Stock leads the market

Ben says.." Hmmm. The Stock debate rages on. But first, Palmiro. If you want excellent Italian food, go to Palmiro - no question (even MancCon's co-reviewer gave it 10/10 for food). It might not be the most ambience full place in the world, but the quality of the food and wine is outstanding. Now Stock. Having eaten in Stock on 4 occasions over the last couple of years (3 business lunches and one pre-theatre) I have to confess that they must have seen Gordo coming. For a place with the airs and graces that it puts out the service has never been above average, with long waits between courses and waiters too busy chatting by the (admittedly very nice) bar area. The food has been a bit hit and miss (though I've only ever eaten off the fixed price menu) with some good and some frankly mediocre dishes. In particular a BURNED schnitzel springs to mind. I've seen debates about Stock on this and other websites and there seem to be two camps, those who love it and those who are distinctly unimpressed. I have to confess that I'm more on the side of the latter, though my final analysis is that its not as bad as some make out, but definitely not as good as others (Gordo included) seem to think. Go there with medium expectations and you probably won't be disappointed! On another note they do a bottle of Soave - San Vincenzo - that is very good for the price. Enjoy."

RGW says.." You've got to be kidding - the last time (and it really will be the last time) I wen to Stock the food was put in the shade by Pizza Express, the soft drinks never made it to the table (although they did make it to the bill), the waiter dropped (and smashed) a bottle of wine, and the service was distictly lack lustre. Made all the more dissapointing by the constant closures of far far better establishments (no pun intended) in Manchester. "

ancoats girl says.." I had an excellent birthday meal there a while ago, and I found the service reasonably friendly and quick at the time. A sausage risotto was a bit on the stodgy side and I would have liked a lighter hand with the dishes overall, but it was still good. I've never had the urge to go back though - probably because I found the atmosphere a little stuffy and the clientele was a bit on the geriatric side that night. (Which is cool, just not what I'm looking for when I'm spending my limited eating out money!)"

Dibs says.." At last, the best restaurant in Manchester gets the praise it deserves! Stock is fantastic. FACT!"

Jonny Mac says.." Granted it has been some time since my first and only trip to Stock, but needless to say you can 'forgive' over time, but never 'forget'. I went to Stock just over two years ago as a ‘last supper’ with my girlfriend before she went away to travel the world. Fit impressions are always good with Stock as it has one of the more memorable settings for enjoying a romantic meal. We were seated at one of the large booths which given the fact that I had rang up and specifically requested a booth, and the fact that the restaurant was half empty meant that the night had got off to a good start. It was only when there came to the slightly more complicated task of giving the drinks order did it start to go down hill. I was expected to converse the drinks order to a man that had no understanding of English. After much finger pointing and the help of a second waiter, we eventually managed to settle on a bottle of Chianti. We then proceeded to order the a la carte menu and after a bit of wait our starters arrived. Nothing wrong with the starters, infact they were very good (granted I don’t remember what we both had). As we were coming to the end of the startes hurray! The wine we order 20 minutes earlier arrived. (Minus the bottle of fizzy water). We then came to the main course, I had steak, and the misses had ordered a king prawn risotto. It was delivered by what I understood to be the owned who managed to carry two dinner plates in his hand as he held his mobile phone in-between his head and his shoulder. I didn’t know who he was talking to, but it sounded Italian. It did take the misses a moment or two, but she soon realised that the prawn dish wasn’t the prawn dish we had actually ordered but ‘most probably the prawn dish from the special menu’ as I was advised by the manager after I had to get up from the table to eventually get him off his mobile. Some questions were exchanged as to whether we had ordered the other prawn dish and then changed our minds because we didn’t like the looks of it. But when we reassured him that it was the other prawn risotto that we wanted, and maybe the non English speaking waiter might have got it wrong that he happily took away the wrong dinner with a roll of the eyes, shrug of the shoulders and a comment (in an Italian accent) “OK! Nobody died!” slightly flabbergasted I was left to wait for a further 10 to 15 minutes whilst they whipped up the prawn risotto for the misses. I did ask them to keep my food warm, but I think it was obvious that it would return dry as a bone after spending 10 minutes under the ‘hot-plate’. Needless to say, I don’t recommend Stock to anyone, and I shall not be returning whilst under the current management. All in all a poor experience, but well done to them for picking such a good building to house such an average restaurant. As Ben pointed out, I think you will either love it or hate it, but unfortunately, I didn’t like it. "

Neil says.." Question to Gordo... 8.5/10 Food - 4/5 Service - 4/5 Ambience. Looking at the photos, there was nobody else in the restaurant. So how, pray tell does service only get 4 out of 5 and ambience 4 out of 5 on decor alone?"

Caroline, Whalley Range says.." I was thinking of booking a table at Stock for my birthday in a couple of weeks time. After reading the above 'rants' I am really in two minds as to whether to do so. My alternative is Gaucho Grill."

Gordo says.." Caroline, I would recomend you give Stock the benefit of the doubt, I made my judgement over two visits really, previously at a friends birthday party where 20 people sat down, the place was jumping and great fun. The service then was exemplary. Nothing against The Groucho, mind you, i have had some great meals there and I love the room. More of a regular pals night out tho' than a birthday party. Neil, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Gordo speaks as he finds and that is how it scored. Finally everyone, thanks for ranting. For or 'agin me, it doesn't matter as long as people are as lucid as you lot. "

sue p chorlton says.." Caroline, don't give your money to Stock - I've been twice and felt it was very poor value for money both times. Don't go to Gaucho Grill - Go to Chaopraya (Thai food) for excellent service, excellent for groups and FANTASTIC food. I have been 4 times since it opened, with both work colleagues & friends and it has been top dollar every time. Watch out for the special rendition of Happy Birthday!!"

Nick says.." Stock are one to watch on the tipping too - they slap a hefty service charge on the bill and if you pay by card the machine is set for you to give a gratuity too - talk about having your cake and eating it! Been a few times, food okay (loved the Gnocci with boar ragu), service patchy at best."

MJ says.." Went to Stock a couple of years ago during the Manchester Food & Drink festival enticed by a special festival menu. The food was very ordinary. Their response was what do you expect when you eat off a cheap menu. Surely, the idea of a special festival menu was to entice customers in with a glimpse of what they could offer. What we got was a second class choice with second class cooking. There are plenty of better places to eat in Manchester than this."

ancoats girl says.." I agree that Chaophraya is fantastic, especially for birthday parties. Nothing was too much trouble, service was speedy even with our large party, and the food was gorgeous. Make sure you tell them it's your birthday - they'll come and sing for you (Thai style) and you get a free pudding with a candle!"

Caroline, Whalley Range says.." Thank you all for your comments, I must say I am definitely leaning towards Chaophraya now !"

Richard Williams says.." What is the point of reviewing a restaurant when the staff know you're a reviewer? Of course they are going to roll the red carpet out for you. I don't think the Michelin guide reviewers have their photos taken with the staff do they? "

Queen Bee says.." Maybe so, but they can't suddenly cook any better can they?"

secret squirrel says.." I think you'll find that if the head chef is breathing down their neck they might be "on it" a bit more in the kitchen, if a known reviewer is in....Mind you it's Gordo, so perhaps they thought get him pissed, he'll be happy....-)"

gordo says.." Thanks secret squirrel! You would all be amazed at how stupid restaurants can be even when a known reviewer is in. A bad gaff simply cannot turn it on in an hour, even if the service can. It is about skill and ingredients. At stock both are very evident. The girl who served was a good ,n. The real test though are you guys and I am going to ensure that mauro sees a copy of these rants. "

Phil. says.." Looks like i won't be paying Stock a visit then. "

secret squirrel says.." It's consistancy that counts,and from the rants here and diners reviews on the likes of Sugarvine et al, it would appear that Stock is inconsistent.(Like almost all of the city centre restaurants) I've had many a chat with Mcr. proprietors and head chefs who have told me that consistency is the hardest thing to achieve, partly because a lot of the talented young chefs bugger off elsewhere to climb the brigade heirarchy ladder and get Michelin star experience. Bit of a catch 22 situation-) SS"

Johnthebrief says.." We can all only go on our own experiences. For me, Stock is without doubt the best restaurant in Manchester, and by some distance. I have been quite a few times and never had food that was less than excellent. Service has been good, and my only niggle is ambience, it's a big room and needs people and voices otherwise you'll feel lost. The lunchtime set menu is phenomenal value for money."

Anonymous says.." Stock. Bobbins. Been four times over the years with four different sets of friends / business colleagues. Never my choice and always disappointing not just my opinion, but that of the groups. Bland food, crap service, even wrote to them once it was so bad, needless to say didn't get a reply. Avoid. "

Sergio says.." Ok, I am half italian, I have lived in rome for five years and travelled fairly extensively throughout italy. Stock is definitely highly over rated. Ok I have only been once and during the week at that but I'm pretty sure I've seen enough! First of all yes the building itself is impressive, but lets face it. It could be so much more impressive. That funny little bar area crammed full of alco-pops looks like it's been transplanted from some mediocre Italian restaurant in marple or gatley or glossop or hazel grove or well, I'm sure you get the picture. The food, well, I remember the starters being ok, nothing special just ok, was some sort of sea food platter for two. Then the primi piatti, I had some sea food pasta dish which wasn't bad but not outstanding by any means, quite good for UK I suppose. It was the sort of standard you would find in any italian coffee bar, the type that also serves food at lunch time. My partner had a gnocchi dish which on the menu sounded fantastic some sort of four cheese source with pancetta. The gnocchi had completely had the arse cooked off it, and was swimming in tasteless sea of melted unspecified cheese mush and the pancetta was clearly bacon or at least sliced so thin to make it look like bacon. The whole thing was a big gloopy unstructured mass of bland. It really did resemble something out of a packet. I remember the "secondi" were just ok too. We didn't have desert and the espresso was ok. The didn't have "amaro" which is an italian digestive liquor, which is deffo a poor show in my opinion. We sent the soggy gnocchi back, we had a second bottle of wine that never turned up but made it to the bill. The table next to us was also complaining to the waiter about something, they were seriously hacked off! The service on the whole was dire, amazingly unfriendly and dreadfully slow, christ including us there were only three table in there, this place has a serious atmosphere problem, there isn't any! The whole place smacks of a provincial (in england not italy) italian restaurant transplanted to an impressive building in the city, apart from the bar area, that says it all. it has all the pomp and appearance and stereotype of a quality southern italian restaurant but without any of the substance, The menu to me looks like has very little to do with contemporary food trends in italy. It is at best good quality 70's style italian cooking trailered to the english palette. Stock is most definitely over rated and over priced, It's a place that some how has built up an amazing reputation probably by people who never really eaten good food in Italy. Stock now rests on the laurels of it's reputation, I really got that impression from the "can't be arsed" attitude that seemed to ooze from the manager. I have been a little harsh perhaps as I have only been the once, but that was my experience. At those prices I won't be rushing back to give it a second chance. I recommend piccolinos and would eat there every time, san carlo also good but piccolino's service, personal touch and value for money put's it a head for me. Of course the quality food in either of these places does not equal what you would find in certain eateries in italy but hey we're in manchester! In short Stock is OK, but vastly over rated and over priced. If you go with no expectations and you're not paying the bill and miraculously find other some other punters in there you may have a good night."

James says..“ Very disappointing, overpriced and overrated. Dined there on a Saturday night at 8pm, not particularly busy but we waited for the starter and main plates to be taken for 20 minutes. The waiter, when told this, seemed not to care. The duck I ordered was overcooked and they made it perfectly clear that they thought I was wrong in this opinion. Our complaints were completely ignored. Overall, I wouldn't go again and would definitely not recommend it. To top it off, the bill came in at £102 for two of us. I've had better for half the price. Very, very poor. ”