which a) seems a bit of a negative viewpoint, and b) is getting to be a big bloated and ungainly. One of the subjects at the forefront of my mind recently was Chinese food in the city, based on the fact that I have had a number of very good experiences in Mancunian Chinese establishments recently and neither of them was Red Chilli (Splitter! Freak! Burn him!). The first is the Glamourous restaurant above the Chinese cash and carry on Oldham Road, about five minutes walk out of the Northern Quarter. If you ignore the possibly ironic name (it overlooks the inner floors of a multi-story carpark) and the tediously trad decor than it is a very decent place. So far my handful of trips have been limited to dim sum, and personally I think it represents the best I've eaten in town (certainly now that the Yang Sing has fallen far, far from it's perch). It reminded of some of the London Chinatown places actually (or possibly San Franciso) with a heavy skew towards Chinese diners, a businesslike air, and lots of rickety stainless steel dim sum trollys. The menus are extensive and well priced, and on chatting to the manager I get the feeling there are many things on offer which arent flagged up to your average Western diner. I'll try and push a little harder for some off-piste delights next time I am there. All the basics are present but on my last visit I also enjoyed goose-feet, braised and wrapped in a kind of pancake or rice-skin with a chunk of pork bunged in for cold measure. The only negative was a grainy chunk of some Chinese root veg (like a jenga chip) which really was a bit gritty and mealy. High-point I think, and it's become a regular for me, are the satay baby-squid which are bloody delicious. They little bulbous bodies turn out to be just perfect for scooping up the hot, sweet satay sauce which zings with chilli heat. Absolutley moreish. Better still once you have eaten at Glamourous you can pop downstairs to the Ho's Bakery concession in the cash and carry and grab a bag of honey-buns (or custard-buns!) to take away. Mhmmmm... Honey-buns... Second high point was the Ocean Treasure @ 235 restaurant, which is nestled at the bottom of the impressive but seldom buzzing Manchester 235 casino just at the side of Manchester Central (G-Mex). It occupies the site where Numero, the Italian, was and I hold my hands up by admitting the owners do have some family link to Red Chilli and Beijing dishes (if not Sichuan) do occur on the otherwise Cantonese menu. It's not normally somewhere I would have headed to but a drunken night in Manchester led to 1am weekday hunger pangs and a yearning for a proper sit down meal as opposed to a staggering kebab. Where would be open and decent at such a time (the late night places in Rusholme of Chinatown tend to be grim)? Why, obviously a restaurant in a 24 hour Casino, and I'd heard a couple of recent good reports. On sitting down in the suprisingly "styled" and comfotable dining space we got brought a 2,156 page menu (I may be exaggerating) so we fell back on the age-old practice of saying "£20 a head, cook us what you think best", following up with the important "nope, no food allergies or phobias, do your worst". What followed was a very passable mini-banquet, starting with steamed and fried dimsum (fish, meat and veg) and then hitting the first high point of the meal - crispy duck pancakes but with crispy lamb instead of duck - equally fatty and equally moreish - served with an impeccable plum sauce along with the pancakes, cucumber and spring onion. Next high point was stir-fried pork which was served on a bed of wilted greens which, on asking the (excellent) restaurant manager, were identified as mange tout tops - imagine pea-shoots, but bigger, and almost more "greener" tasting. A really tasty and unusual delicacy, and not something I'm ever seen in a Chinese supermarket. All in all then it was really good, and for £20 it was great to eat food that was not only delicious but also suprising and interesting. My only caveat is someone since then has said they believed the soups to be microwaved (turning prawns to rubber etc) so it pays to avoid the regular dishes and order things which take more bespoke prep. I can't comment on that, but I would definitely make a return visit. Even if I wasn't drunk. Cheers Thom

As always it depends exactly what you're after (casual/fine dining, city centre/suburbs, traditional/modern etc) but as I hear it the most interesting new place doing seriously good French/English cooking is a neighbourhood place Aumbry in Prestwich (about 15 mins on the tram out of town, two mins walk from there). Chefs are ex Fat Duck, and reviews and word of mouth to date are excellent. I'm due there for lunch in the next week or so. Otherwise The Modern keeps getting fine reviews (Matthew Normal apart...). Cheers Thom

I've been a couple of times, and although I found it good it was not quite "very good". Possibly it was swmaped by expectation, as following the reviews, the pedigree of the team and feedback from local foodie mates I expected something nudging on outstanding. Slipshod service and some variable dishes (not to mention an unexpected squid beak in a risotto, which at least proved their prep their own seafood, albeit not well enough) sullied my last two visits, and distracted from what was generally very capable cooking and an eatable menu. Added to that the fit-out is a cut above your usual suburban joint and the winelist is excellent. I think it's the sort of place you'd be delighted to have as your "walking-distance" restaurant in your own neighbourhood, but for me it is not the sort of local restaurant I'd travel to from out of the area on a regular basis and nor would I yearn to phsyically transport it (in the manner of Disney's "Up") back to my own neck of the woods. Actually maybe I would, but that's because I live in a culinary desert. If I lived somewhere comparable like Didsbury or Chorlton I would be less fussed...

So dinner in London last Thursday was Hakkasan. Firstly let me give this review context by saying that I was mildly drunk when I arrived at the restaurant, tipsier still after a few (excellent) cocktails in the bar, and even more tired and emotional post-dinner as we stumbled off into the night. But let me give that context context by saying that although I am appalling at remembering the finer details of meals whilst sober, let alone drunk, my overall judgement tends to be remain remarkably clear (at least it remains in line with my gastro-appreciation whilst sober - I accept that that in itself might be horribly out of whack). Unsuprisingly all the cliches about Hakkasan were true; on my first visit back in about seven years it was still painfully "sceney", still buzzy to the point of tinitus, still too dark, and still with staff who by and large (my bartender was an honourable exception) were slightly too full of themselves. That said my dining experiences are seldom judged on food alone, and to be honest I enjoyed all of the points above (excepting the arsey front of house) as it was nice, and fitting to the night, to be somewhere supremely vibrant, buzzy and so ideally set up for people-watching and subsequent speculating/bitching. So all would have been fantastic if the food was great, maybe say Michelin star standard, but it wasn't. It was mediocre. I made the mistake of letting my dining companions order so we ended up with a mix and match of fairly standard dim-sum - including one "selection" - but although much of it was competent not one thing was inspiring. Steamed this. Wrapped that. Dumpling the other. Oh, apart from a set of slow, slow, cooked pork ribs, which were served cold with a sweet glaze and had teeth-suckingly tender meat which fell from the bone in time-honoured style. For only one dish out of maybe five or ten to stick in my (admittedly hazy) memory is just not good enough, especially as the food bill rocked up to about £40 a head. Set this against my last Red Chilli trip with Bapi and Gary, when I was absolutely smashed but can still remember precisely what not only I ate, but what they ate too. So in all it wasn't necessarily an unenjoyable night, but for the food, and indeed the restaurant, to have garned a Michelin star is as nonsensical as Ducasse grabbing his third. And if it seems unfair to review a restaurant whilst drunk I say a) Bollocks to you, I'm in a bad mood so tough, and b) It doesn't seem to stop certain critics in the national press...

I ate here last Thursday. Someone else made the choice, but having been aware of their reviews I was more than happy with it. Strange little set-up I must say. Inside it was freezing (and cold bread, olives and fizzy water, although well received, did not dispel the chill) and the walk to the toilets (comparable to the "Hello Cleveland" scene in Spinal Tap) had to be experienced to be believed (not quite as far as Zinc in Manchester, but much danker). Service was clipped and efficient, but as the restaurant filled up over lunch (ending at maybe 60% capacity) things became a little more stretched and possibly veered into terse. This wasn't down to the attitude as such, they just seemed a tad light of staff front of house. The menu was the big thing for me though, it read beautifully. I wanted to eat virtually everything listed, with lots to entice on a cold winters day including (though weirdly a few more salads and cold fish dishes than you might have expected in January). Fish seemed to be an big thing here actually (see also the anti-whaling polemic sneaked into their website menu), the waitress reeled off the specials list impeccably but I stunned to be regaled with no less than ten specials, at least half of which were comprised of fish (cod, hake, red mullet etc). The chef must be a genius with reworking ingredients through the week and thrift cooking or their wastage must be heart-breaking. Oh the wine-list was a cracker too, with a good number of wines by the glass and a pleasing handful of half bottles, of which a Chinon did the trick of keeping us company through a fairly rushed two courser (damn those 2:30 meetings...). And it ate? Well, pretty well actually. I'm go so far as do say it was really quite good. The cod with the soft polenta and salad of chicory was spot on, a yielding piece of fish and stick to the ribs carbs. The bitter snap of the leaves were a perfect counterpoint. Starter was a risotto of pumpkin, and although I found it a shade underseasoned it was generally a good effort. My only gripe was that like restaurant risottos up and down the country it was gloopy rather than soupy, but this was better than most and at least wasn't sat on the plate in an immovable mound. A text-book truffle with a decent espresso capped off our relatively flying visit, and if I left feeling just slightly underwhelmed it was only down to the spankingly enticing and bar-rasing menu which just sounded incredible. I'd go there again, but for me it's merely a useful addition to my rotating portfolio of regular London haunts rather than a burgeoning and regular obsession. Cheers Thom

Considering I'm going to be stuck sitting opposite Bapi and Gary I fear that is unlikely if not impossible. If you want to switch me onto the table with Rosamund Pike and Cheryl Cole that's fine though. Looking forward to seeing you and eating your food again though Marc, it's been too long but what with kids and work I've been struggling to make it out to Oxton. Yes, I fully appreciate that's a poor excuse. This whole mountain/mohammed thing might be the way forward for you though, come bring that shiny Michelin star of yours to Manchester city centre! I reckon you'd find a few prime sites going cheap right now.

Reprobate number one, reporting for duty. I'm a bit short of Lear jets though.

Interesting! Firstly I stick by my judgement, I find Sweet Manderin mediocre (especially when judged, possibly unfairly, against Red Chilli). The sister's who run it are supreme PR merchants (they've self-published books and are often in the papers and seem to enter every awards going!) and good luck to them for that, but it doesn't make it good food. RDB, I shall post my thoughts on "Ramsey" (an on purpose mistake to check we're awake at the back?!) and his hunt for the finest local restaurant at a later and more appropriate date... Interesting you namecheck Glamourous, Bapi, it's only two mins from my office and has become a bit of a regular haunt. I'm a big fan of their baby squid in satay (well worth a go) and they nail all the usual dim sum too. On my last visit I laboured through goose-feet (wrapped with a chunk of pork belly and some horrible granular vegetable block), a dish that earned shock and disgust from a Chinese family on the adjacent table, the waitress, and the restaurant manager (he can't eat them because they look like baby feet apparently). And as for Harvey Nichols under the new chap I'm in the dark in terms of personal experience, but people I know who have eaten there seem to feel it has dipped since it's heyday under Alison. Cheers Thom

Bit of a gutter for the guys at The Star: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8342239.stm Not much detail but it sounds like the Fat Duck vomiting nightmare all over again. I feel for the Andew and Jaquie and the team, not to mention those on the receiving end of the suspected virus.

I think either place is worth a crack. They have been accused of resting on their laurels somewhat recently but I still find them consistent, comfortable and satisfying places to eat. Good beers and wines for those who value liquid sustenance over solids too. If you fancy a shade more of a trek then venture up Rochdale Road (five-ten minutes walk from the city centre proper) and hit The Marble Arch. It has incredible beers from it's it-house micro-brewery, and very decent pub food (they seem to change chefs a lot but it's normally good) in stunning surroundings. It's a proper pub-lovers pub. A wild card is to wonder over to the Mark Addy, on the Salford side of the river at the bottom end of Bridge Street. It was a "stuck in the 80's" waterside place with a great aspect but mediocre execution. Now Robert Owen Brown (great chef/terrible businessman) has partnered up with some money-man to relaunch it in some style. Very early days so you're taking your chances a little (wouldn't suprise me if it was a soft launch and the full launch might not happen for a while) but worth a Google or 118 to find out the lie of the land. If it's open and finished then it's I reckon it'd be well worth a short detour. Cheers Thom