Gastros

Cat Johnson finds somewhere to camp out in the Village for good food

Date Published: 17/01/2008

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I’ve got a problem. I’ve got what I call 'mid price range, dining fatigue'. Perhaps you’ve experienced it too? Symptoms may include feeling you’ve been ripped off, and menu apathy. All too often, I leave a venue such as Restaurant Bar and Grill, the Living Room or Zinc, Ł70 lighter (after dinner for two), with a general feeling of indifference towards the place. The menus are generic and uninspiring. You have to ask - how many times can someone find Thai fish cakes or poached eggs on asparagus exciting? Surely there can be no excuse for such lapse menu rotation, not when you’re charging that kind of money.

In fact attention to detail and courteous service reigned supreme. For this alone, it stands above its peers. Gastros ticks a lot of boxes.

So I’m on a mission to find the best mid-price dining experience (three courses and a bottle of reasonably priced wine) in Manchester. My quest began in earnest, at Gastros, a new food hall and restaurant in the Village. And early signs are good. We were given a warm welcome by the manager, Richard O’Rourke, and escorted to our table in the dining room situated below the food hall and coffee bar. It’s to the interior designer’s credit that the dining room is such a light and inviting space, because it is after all in a basement, with natural light at a minimum. This space is a serious, design challenge, when you consider that there are also bars on the windows. Somehow it manages not to feel oppressive.

But what about the menu? Perhaps it’s more compact than its competitors but it’s no less appealing or lacking in range for it. To start, I plumped for diver caught scallops with daikon and pork belly (Ł7.25). And plump was the operative word, these scallops were whoppers: lightly pan fried to juicy perfection. My companion was equally satisfied with her Kidderton Ash goats cheese salad (Ł4.75). The cheese was creamy, but with vital tang, and the accompanying local beet and toasted pine nut salad made a happy companion. The presentation was interesting but not in a ‘try hard’ way. My experience with other mid-range dining is that it can look a little sterile or clinical: almost as though they’ve got a template in the kitchen.

On to the mains. My whole roast partridge, with maple bacon and bread sauce (11.95) was very good. It came cooked slightly pink (as promised by the waiter), with a lovely herby flavour. My companion's Cumbrian lamb rump with a mutton hotpot and turnip puree (Ł11.95), was terrific. The lamb was perfectly pink, and teeming with flavour. The small square of hotpot perched daintily next to it, was delicious. Frankly, I think they should super size that, and offer it as a main in its own right. Accompanied by sides of celeriac mash and winter roast vegetables, it was perfect comfort food for a drizzly, January evening. Sides are reasonably priced at Ł2.95. All this was washed down with a glass or two of Stonehedge Zinfandel 2005 (Ł19.95), the soft spiciness of the wine lending itself nicely to our mains, in particular the partridge.

The desserts were equally impressive. My poached pear and parfait with a tonka bean syrup (Ł4.95) was pretty lush, the parfait flecked with fresh vanilla pod rather than synthetically flavoured, and tasting all the better for it. I did however get serious dessert envy, at my companion's vanilla pannacotta with roasted figs (Ł4.95). It had more wobble and sway than the Beetham Tower and was deliciously creamy, without being cloying, due to a sharp hit of lemon. There was a nice touch at the end, when the waiter rushed obligingly upstairs to the Food Hall, to get a coffee from the shelf that wasn’t on the menu.

In fact attention to detail and courteous service reigned supreme. For this alone, it stands above its peers. Gastros ticks a lot of boxes. The produce is locally sourced, the menu superior in terms of its imagination, and the food is deftly prepared and presented. Add to that, the fact that they intend to change the menu seasonally, and you have a restaurant that is trying to offer something a little bit more exciting. Its challenge may turn out to be its geography. Stuck in their ways, city diners have a curious aversion to leaving the area around King Street and Deansgate. If they decide to explore other parts of the city centre then Gastros would be a good start.

Rating:	15/20
Breakdown:	7.5/10 Food 4.5/5 Service 3/5 Ambience
Address:	Gastro's 46 Sackville Street Manchester M1 3WF 0161 923 6856 Daily 7.30am until late

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