Named after L.S. Lowry, one of
Manchester’s most celebrated artists, this Five Star Lowry Hotel is widely
considered to be one of the city’s most luxurious hotels – it seems fitting
then, that its ‘River Bar and Restaurant’
should be one of the region’s finest restaurants.
Serving modern British food with a
French and international influence, the restaurant is named, due to its
waterside location overlooking Calatrava’s Trinity Bridge and the River Irwell
that forms the boundary between Manchester and Salford.
The River Bar and Restaurant has
been on my ‘to do’ list for quite some time but recently, when I discovered
that last year, American born Ryan Murphy left his position at London’s Savoy
to become the Executive Chef I was more keen than ever to try the food.
As well as the Savoy, Ryan has
worked in Michelin starred establishments in Austria and Sweden and also in New
York for three chefs whose food I have eaten and loved, namely Alain Ducasse at
Essex House, Jean-Georges at the Trump Tower and Daniel Boulud.
Hotel dining rooms are not generally my favourite
restaurant settings but The River Restaurant, although spacious, cleverly
retained its intimacy. With its gold-framed mirrors, green leather chairs, curved
bronze leather banquettes and formally laid tables, I found the setting to be a
harmonious balance of traditional luxury and modern touches – I particularly liked the wall
mounted plate display.
The meal started with a delicious
selection of warm breads, including a white,
granary, olive and tomato - all
served with terrific and tasty tarragon butter.
Both of our starters were the most
disappointing parts of the meal. For my starter, I selected “Moules & Frites” – there was
nothing particularly special about the bowl of pommes frites or black mussels but
the accompanying saucière of glossy Champagne
Butter Sauce was delicious.
My wife selected Bresaola with a Parmesan & Lemon Dressing - for £10.50, I’d have expected a
higher quality bresaola and the lemon dressing was nowhere near lemony enough
for either of out tastes.
Our mains were much more pleasing
(although a little more rustic and less contemporary than anticipated.) I opted
for the Poached Turbot Filet with bean
ragù and sauce vierge – the bean ragu was superbly flavoursome and the turbot
well cooked; the caper berries lifted the whole dish.
Served on top of an artichoke
ragout, with cockles and clams, my wife’s Pan
Seared Scottish Salmon was exceptional; a huge portion perfectly cooked -
silky and moist throughout.
With the recession still going
strong, one business that certainly seems to be doing well is the ‘mini frying
basket manufacturing trade’ as more and more restaurants seem to be choosing
them as their preferred method serving sides of chips. The ‘homemade’ chips
themselves were very good but our side of steamed broccoli was served too cold.
Whilst waiting for our dessert we
were served a refreshing palate cleanser of a Lemon and Mint Sorbet with Black Cherry.
My wife was very happy with her New York Cheesecake, served with a
mango sorbet and a dramatic arc of white chocolate.
My chosen dessert was a delightful,
individual Pear Tarte Tatin studded
with star anise - I have previously seen this recipe by both Gordon Ramsay and
Richard Corrigan and it was very proficiently executed. The accompanying
vanilla ice cream, William pear jelly and crisp pear wafer were also very well
made – a beautiful dessert.
With our coffees we were served some
lovely petit fours, featuring: cranberry fudge; soft fruity orange pastilles
and the best ‘miniature’ blackcurrant macarons I have tasted - all too often
the small ones lack the gooey centre, but these were spot on!
Having had high expectations, at the
start of this post I stated that the ‘River
Bar and Restaurant’ should be one of the region’s finest restaurants’ - but
despite the positives (service, dining room) I do feel that, on balance (when
considering such factors as value for money, consistency of quality of dishes
and creativity) there are other restaurants in the city that I would be happier
to recommend before this one.
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