Michael Caines at ABode

I think this is probably the best restaurant in Manchester at the moment, certainly among the non-ethnic options.

It's shame it's tucked away in a window-less basement really, as for me that just notches a couple of points off its final score.

I particularly liked the way, having been very delayed on my train journey to Manchester, that I could go in at 2pm and still get a full lunch, without a moment's hesitation from the excellent staff.

The Amazing Graze table d'hote lunch is one of the biggest bargains of culinary Britain - 3 courses for £12. Ok, they're smallish "grazing" portions, but if you want a 24oz steak and chips, you're not going to be coming here anyway, are you? What you get for the £12 are three pretty to look at and tasty, well conceived dishes. With the excellent bread, it's enough for lunch and I don't leave feeling hungry.

But sometimes it's good to go à la carte, where you get two options: grazing portions or "full" portions, the grazing portions being about half the price of the big portions. You can mix and match the two portion sizes, but obviously going for small means you get to try more things, which is part of the fun. And you definitely need to leave room for desserts. At the moment (Sep 09) there's a peach tart on , that is simply exquisite.

Coffee - at least the espresso I usually have - is excellent and comes with yet more food! Most recently some really nicely made chocolate truffles which had a hard exterior and molten interior, and a shot glass of excellent chocolate mousse topped with a banana cream.
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Escoffier
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Thursday, September 10, 2009

I thought the food would be better. Some dishes were some quite good...some just made me scratch my head. Not bad, but I'd eat the food at The French (Midland Hotel), or Restaurant Bar and Grill any day before eating at this place again.

Again, it's not bad, but I think they are so caught up in being "cutting edge" that sometimes things come out that look better than they taste. Service reminded me of what you'd get if you took some young kids and sent them to hotel school, and this was their first job. Awkward, but well-intentioned.
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Adam Roberts - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

This meal was, without doubt, the best I've ever eaten! And the wine that was chosen to accompany each course was superb. Excellent service and knowledgeable staff. I might have to remortgage to go back, but it'll be worth it!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

This was a splendid restaurant - friendly staff, stylish surroundings and superbly presented and tasty food. We went for the grazing menu which gave us an opportunity to taste 4 different dishes each. The selection chosen included vegetable soup, tartlet of quali eggs, raviola of goats cheese and basil, terrine of foie gras, wild mushroom risotto, best-end of Hardwick lamb and Pan-firied Cheshire sirloin steak. Well done - the best meal we have had in Manchester for a long time.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 04, 2008

Quirky waiting staff served us at the best table in the house. Not as posh or as formal as I thought it would be, but this was something we appreciated. The food was delicious (make sure you have the sirloin steak!) and the 'taster menu' style of eating is simply genius - though it's a lot easier to spend more than you anticipated this way. Going to go again and take advantage of the lunchtime deal...can't wait.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 07, 2008