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Manchester House Menu Announced
Aiden Byrne turns up heat with his frogs legs and lobster tail
BYRNE baby Byrne.
First Rogan, then L'Entrecote closes, now Aiden Bryne. We've never had it so good.
Aiden Byrne, a TV chef that can really cook rather than pretend, has revealed his la carte menu for Manchester House - the fine dining restaurant opening on Tuesday 17 September.
This is a Living Ventures' operation (Alchemist, Artisan, Australasia, Grill on New York Street, Grill on the Alley, Oast House et al) that is unashamedly chasing the stars.
Michelin stars: those elusive celestial bodies that split the restaurant world into two. On one side there are those chefs that desperately yearn for a star and on the other those chefs who pretend they don't care but secretly and desperately yearn for a star.
Tower 12, glimpsed between the Spinningfield's offices
One thing is certain.
With its lounge on the very roof of Tower 12 in Spinningfields, and its restaurant, perversely eight storeys below, with access through the kitchen, this no-expense spared experiment will spice the Manchester food scene up.
First Rogan, then L'Entrecote closes, now Aiden Byrne. We've never had it so good.
Which is probably why a TV company is presently filming in the city trying to make a battle out of things, stirring it all up, seeing whether it'll be Rogan or Byrne who lights up the Manchester heavens with a star.
Maybe it will be neither, maybe both.
In the meantime here's the menu. Food for thought.
Elegance in a lobster dish
Beginning
Prawn cocktail £12.50
Truffle-poached chicken with baby artichokes £15
Frogs legs Kiev £12
Butter-poached langoustines with carrots £12.50
Sea and soil with oxtail £13
Squab pigeon with cherries, pistachio and violet mustard £16
Roasted scallops with pearl barley £18
Middle
Belted Galloway beef and mushrooms (for 2 people) £57
Boddingtons steak and ale pie £24
Roasted cutlet of middle white pork and salt baked pineapple
£25
Fire-roasted lamb rack, pine stock and sheep’s cheese £27
Poached lobster tail with smoked apple purée £50
Turbot cooked in fermented cabbage with Morteaux sausage £29
Beer can chicken with onion macaroni £24
Wild sea bass, shrimp chorizo and red pepper £26
Belted Galloway Rib-eye £35
Belted Galloway Fillet £38
End
Manchester tart £8.50
Peach, pistachio and milk chocolate £8.50
Blackberry and beetroot cannelloni £8.50
Milk and honey £8.50
Szechuan, lychee and rose £8.50
Granny Smith with maple cream £8.50
Cheese selection £12
Other Menus
A La Carte Extended £15
Twelve Course Taster £95
Fixed Price Lunch £27.50
Six Course Lunch Taster £50
Aiden Byrne is also preparing a vegetarian tasting menu.
Restaurant Opening Times: Tuesday–Thursday, lunch noon-2.30pm, dinner 7pm-9.30pm; Friday-Saturday, lunch noon-2.30pm, dinner 6pm–10pm
Lounge Opening Times: Monday–Sunday noon – late
There's no dress code at Manchester House but private dining and a chef’s table can be arranged. Manchester House is at Tower 12, 18-22 Bridge Street, Spinningfields, City centre, M3 3BZ. 0161 835 255.
Truffle, potato, artichoke and poached chicken. All ingredients from within a 25 mile radius of Manchester
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield or connect via Google+
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twenty four pounds for a steak and ale pie
But what price capital letters and full stops?
And why Boddingtons? Why not something that is a) actually brewed in the city, and b) not crap?
F.U.
The Boddingtons Brewery was in Manchester! Closed a few years ago. Remember the advert with Melanie Sykes. Boddingtons The Cream of Manchester!
The Lobster dish look amazing. The parts of the chicken dish do not look well on a plate together. They may taste superb (sure they do) but it does looka little lost.
Beginning, middle, end? Struggling to like this place already
Is this why the restaurant is 8 'stories' below the lounge?
yeh that did my head in too
I blame the media. Changed. Thanks.
How can a restaurant seriously claim to be committed to fine dining when it has no ambitions for vegetarian food at all? I'm sure what they do with the meat, fish and fowl is amazing, but such a display of contempt for the challenges of meat-free cookery and for the (many) vegetarian diners of Manchester rates NO stars from me!
Ditto!
Amen to that!
There goes my business if they can't be bothered with a single veggie starter or main!
Vegetarians should be satisfied with Bistro 1847 of whatever it's called.
To Anonymous: that insulting attitude seems widespread among many supposedly ambitious chefs in Manchester, including Rogan. Watch them lose a lucrative source of business, as vegetarians and their friends ignore their unimaginative ventures.
(Nothing against Bistro 1847, which is absolutely brilliant - it's just a pity more supposedly cutting-edge restaurants aren't up to the challenge!)
I expect choice if I am paying to eat out - I'm a veggie but my husband is not. As he only ever rarely wants veggie meals, Anonymous your attitude would imply he gets all the choice he wants provided he's happy to eat alone, whilst I am in Bistro 1847 also eating alone....
He's aiming to be one of the best restaurants int he country. thats tough enough without having to do it just with vegetables. If you choose a minority diet then you should accept minority eating options.
We will be offering a vegetarian 12 course tasting Menu. I'm sure there will be a few courses on there that will be of interest.
Vegetarians? Are you serious? Vegetarian food? Get off to Chorlton.
Aiden - seriously? That's brilliant news! Congratulations for taking on the challenge! In that case I take back all my carping above, and look forward to trying the menu once I've saved up for it.
Carping? That's not very vegetarian...
Schofield has a chip on his shoulder about Entrecote. It is a shame it has closed and at these prices I hope this new venture fails.
Why do you hope it fails you spanner? Should all restaurants in Manchester check with you first to see if they operate within your approved price band?
Bless you Anonymous, I was trying to be funny. I hope Manchester House flies, I hope all Manchester's good operators, big or small do the same.
Do you have to take lessons in how to eat these dishes in order to bring out the maestro's intentions? Or its it like Cabala, and initiation with Gordo is required? Do you need a separate wine with each course? I don't think my taste buds are properly aligned to enjoy what is on offer.
Whats this about using me as a catamite?
Catamites in revolt at the idea of Gordo being one of our number! Get your thrills elsewhere, fatboy
Entrcote of course was/is a joke, actually a parody or a local long past fictional french cafe with a dictatorial patron to told what you liked and whose novelty twist was what was in the sauce. Naturally the food was acceptable and the wine fit for purpose and the service amusing. It deserved a smile for taking you in. I only know the London one in Marylebone
Entrecote in Marylebone used to be my local eaterie of choice, was thoroughly enjoyable and a shame it was not to the taste of Mancunians.
It was a steak and chips restaurant - a dish you can buy in countless restaurants. A gimmick which people did not fall for.
L'Entrecote in Manchester used to be my local eaterie of choice. It did something very simple very well.
"Michelin stars: those elusive celestial bodies that split the restaurant world into two. On one side there are those chefs that desperately yearn for a star and on the other those chefs who pretend they don't care but secretly and desperately yearn for a star."....tell me you don't really swallow this utter bollocks?
Had a sneak preview in the restaurant today, it looks amazing x
Looks good but you have to give a card number when booking your table and if you cancel within 48 hours they charge £25 per person. I've never seen this before anywhere and I've been to some very high class restaurants.
Jim, very common now; The French didn't do this and were rewarded with loads of no-shows from arses. What's the problem if you are being sincere with your booking? Probably around 50% of small cover fine dining do this over Europe, otherwise they Weill just put up their prices for the rest of us.
I'm just old fashioned I guess. I'm used to the phone call from the restaurant confirming my booking the day before and then just turning up. Obviously I always want to honour a booking but exceptional circumstances arise and if my dining partner becomes ill within that 48 hour window (which is not impossible) I wold notify the restaurant and find that I'm £50 down. I'm not sure I like this policy! Does anyone else in Manchester do this? Abode, Harvey nicks, 63 degrees and the French don't? Unless they've introduced it recently?
I'm sure you'll get the phonecall for confirmation as well, but Manchester House goes all out for it's guests and there's a lot of preparation for a booking, not just a note in a diary, for that - I think the restaurant is justified in charging that amount for no-shows. There was a thing a while ago (I forget which restaurant) that started publicly shaming the names of guests that didn't show up via their Twitter account, hilarious!
Yes I have no real problem for charging no shows e.g people who dont bother notifying the restaurant as that is extremely rude, no matter what level of restaurant if you book a table you should always notify the restaurant if you can't make it. I just think a 48 hour window is too long a time. Many unavoidable things could happen in that time that mean you can't make the reservation. I think 24 hours is much more reasonable.
Would be better if they gave the charge to charity rather than putting it in the till. Fair enough to discourage no-shows but the restaurant shouldn't get £25/head when there's no food to serve up and they can give someone else the table anyway if it's popular.
Charlie - why give it to charity? If the restaurant has 10 no shows without any notice, then why shouldn't the people be charged? It is not sustainable for any restaurant and you are not charged if you give them adequate notice.
Its probably not the kind of place that too many people go to on a whim so they may not be able to fill spare tables at short notice.
with the red guide out october time nowadays I wouldnt think there is much competition. Manchester house will be open too late to get a star this year meaning rogan has a free run at it, and will probably be manchesters first star for a long time. it would be wonderful if Aiden could make it two next year.
We booked in here a while ago, but those prices are verging on farcical and are enough to make one think twice about going. If it's not absolutely phenomenal cooking blowing everything else Manchester has to offer out of the water they're going to look very stupid very quickly. Simon Rogan has brought his two star cooking to Manchester at a well established venue and still is charging less than Manchester House for his tasting menu. A question was asked not long ago if Manchester was ready for a Michelin starred restaurant, The French answered this in wonderful fashion, but is Manchester really ready (is anywhere outside London really ready) for the £18 scallop starter and £24 pie?
I think you might be taking the pie description a little bit too literally
The answer is simply yes. If Aisen is serving what I think he is, it'll look cheap in the end. Farcical? Have you been to many Michelin starred restaurants?
Literally? Where's the ambiguity in: "Boddingtons steak and ale pie: £24"? Unless it turns out to be gilded swan choked on madeira cake.
If you cannot afford it then do not eat there... simple. I'm sure the overheads are considerable at this time, however as someone who will only try this on a special occasion, that's what lot of other locals will do. For me if it DOES get the elusive celestial thingy then I am sure it will bring a lot of diners into the city to support not only this but other underrated establishments. The best outcome of this would be for other establishments to have need to up their game without upping their prices.
Good reply Jenny
How very snooty of you, Joan.
Anonymous I am actually saying/inferring that I could only afford to go there myself if it was a special occasion and I saved up/someone treated me!
Pretty pictures on plates for a huge prices! Not for me!
SHK, you miserable git, stick to burgers.
Not a single meat free option.
Yes, it is to be celebrated!
They'll be offering a 12 course vegetarian taster menu...
It is "FINE DINING"....... It is not just thrown together, they take more time sourcing the best produce that costs more, employing the best chefs that costs more, beautiful surrounding that cost more, waiting staff who actually know about what is on the menu that costs more. If it is not for you then do not go, but why are you spending your time moaning about the bloody prices of a restaurant you do not intend on going? That is farcical..... Idiots.
Completely agree Andrew, how can people make assumptions on a restaurant by its menu alone? It's not even open yet! It's Living Ventures, they don't do things by half and looking at the success of Australasia, Manchester house is sure to be the best in town!
They're not exactly doing a sterling job at Artisan. I hope MH does well, but it's ridiculous to say it will do purely because it's LV.
LV seem to have lots of style and this time it looks like they have substance in the kitchen too.
Colour me controversial, but I don't like Australasia. Although I have had acceptable meals in many of them, the LV places leave me cold.
the new 'most expensive' place to eat in Manchester! sounds good for special occasions/the wealthy - but I certainly won't be buying the steak and ale pie at £24 when I do go there!
Good. I'd hate to find myself having dinner sat next to a knee-jerking numpty. You ever heard of tongue-in-cheek? Wally
I'm pretty confident you're taking the menu descriptor there too literally... It'll be based around a steak & ale pie for sure, but this won't be anything close to a Fray Bentos...
"knee-jerking numpty" pie and boddingtons.....
Looking forward to paying £8.50 for an apple?
if you think you are getting an apple for £8.50, you must be a simpleton.
Have any of you whingeing pillocks going on about the price spotted the fixed price lunch at £27????? There are some right miserable twats reading this site.
Jonathan - You've spelled Aiden's name wrong in the menu descriptor - next to vegetarian taster menu. Should be "Byrne" not "Bryne" (he really hates that)
yes Jonathan, Ayden won't be inviting you if you drop things like that so easily.
Meanwhile the numbers of people resorting to or being referred to food banks in the North West has gone up 50% since the start of the year. Much of this rise is due to benefit changes but also low wages. Manchester's ability to represent the Victorian age's concept of Two Nations never ceases to amaze me.
I work hard for my money and pay my taxes, if I want to spend some on a fancy meal then why shouldnt I? should I only eat bread and dripping because others dont do my job?
Simon Turner what has that got to with this restaurant? Should I feel guilty that I work 50+ hrs week and on occasion I like to treat my wife and I nice night out and a bit of food? Should we stop opening restaurants in case some people can't afford it? Get a grip you wally.
Well said
Fine dining restaurants operate on limited covers to allow real high end food,there are many avid foodies in manchester who have had to travel hundreds of miles to satisfy there desire to witness food only the few have the skill to execute, this isn't for everyone and I'm sure the prices seem eye watering but how many smokers/drinkers would probably blow double a month what it cost to eat at one of these resturants,, so lets us have are pleasure in exacting blissfull beautifully prepared food!!!
Marc absolutely spot on!! And £27 for the lunch menu is incredibly good value for money.
Some pretty boring 'sounding' items menu - I was hoping for something really interesting from this. An 'experiment' 'no expense spared' well let us see. Shame to see Pie, Steak and Beer Butt Chicken on the menu as you can get these anywhere. They seem like safe options designed for the 'lads' and 'lasses' out on a Saturday night and to help LV balance the books no doubt. I could be wrong and these dishes come out looking amazing and I hope I am!
It's a menu you dweeb!
Not entirely sure if Mr Edwards is trying to write is a 'tongue in cheek' style or is just a little new to eating out.
You would totally be ordering the steak - with a cocktail to go with it - wearing your best square toed shoes and boot cut jeans to match - I can see it now. Eating out in Manchester city center on a weekend is pure hell.
J Edwards you my friend are a utter snob!
Thanks! But come on you know where I am coming from... Anyway to put this to bed - I am sure the food will be wonderful. But I saw the words steak and chicken and died a little inside - but let's see what they come up with from the pictures it should at least be abstract - square toed shoes not-with-standing.
I don't see what's snobbish about expecting a more adventurous menu at these prices than boddingtons pie and beer can chicken?
Anom - I wasn't talking about the food it was the "ating out in Manchester city center on a weekend is pure hell"... thnaks!
vfdv
Oh no, what this? Another addition from the Living Ventures Enterprise? This time its different...its fucking expensive!!! I agree with John Edwards in saying that IF its executed well it may be ok, but I cant help but see right through the menu (I dont mean literally before any of you pendantic Crazy Chickens cant help but respond angrily) I personally hate this obvious attempt to categorise its potential diners: S)Prawn Cocktail M)Boddingtons Steak and Ale Pie D)Manchester Tart BEEFCAKE ON HOLIDAY or S)Frogs legs Kiev M)Poached Lobster with smoked apple puree D)Szechuan, lychee, rose DELBOY ON HOLIDAY Can see more but cant be bothered, if you cant see it, you're stupid. Dont want to be too dismissive because of; "Dont knock it till you've tried it" but the menu is too varied to be trusted and Im not willing to be bitchslapped with a bill of £150+ (for 2) for the privilage
Yeah and in my opinion it 'sounds' i.e. reads i.e. comes across i.e. could be deemed to be a bit boring - BUT I HOPE THE FOOD IT NOT WHEN I GO... Are you bit slow Mr Crazy Chicken?
Jeeesus John...do you want a menu that's 4 freekin pages long do you? Don't you like surprises??
Typos
"Knee-jerking numpty, simpletons, dweebs". A few bits of personal abuse toward people questioning a menu (or the wording thereof) from other people who have yet to taste the very same. Who's the fool?
You're putting forward a very strong candidature.
ditto
No thasks...No vegetarians WELCOME??? Bet closed within months....
Have you read anything here??!
If the place doesn't succeed, it'll be nothing to do with vegetarians not going.
no one gives a **** about vegetarians, lots of successful places exist without their business.
However you look at it, this is a great addition for Manchester!