It's our wedding anniversary, and we decided that for once we fancied somewhere special for a meal to celebrate. After asking various opinions, it seems that Hawksmoor was the overwhelming suggestion. I've heard of Hawksmoor before, being a high quality steak restaurant which has been the praise of many a well known restaurant critic. Originating in London, we now have our own branch here in Manchester, on Deansgate in what was the former court house, meaning that the venue boasts tall ceilings, gigantic doors, and stairwells that still smell of the dust and age of so many years ago.
The venue itself is beautiful. You enter through the corner of a grand building, and into what feels like a hotel lobby, decorated in dark panelling with a desk, behind which a friendly member of staff greets you and offers to put your coat in a large cloak wardrobe, giving you a retrieval tag.
You're then lead upstairs, through the bar, and to your table. We are lead to a large room with a big skylight, meaning that you go from the wonderful dimly and theatrically lit bar and other dining areas to a bright open space. The furniture is all wood and traditional style and coloured leather seating, walls are half dark wooden panel and half pale paint, with some areas having old fashioned glazed brick tile, which has a wonderful effect.
Aside the decor, the first thing I notice is that the staff are casually dressed, not wearing any sort of uniform. The only thing that makes them recognisable is that they also wear a small black apron. I think this, coupled with popular music playing is a good idea, as it takes the grand and fancy style of the venue and softens it slightly, making it feel a little more casual, and not as intimidating or elite.
The menu boasts some delicious selections, whilst not being overwhelming in choice, meaning that you can still "umm" and "aah" between a few dishes you fancy, but know that they're concentrating on doing the dishes to the best they can be done.
We look through the cocktail menu, at which point our waiter comes over and opens with, "lets get you some alcohol!", causing us both to laugh. We don't drink, so chose the softs of "Ginger and Juice" and "Mint and Apple Swizzle". The waiter didn't actually tell us his name, but he was friendly and casual, and nothing seemed like too much for him.
The campest most fanciful drinks turned up. They were both thoroughly delicious, and as we'd been also given water to drink, which was regularly topped up, we were able to take our time with the soft drinks and enjoy them. It was a really pleasant change to have an actual "softs" menu treated like a cocktail menu, offering nice sounding drinks that were made freshly, rather than the usual Coke/Fanta/Lemonade draught gun option.
For our starter, we ordered the Potted Beef with Yorkshires, and the Ginger Pig Belly Ribs. Both arrived in good time, and were presented beautifully. The Yorkshires were what we would call "PROPER" Yorkshires, gigantic and crispy, the potted beef was delicious, and the marrow onion gravy that came in a gravy boat with it was one of the best we've ever tried!
The ribs deceivingly looked "little" and "arty" at first glance, but turned out to be substantial and incredibly tasty. They were so tender that my regular knife glided through the bones like they were butter! They came with some shredded coleslaw which was full of flavour, and not simply a big blob of mayonnaise. Delicious, and surprisingly filling!
Looking at each other, we chuckled, seemingly both at the same time thinking, "if this is the quality of the starter, the main is going to be incredible!". For our mains, I ordered the Hawksmoor Burger with a side of triple cooked chips, and my partner ordered the herb-fed chicken with sides of field mushrooms and lemon and garlic spinach.
Again, pleasantly, both came in good time, and were presented on simple white plates (no serving slates, logs, chopping boards etc), with sides served in cast iron dishes, and the chips served in a paper lined metal cup.
My burger was what I can only term as astounding. I was advised that the burgers are cooked through, but may sometimes be a bit pink, and I was asked if this is okay... this is my preference, and good god this burger was cooked PERFECTLY! Unctuous and juicy, when I bit through the burger there was no resistance! My teeth went straight through because of how soft and perfect the meat was, and full of flavour, not relying on a huge splodge of melted cheese to coat it, but just enough to add some extra texture and a flavour accompaniment.
The triple cooked chips actually lived up to their name, rather than many places which use the term "triple cooked" simply to be on a bandwagon. These chips were crispy, golden, and perfectly seasoned meaning you didn't need to so much as touch the salt on the table, and although bringing ketchup to the table was a nice thought, it wasn't needed! (Although I tasted it, and it was a lovely sweet and fruity ketchup!).
My partner's chicken was excellent. He quipped, "I think they've started breeding chickens with no bones in!", as the chicken was exceptional quality, juicy, with flavourful skin, and perfectly moist and tender. The field mushrooms were meaty and filling, and the lemon and garlic spinach was sensational! Who knew spinach could be sensational?!
I actually couldn't finish my burger as it was all so filling, and sitting here the next day writing it up, it fills me with anger and regret, because good god I could happily eat the rest of that burger right now! It was really perfect!
We had a bit of a "breather" after our mains, both being full to the brim, but determined to see what Hawksmoor's desserts were like, having experienced the quality of the starter and main! We ordered a sticky toffee pudding and a sticky toffee sundae respectively.
Again arriving in good time, these desserts smelled and looked brilliant. The quality had continued!
My partner proclaimed the sticky toffee pudding as the best he has ever had, despite not having his favourite topping of good old fashioned custard. When I pointed this out to him, he replied that at this stage he thought that custard would in fact spoil the pudding! High praise from this person, believe me! The clotted cream on top and toffee sauce were perfection.
My sundae was delicious. The ice cream and toffee sauces were wonderful, and to my surprise, the sundae itself also contained sticky toffee sponge, presumably the same type used in the pudding dish. This was perfection, the toffee itself was a deep and incredibly rich flavour, and went down perfectly. The other sundae option is raspberry ripple, and I couldn't help but wonder what marvellous treat that must also be... I'll be trying that next time!
Relaxing in our food-comas, we chatted to the waiter, and reflected upon how it's a good thing that the building had wide door-frames so they wouldn't have to butter them up to squeeze us back out of them.
We went back downstairs to collect our coats and chatted to the hosts at the reception desk about how sublime our meal was, and how much we had enjoyed ourselves. They told us their favourites, and recommendations for next time. They were as enthusiastic and happy as we were!
We walked back through Manchester in a very slow dreamlike state.
We had a wonderful time. Thank you, Hawksmoor, for being the icing on the cake of our wedding anniversary. We will most definitely return!
Hawksmoor
184-186 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 3WB
(0161) 836 6980
www.thehawksmoor.com
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