Manchester House

It’s all change at Manchester House. Head Chef Aiden Byrne has moved onto pastures new, and in his place is one the rising stars of the UK food scene, Nottingham-born Nathanial Tofan, aka Nat. Nat was one of the key figures behind the launch of the Manchester’s much-praised Australasia restaurant, as well as working alongside Aiden for many years. With this in mind, expectations are high.

Today, we’re tasting a selection of dishes from his all-new upcoming Manchester House menu. It’s a short-but-sweet sample of what’s to come, beginning with The Millionaire’s Sandwich, an angular sandwich containing potent strips of foie gras mousse, winter truffle, sauterne jellies, encased with pistachio sponge and sprinkled with crumbled pistachio. It’s a treat for the eye, with a pleasingly unique taste. It’s hard to think of anywhere else in Manchester producing food like this.

Next up, and arguably the best dish, is a couple of artfully-posed traditional Mexican tacos, packed with squishy cubes of coal oil-infused beef tartare, finished off with a confit egg yolk. It’s a fantastic mouthful, that goes from dramatic to luxurious in a heartbeat.

For main, a beautiful piece of turbot, decked with sea vegetables and razor clams, paired with a horseradish and turnip purée and two dabs of vivid red verjus gel that adds an intense sweet and sour taste to the plate. It’s another masterpiece, a perfect combination of tastes and textures, homely and comforting but quietly decadent.

The desserts bring more of this fairytale feel, with a rectangular sea buckthorn parfait, quickly followed by a selection of sweets. These range from chilli-infused macarons to a delicious sweet wrapper fudge, and the best of the bunch, a white chocolate truffle containing piercing pink rhubarb. It all very modern, with a nod to old-fashioned childhood sweetshops.

Manchester House has long been a personal favourite, due in no small part to the excellent waiting staff who balance their impressive knowledge with a cheerful likeable manner that many rival fine dining restaurants simply fail to master. Of course, the final word should go to the food. Judging from this all-too-short sample menu, Nat has brought a feast of fresh ideas to the table, each of which more than matches up to his illustrious predecessor. The full tasting menu promises to be something very special indeed.