Market Restaurant

The Market restaurant is the original Northern Quarter restaurant positioned at the heart of Manchester's original market centre. This is easily reached from Thomas street by the Arndale Centre. The Market Restaurant occupies the ground floor. The décor is original, kitch and innocently historical with green interiors, eye- catching retro posters adorns the restaurant.

The Atmosphere - This is has all the goodness of a fine dining restaurant without the stifling stuffiness that you often come to expect from a venue like this. The staff are genuinely sincere in their welcome to dinners and the service is constantly good.

The Food - Starters are an irresistible option. Chorizo, balsamic glazed tomatoes and rocket leaves, with freshly baked ciabatta and extra virgin olive oil (£6.25) is a stunningly simple serving of diced chorizo, fresh tomatoes and rocket leaves that have been bound with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar over a slice of toasted ciabatta. Also the Sauteed wild mushroom and caramelised red onion served over toasted brioche, glazed with cornish brie (v) (£5.95) are cooked expertly opaque and blend well over toasted brioche.

Mains Courses are intensely rich in flavour and aroma. Pork Medallions (£16.95) are cooked in cider and sage butter, layered with black pudding and apples fritters. The tenderness of the pork sits well alongside the subtle spiciness of the black pudding and the apple fritters bursting with a delicate apple flavour compliments this extra ordinary meal. Pan seared Duck breast with honey glazed carrots, gratin dauphinoise and port wine jus(£17.95) is cooked sensitively to your liking when served pink is beautifully tender. Vibrant honey glazed carrots echoes their sweetness and the dauphinoise potatoes brings the perfect combination with the richness of the duck.

Puddings - Pudding lovers should not come here without trying The Rhubarb and ginger crème brule (£4.95), highly addictive, it screams ginger and rhubarb in the most delicious way you could possibly imagine. Summer fruit pudding and clotted cream (£5.50) has a noticeably smooth texture and gently perfume of berries.

Beverages - 35 beers and a wine list that is exclusively European mean that there is something for every taste and staff are on hand to offer advice on matching beer and wine with specific menu items.

The Market restaurant is an stablished restaurant for more than 30 years that has recently refurbished it's menu to create amazing food at an affordable price.

It's definitely worth dipping into your pocket for.
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Carlitos
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, July 09, 2010

Me and my partner ate here for the first time last night and were both hugely disappointed with the place. It's a cosy enough place and the staff were very polite but the food itself was no better than massively overpriced service station food.

We both started with the smoked haddock which was pleasant enough but honestly, how difficult is it to unwrap some smoked haddock and serve it with some potato salad with horseradish added? The mains were where things went really down hill. A piece of salmon served on soggy tagliatelle with a dollop of creme fraiche on top for my partner, and some reasonable enough lamb with a couple of boiled potatoes and a green smeer for me. The veg was carrots and peas which had had the life cooked out of it and was grey. We both finished with a reasonable cheese board which came with plenty of biscuits and a slice of fruit cake although the cheese hadn't been allowed to warm to room temperature. The Wednesday evening offer of 3 courses with unlimited house wine for £25 means that I'll be giving a 1 for value for money rather than a zero!

I know I'm not just speaking for the 2 of us as we got chatting with a group on the next table who were all as equally unimpressed. We certainly won't be going back!
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Andrew
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Thursday, June 03, 2010

Without a doubt the best food I have had in a long time and it's a pleasure to know the ingredients all locally sourced and fresh.! The menu at the Market is really varied and there's something for everyone. The pavlova was my favourite part and as something you don't see often on a menu it's nice to have a good one. The Market is hidden away in the Northern Quarter so may take a little while to find but it's entirely worth it. The service is good - very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions or check with the kitchen if there are any queries.

This is a little gem of a restaurant that is missed out because of it's location...but when you can go for a cocktail afterwards in one of the local bars or take in some jazz it's a perfect hot spot for a great meal. Would definitely recommend to everyone and FYI I saw it also has some really reasonably priced lunch menus...
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, May 23, 2010

The service was very slow and they were speaking very low so we couldn't hear them. We were waiting for about an hour for our main course, which was quite average. With the price that they charge I would expect that the portions would be much larger!!! Very disappointing and the decoration was a bit dated.
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Andy - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, May 10, 2010

we ate at the market restaurant last night and i have to agree with the rest of the reviews. the food was so bland and boring and really over priced. i called to book a table and was told they were busy but could fit us in at 7.45. when we arived there were only 2 other tables seated and the rest of the restaurant was empty. it was such a let down over all. the service was very slow but the young lad who served us was very friendly......the only positive i can think of!! dont bother wasting your money!!
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laura
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, April 24, 2010

A hugely disappointing experience. Overpriced and food insultingly poor. I agree with the previous reviewer, whose review I wish I had read before attending. 4 small pieces of duck for a £7.95 starter with a 'Grape and Walnut Salad' which consisted of one crushed walnut and one and a half grapes - this is NOT a salad but a mere garnish. My fathers mushroom cous cous was stone cold, the lamb overcooked, the £16.95 main course salmon accompanied by a pile of overcooked tagliatelle , no sauce, not even seasoned and the side order of chips had clearly been cooked more than once and were burnt. Absolutely dreadful. I have never walked out of a restaurant before but could tolerate neither the overpriced and frankly insulting offerings of 'contemporary british food' nor the proprietors seeming inability to deal with our issues. This used to be such a lovely restaurant but now one which I will never attend again.
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Louise Renforth
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, April 11, 2010

Second time of visiting this restaurant and it'll be the last. We knew it was pricey but the measly portions didn't help matters. £7 for 4 small pieces of duck breast and a teaspoonful of grape reduction; main of beef was excellent; chocolate pud gooey centre was overcooked and consequently hard. And, yes we did complain but by then it was already two hours into the meal. The £30 wine would have been overpriced at half that. Didn't work out what the role of the owner was except to wander around slowly, watching. With lots of better places in the city centre, try elsewhere.
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David, Manchester
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Thursday, March 18, 2010

I had heard good things about this place from friends and did not hesitate to book it for my partners birthday meal. He chose the pork fillet and I had the thai salmon. I have never had such a mediocre boring out of a jar meal for such a hefty price tag. As for my partner's meal it was ok but he could have cooked it for himself! My 'thai' salmon was nothing but pan fried salmon with a bit of paprika sprinkled on top some slimey bits of cucumber and store bought sweet chilli sauce in a pot, with lumpy mashed potatoes! Bad combo. The pork was a slightly better put together dish but nothing special as i had been led to believe. Service was ok but not especially quick. The table next to us had to wait over 50 minutes for their first course. We did not stay for dessert, and politely told them that the meal was perfectly edible but over priced bland food. The only good thing to come out of that meal was the bottle of house shiraz which was an easy drink and softened the blow for when we had to part with our cash. Sorely disappointing. Not worth £60 for wine and one main course. Its not that you want gordon ramsay rubbish. You want a good quality meal with some effort put into it.. Not poor pub food. Saying that i.ve had better food in our local and paid a fraction of what the market restaurant ask for.
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raisa kabir
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Saturday, February 20, 2010

This is a hidden gem and well worth seeking out. I see there are some earlier 'moaning' reviews but for me the Market never fails to deliver. It is what it sets out to be: a small, friendly restaurant using fresh, local ingredients. If you want some Gordon Ramsay type 'flash', go somewhere else. The Market is, without doubt, 'different' - and that's what makes it so good.

The service is excellent - the owner is usually working front of house - and the staff seem knowledgeable and attentive. As far as I can see, people are made to feel welcome and 'special'.

Food is good: home cooking with some modern touches. I'm a big garlic fan so I'd like to see more of it on the menu - would also like to see a more regular appearance of chips (yes, folks, chips - not 'fries'). Meat and fish are great and desserts worth the visit on their own.

A good place to linger after dinner with a liquer or two and you won't be hassled to leave. If you're like us, you won't want to.
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Brian LD
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 07, 2010

Myself and a group of friends went to the Market Restaurant for Christmas Lunch. This was a dreadful experience. Apart from being ridiculously overpriced £25.00 for lunch, the food was awful. The turkey main course was served with an extremely salty red wine sauce, there was no cranberry sauce and the salmon was served with greasy pancakes! It doesn't stop here, the desserts were horrible, christmas rice pudding was on the menu, you would imagine hot creamy spicy rice pudding....wrong, it was three balls of stone cold rice pudding, disgusting. The cheese board was horrible too, the grapes were wrinkly! This used to be a wonderful restaurant but since its takeover it has gone completely downhill.
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Gill
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, January 06, 2010