tast catala

 

Hawksmoor Manchester

Hawksmoor Manchester was the choice of Mr Fitz and myself for our annual Christmas meal. I will explain more about what I mean by this in the next section. If it’s your first visit here I review all restaurants by the same set of parameters – you can read what they are in an earlier post.

 

Reason for Visit

What I mean by this is that we have been married for 33 years and have most things that we need. Therefore Christmas gifts to each other are not really needed. As er are both foodies for the past couple of Christmases we have chosen to treat ourselves to either a meal at a restaurant of each others choice or one restaurant and a few cocktails too!

This Christmas we chose Hawksmoor Manchester. The exterior is inviting and from it’s own website the description is: Located in a late Victorian courthouse on Deansgate, next door to Spinningfields, our aim is to serve the best steaks in Manchester. The interior is true to the building and features lots of reclaimed materials from the era, including parquet flooring from a (different) courthouse, panelling from Birmingham’s Sandwell College and (well-cleaned) glazed bricks from a public lavatory in Liverpool.

First Impression

As I mentioned earlier we think Hawksmoor Manchester looks inviting from outside. When you enter it is like walking into a vintage office. There is a reception desk in a dark lobby. This is not a criticism – being a fan of all things vintage I immediately liked the vibe of Hawksmoor Manchester. The welcome was warm and friendly. The inside of the restaurant itself was again classic elegance with dark wood and reclaimed materials.

Time of Visit

We had a reservation for 3pm on the Friday between Christmas and New Year. We rarely dine out in Manchester in the evening after 7pm.

 

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Time To Get Served/Attention

Following the warm welcome at Hawksmoor we were then shown to our table in the restaurant. There appears to be 2 dining areas, we were seated in the rear area, the first area was closer to the bar if I remember correctly. Once seated the service was swift and again very friendly.

Food

We had anticipated choosing from the A La Carte menu but there was an Express menu which seemed to have choices that we wanted.

Coincidentally we both chose the same 2 courses Potted beef with Yorkshires, which were so delicious – the ultimate in comfort food. The Yorkshires were big and light.

For our main we ordered 35 Day dry-aged rump & chips. Mr Fitz added a peppercorn sauce.

 

A simple classic. Our order is for well done steak – neither of us follow the trend for pink meat. Johns was perfect but mine still had some pinkness in the middle. I didn’t raise this with our server I decided to put my big girl pants on and enjoy. They weren’t the tenderest steaks ever but they were nowhere near the worst. 2 of our worst steaks were from 2 other big name steakhouses in Manchester. These were consumed before this blog was started. There is no draft beer or cider available so Mr Fitz had 2 bottles of Cotswold Cider Co. No Brainer . I had 2 glasses of house red – the 1st was a French red which wasn’t t0 my taste, the second glass was a Chilean red and was really drinkable.

 

We both really enjoyed our food.

Service

Service was swift and slick. No concerns at all.

Evaluation

A really good dining experience. Despite the timing of our reservation the restaurant was busy with a great vibe and ambience. We are happy to recommend Hawksmoor Manchester to anyone living in or visiting Manchester.

Would I Visit Again

Yes – most definitely!  Hawksmoor could become one of our favourite restaurants in this great city.

After leaving here we visited Tast Catala on Kings Street for a couple of drinks. As it was our Christmas party we did try a variety of drinks – not something we do as a habit.

I enjoyed a Pera i Mora Tastinni from the cocktail menu which was delicious followed by the restaurants equivalent of a sherry, it appeared popular with other visitors so I tried one too! Mr Fitz had El Gaitero Cider.

 

Thanks for popping by and reading if you like this you may wish to read my review of Northcote Manor on my sister blog Early Retirement Rocks

I love to hear your comments and restaurant recommendations email me or comment.  I’d also love you to come back again