Category Archive: Fine dining

White linen, silver service, but not in Mr Michelin's book

Review: Mana, Manchester

My favourite thing at Mana. They made a fudge by reducing down 120 litres of cucumber juice to a mere dollop. It no longer tasted of cucumber exactly, but still had a green note along with a deep sticky-sweet flavour a bit seaweedy. This blob made a superb relish for some insanely well cured sea …

Continue reading »

Review: District, Manchester

It’s all about the vibe at District, a modern Thai tasting menu place in Manchester. Seriously. If you’re not into the vibe, you’ll hate it no matter what the food. And if you’re into the vibe, you’ll love it and maybe overlook the odd missed beat in the cooking. The vibe is cyberpunky. You’ve got …

Continue reading »

Review: Pidgin, at home

They call it “Homing Pidgin” which is quite clever. The menu for Pidgin at home is also clever, full of delicious things that don’t take much prep but pack and impressive punch and make you feel like you’re dining pretty darn fine at your own dinner table. Mini-starter was an excellent game sausage roll, 6 …

Continue reading »

Review: Sollip, London Bridge

I eat out a lot. It’s sad but true, I can go to a lovely restaurant and enjoy an eight course £80 tasting menu and some top-notch wine over a whole evening, and a week later I couldn’t tell you more than two of the dishes I had without getting my phone out to look …

Continue reading »

Review: Moor Hall, Lancashire

This is our first big splash-out meal since lockdown began, and we’ve kicked off with a truly great one. But I want to start by applauding all the front of house staff in all the restaurants around the country. I hate wearing a mask for 30 minutes to do a supermarket shop. I can’t even …

Continue reading »