City Café's New Year's Eve menu

Of the myriad ways to see in the New Year in Manchester, this dinner menu at City Café in Mint Hotel (formerly City Inn) sounds like one of the best bets.

The overnight package offers an excellent rate. From just £235, you get a glass of pre-dinner champagne, the City Café dinner, accommodation, and breakfast or brunch the next day.

It rises to the occasion without going too far into fine-dining pretension. It's distinctive without being self-consciously strange. And they're keeping the atmosphere relaxed and friendly rather than formal or overly merry.

You'll be welcomed with a celebratory glass of Forget-Brimont Premier Cru Champagne (you can't be sipping house wine on an occasion like this). The food starts with a Demitasse of Jerusalem soup with confit duck and cep cream, before you're swept into three multi-option courses.

Your choice of four starters includes Whitby crab and lobster cocktail with avocado, tomato salsa and crab beignet, or the equally indulgent Roast hand-dived scallop and slow cooked pork belly, with pea purée and quails egg.

Of the choice of four mains, we think the Aged fillet of beef with beef cheek sounds like the winner. Beef cheek is rarely seen on menus or even in butcher's shops (probably because it sounds so icky). Cooked properly though, it's a very tasty morsel and worth seeking out. Here it comes with anna potato, creamed carrot and red wine jus.

Another unusual ingredient is found in the vegetarian main – Cannelloni of sautéed salsify and wild mushrooms. Salsify sounds like a verb for something you'd do with a blender, tomatoes, chilli and onion. It's actually a root vegetable from the dandelion family which has an oyster-like taste when cooked.

This cannelloni comes with goats cheese crumble and a tomato fondue. It's almost enough to turn you veggie (if the talk of beef cheeks hasn't done that already.)

The choice of five puddings includes one called Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! You wouldn't get that name past the exclamation mark-hating Confidential editor – but maybe the over-excitement is justified here. It's a trio of decadent delights: After Eight marquise, milk chocolate and passion fruit mousse, and white chocolate, raspberry and hazlenut parfait.

The Raspberry and Drambuie trifle with baked almond cookies is also vying for our attention. The Lemon meringue pie with champagne poached strawberries could be in the running too.

Dinner finishes on tea, coffee and handmade chocolate truffles. But the night doesn't have to end there. Continue the celebrations in Mint Hotel's Piccadilly Lounge or Blue Bar.

It's worth considering staying over – no fuss with taxis, just a lovely room to slink away to when you're ready.

The overnight package offers an excellent rate. From just £235, you get a glass of pre-dinner champagne, the City Café dinner, accommodation, and breakfast or brunch the next day.

Dinner without the overnight package is £70.

To book the dinner please contact Kate Edwards-Tulloch, City Café Manager, on 0161 242 1020 or email here.

To book the overnight package (which includes the dinner) please call 0161 242 1000 or email here.