Manchester’s historic King Street is enjoying a new lease of life as a destination for fine dining. Feted Spanish tapas bar, El Gato Negro, has its soft launch on King Street this week, while Manchester’s got a contender for fancy restaurant of the year in the shape of Quill. Decked in black and white, with unidentifiable black fluid in goblets and polished surfaces, the look of the place says luxury bathroom to me. That’s no bad thing, as it happens, as the food is largely excellent with Bury-born chef, Curtis Stewart, cooking to rival Manchester’s big names. Starters like freshly baked bread and Marmite butter or chicken liver parfait, served in a hen’s egg shell with cherry compote showcase earthy fruit and liver flavours. A main course of anchovies and lamb, slow cooked to the point of being gooey, comes in just the right side of challenging, while desserts are sumptuous and decadent. A giant rolo (AKA ‘Chocolate, Buttermilk, Salted Caramel, Malt’) is simply rich, melting mousse and liquid salted caramel, topped with crunchy malt; the kind of dish you want to bathe in. The only low point is an Autumn salad of cold, cooked vegetables, served under a smoke-filled glass cloche. The acrid taste of the smoke seeps in, with mixed results (it looks nice though – see pic). Wines are superb, and service, by former employees of, among others, the Michelin-starred L’Orotan, is a little formal. The tasting menu price (up to £150, with matched wine) reflects that this is an occasion kind of place. If you’d like to dip a toe in, the early bird menu (£19.95 for two courses, £24.50 for three) is available Tuesday to Thursday from 5.30pm-6.45pm.
Quill, 20/22 King Street, Manchester M2 6AG. Tel: 0161 832 7355, www. quillmcr.co.uk
- Words:
- Ruth Allan
- Published on:
- Fri 27 May 2016
