Embankment Kitchen Restaurant & Bar

A stone’s throw away from Manchester Cathedral, you’ll find Embankment Kitchen at the magnificent CitySuites complex. Here, you’ll find not one but two luxury aparthotels, either of which makes an excellent weekend stay for those times to push the boat out.

Focusing on recognisable dishes with a refined twist, Head Chef Josh Singleton and his team are committed to sourcing the best seasonal ingredients from around the North West. With a stellar lineup of new dishes designed to run alongside classic crowd-pleasers, there are plenty of high-quality plates on offer, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

Kick off your meal in elegant style with a French 75 cocktail. Made with Beefeater gin, lemon and Moet & Chandon, it’s a great accompaniment to the bolder dishes on the menu thanks to its palate-cleansing prowess.

For starters, salt-and-pepper tempura king prawns are served with an Asian salad consisting of red and yellow pepper strips, chilli, grated carrot, salad leaves and lashings of ginger. The prawns are big and juicy, and the heat continues to build as you work your way through the dish. If you want to cool things down a bit, use lime, chilli, and coriander mayonnaise.

For the main event, keep the fish theme going with the garlic monkfish tail, served with Bombay potatoes, charred tender stem broccoli, fresh herb oil and rich massaman curry sauce. Rather than serving the fish on the bone, the monkfish is divided into delicate bite-sized fillets, which are much less daunting to the casual diner. Combined with crispy yet fluffy spiced spuds, it’s what my mother would call ‘posh fish and chips’. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Finally, fill your boots and opt for the richest dessert on the menu: peanut butter and white chocolate brioche and butter pudding, paired with crème anglaise. You’ll find a generous helping of peanut and chocolate shards in each layer of fluffy brioche, giving a wealth of texture to the dish. It’s a must for those with a sweet tooth.

While some hotel restaurants can lack atmosphere, Embankment manages to hold its own. Staff are incredibly attentive (they will look after you in true Northern style), and there’s a laid-back ambience that feels like home from home. 

Whether you’re enjoying a stay at CitySuites or not, Embankment Kitchen is a solid destination in its own right. There’s nothing particularly avant-garde about the dishes on show here – but that’s precisely why they’re so damn good.