The Cut & Craft Manchester

Sunday Lunch: The Cut & Craft brings a sense of occasion to Sunday lunch. The restaurant is based in a grand old building, and their take on the UK’s most cherished meal matches up nicely.

Meat-eaters have two choices, the sirloin of beef, but let’s be real, any serious Sunday luncher is going for the showpiece option, the mighty £55 Sunday Sharing Roast. 

It arrives with a fanfare on a huge platter designed for two, held aloft by two well-tailored waiters. All very fitting – this is a dining space dominated by glass chandeliers, towering windows and a very modern sense of glam. The only thing missing is the sound of distant trumpets. 

Three meats: sirloin beef, roasted half chicken and two chunky cuboids of pork belly. The beef is pink where it matters, the pork crackling has a good degree of crunch and the chicken breast meat is buttery soft. 

The sides are well-judged. Rather than the usual blob of mash, you’re treated to soft-but-crisp golden potatoes, and buttery carrots. Plus parsnips, charred hispi cabbage, broccoli and two big oven-dark Yorkshire, as big as your fist but nicer to nibble on. 

Live a little, get one of the sides. More to the point, get the cauliflower cheese croquettes. Your cardiologist might not approve, but the little guy in your head who likes soft, gooey, cheesy bonbons definitely will. 

Dare we say it, the desserts are even better. For all you trad-led sticklers, the flawless sticky toffee pudding will do the job, and then some. The gold bar is all about the look, the glitz, the pistachio and chocolate hits – a superstar pudding. 

But the star of the show is the peaches and honey. It’s a dramatic contrast to the heavy meat and veg of the main meal – all pastel colours, pleasing shapes and delicate textures. There’s no better way to end things than with soft sorbet, brittle tuiles and a sphere of white chocolate that you smash open to reach fluffy peach mousse. 

The Cut & Craft team know how to pull off a showstopping Sunday lunch. It’s a pleasing mixture of tradition where it matters – the meat, the veg, the grandeur of it all – with flashes of modern sparkle to keep it fresh and exciting.

Restaurant: Following successful ventures in Leeds and York, The Cut & Craft has arrived in Manchester, bringing its Yorkshire-tinged brand of steak and seafood to one of the city’s most awe-inspiring venues.

It’s the former Manchester and Salford Bank at 38 Mosley Street, a Grade II*-listed building designed by Edward Walters in 1862. £3.5 million has been invested, transforming one of Manchester’s lost gems into a high-end luxury dining room with a dramatic central bar made of Brazilian blue labradorite marble. Now, I’m no marble aficionado, but I know what I like, and I sure like Brazilian blue labradorite marble.

There’s one word for this interior: Grand, with the emphasis on ‘G’. Prepare to be wowed by 27-foot ceilings, ornate cornicing, and floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s all about luxury and swished-up glamour.

The menu focuses on premium, locally sourced steaks and sustainable seafood. But whatever dish you choose, the presentation is always dazzling. For example, the starter of seared king scallops comes with a little sprinkle of black caviar, and a pour of a unique yuzu sauce that’s both rich and tongue-tinglingly spicy.

The British pork belly is another winner from the starters section, and more delicate than you’d expect from good old hog. It’s a carefully put-together combination of Bury black pudding, crackling, chorizo and smoked cannellini bean puree, all about crunchy-meets-soft textures and big salty flavours.

The signature 10 oz flat iron steak is butchered in-house and has that all-important farm-fed richness to the flavour. It’s neatly laid out on a big no-nonsense knife and a steal at just £16 for seven or eight slices (or 230g if you want to get all facts and figures about it).

The lamb rump dish is ideal for spring, cleverly boosted by the bright, fresh pea and mint puréee on the side, but the Shepherd’s pie croquette deserves a special mention. It’s not something I’ve ever come across before, and it is what it says – basically a Shepherd’s pie inside a croquette. What’s not to love?

The quality of drinks is sky-high and worth a visit in their own right. Highlights include the zingy ‘Peppermelon’ – a spicy watermelon margarita – and the must-try ‘Paradise In Yorkshire’ – a fruity, vodka-based creation, that was the team’s first ever cocktail concoction, back in York, and remains the best-seller to this day. Top marks!

If you’re more of an oenophile (wine-lover, do keep up), then the wine list features some pleasingly rare selections, including Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage and Château d’Esclans Les Clans Rosé.

Manchester is a city with a whole lot of steak and seafood options right now, but few occupy a space quite as impressive as The Cut & Craft. The atmosphere is booming and judging by the busy numbers on our visit, it seems to have hit quite a chord with the city’s dressed-up-to-dine-out movers and shakers. Cracking stuff.