This month: Gordo makes a nob of himself asking for onion rings...
SQUID INK – Baked Peaches with Mozzarella
Up in Williamsburg, sorry Ancoats, life is a grilled peach for the gilded creatives thronging the new frontier. At Squid Ink those peaches emerge from the Green Egg barbecue, form an intense relationship with some mint-strewn buffalo mozzarella and then get sassy via a sweet garlic/chilli dressing. So a dish that was lust at first sight in chef/proprietor Anthony Barnes’ solo venture. An antidote to all that platonic clean-eating at Kettlebell Kitchen next door. Neil Sowerby
Squid Ink, Unit 4, Nuovo, 67 Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, M4 5AB
IDA'S FISH BAR - Chowder
The fish suppers might be the obvious thing to order, but it’s worth eating around the menu, which is understandably fish-focused. The chowder (£5) was thick and lusciously creamy, studded with corn, bacon and of course, clams. It was the kind of heartening rib-sticker you’d want after rescuing orphans from a driving storm or braving a lashing gale on the Nantucket coast. It also goes down well on a pleasant evening in West Didsbury. Lucy Tomlinson
Ida's Fish Bar, 178 Burton Rd, Didsbury M20 1LH
INDIQUE - Paneer Pakora
I was over halfway through reading Ottolenghi’s book Plenty More before realising it was vegetarian, and so it was reading through Indique’s extensive vegetarian menu section (although their meat section is just as interesting). Many Indian recipe books refer to paneer as Indian cottage cheese, but I think it’d gather much more of a following if they described the semi-hard milky block as ‘healthy Halloumi’. Indique cut theirs into chip-sized rectangles and deep fry them in a lightly spiced (not so healthy, but delicious) batter, before serving them with enthusiastic squiggles of vibrant green coriander raita. Deanna Thomas
Indique, 110-112 Burton Rd, Manchester M20 1LP
THE FAT LOAF - Fillet Rossini
The Fat Bastard has never been to The Fat Loaf. It’s in a weird spot in Sale. It baffles Gordo how they ever did business before the advent of SatNav. The occasion was a meeting of the secret wine club, where Gordo's pal and the finest sommelier in the North, George Bergier, had arranged for us to dine. It’s a little belter; the dinner a cracker. Having been told it was steak for main course and just returned from New York, Gordo made a knob of himself (another thing he is expert at) asking for onion rings.
The chef sent out the Fillet Rossini, Madeira jus, and chunky slab of pan-fried foie gras with one onion ring perched on top. This was the chef telling Gordo, rightly, to fuck off. The fillet was somewhere between silk and velvet, ruby red and beefy. The foie was perfection, from a whole lobe that had been sliced thickly and fried gently in frothing butter, melting the middle and delivering a crispy exterior heaven. Needless to say, we're going back. Gordo
The Fat Loaf, 62 Green Ln, Sale M33 3PG
LUPO - Rigatoni
The very best rigatoni dishes are often the most brutally simple. Here the charming Roman-born owner of Lupo, Nico Pasquali, having quickly sold out of his daily changing lunch dishes (a common occurrence at Lupo, such is it's growing popularity), tossed us together some perfectly al dente rigatoni with a simple tomato and herb sauce, San Marzano tomatoes and rich, milky burrata. Now Nico doesn't offer this dish every day, but he ruddy well should... David Blake
(We've just been informed that Nico has buggered off to the Columbian 'Coffee Triangle' for a month in search of the perfect bean. So perhaps this dish will have to wait until next month. God speed Pasquali.)
Lupo, 6af, 142 Chapel St, Salford M3 6AF
GRAFENE - Fillets of Brill
Excellent dish this one especially for a light summer treat. It’s full of flavour and makes what could be bland brill a delightful fruity excursion. There’s a cracking risotto base, al dente florettes of cauliflower and some interesting and attractive barbecued grapes. It looks a picture as well. On a recent occasion Howard Sharrock, man about town, emerged from the restaurant and said, “I just had the brill dish and guess what, it was brill.” He was booed out of the city. The dish costs £24 but you don’t need sides. Jonathan Schofield
Grafene, 55 King St, Manchester M2 4LQ
EVELYN'S - Citrus & Avocado Cheesecake
Evelyn’s citrus and avocado cheesecake is a truly summery dessert. Like a Mancunian take on key lime pie, it’s creamy, limey and satisfying, the base reminiscent of Cadbury’s Brunch bars (you know those ones that taste of chocolate and malt, while retaining a veneer of being good for you). The cake’s texture is superbly dense while trinkets of candied lemon scattered on top complete the olifactory-ocular overload. Bear in mind that once the season’s change you’ll be all about sticky toffee pudding so we suggest ordering as soon as possible. Make the most of summer while you still can. Ruth Allan
Evelyn's, G18 Smithfield Building Tib St, Manchester M4 1NB
ALBERT'S SCHLOSS – Alpina Sformato
It should have felt just wrong to be eating classic ski lodge stodge in midsummer Manchester, but then Albert’s Schloss inhabits its own merry Mitteleuropa microclimate. The Sformato was ordered as a substantial side to accompany a hefty Braumeister pork rib-eye but the baked, truffled, cheesy mash was wolfed first in all its gooey glory. Wunderbar – and still there was room for a Bratwurst the size of the Sudetenland. Neil Sowerby
Albert’s Schloss, 27 Peter St, Manchester M2 5QR
OCEAN TREASURE - Prawn Toast
I know. Chinese is so, well, yesterday. Then you find yourself on a Saturday night, taking your grandson to the movies with the promise of a good burger, only to find a half hour wait at the excellent All Star Lanes. So you nip round the corner to Ocean Treasure, the one attached to Manchester235 Casino. Harry's only eleven. Any port in a storm.
The place has been tarted up and is still 90% full of Chinese high-rollers. This turned into a top meal. Now Gordo considers himself an expert with prawn toast, and these were extra special. Crunchy, fresh and served at the correct temperature with a great prawn mix. Really, truly, madly, deeply bloody gorgeous. Well worth putting on your radar over and above Wings and Little/Large Yang Sing. Gordo
Ocean Treasure, Great Northern, 2 Watson St, Manchester M3 4LP
SALVI'S - Biscotti di Pane
We really enjoyed Biscotti di Pane at Salvi’s this month as a change from the more usual bruscetta. They are baked paper-thin sheets of crispy bread sourced from a fantastic baker in Pompeii – the same guy who also makes their excellent fennel seed grissini. They’re so fragile, it’s amazing how they make it all the way over from Italy in one piece. Obviously not via easyJet. They are served as a nibble with a variety of toppings, such as wafer thin slices of almost transparent lardo (rarely seen outside Italy), fresh chopped tomatoes and fruity single estate Italian olive oil. Deanna Thomas
Salvi's, The Corn Exchange, Corporation St, Manchester M4 3TR
IBERICA - Salmorejo
Michelin-starry guest chef Quique Dacosta’s cherry gazpacho remains on Iberica’s summer menu, but for my refreshing chilled soup fix I prefer Iberica’s salmorejo, which is thicker than a standard tomato gazpacho with, I think, pimento and sherry vinegar in the mix. Stir in the blob of apple granite (I call it granita) on top and dream of Andalucia. The dish originates in Cordoba, haunt of caliphs and cante jondo. Neil Sowerby
Iberica, 14-15 The Avenue, Spinningfields, M3 3HF
GRAY'S LARDER - Curried Lentils
To counterbalance last month’s lambstravaganza I’ve gone for this simple yet delicious veggie number from Gray’s Larder. The lentils are perfectly cooked and stacked with flavour, layered with fresh onions, tomatoes and spinach for a lighter, brighter, healthier dish. Those whorls of crustacean beige are actually a cunningly deconstructed onion bhaji - possibly not all that good for you but an absolutely essential finishing touch to this otherwise unpretentious lunchtime favourite. Perfect washed down with a ginger beer or a Portugese rose. Lucy Tomlinson
Gray's Larder, 123 Manchester Rd, Manchester M21 9PG
LUCK, LUST, LIQUOR & BURN - Pint of Shrimp and Squid
This Northern Quarter bar may have undergone a 'sweet new restyling' - transforming the restaurant holding pen downstairs into a proper grown-up bar with handsome tiling, lifted ceilings and pineapple light shades (well, not too grown-up) - but thankfully some things remain untouched, in particular, LLLB's signature pint of CALI-hot fried shrimp and squid with taco sauce and jalapeno mayo. This unashamedly unrefined dish maintains it's position amongst 'Manchester's Top 3 Bar Snacks' alongside Common's popcorn cockles four doors away, and chef Rob Owen Brown's sorely missed homemade pork scratchings in the flood-ravaged Mark Addy. RIPig. David Blake
Luck Lust Liquor & Burn, 100-102 High St, Manchester M4 1HP
MY THAI | Crispy Chicken Yellow Curry Rice Dish
Popped in hungry, left very happy. This aromatic £9.50 delight in the new Thai place on John Dalton Street is a treat for the eyes, the nose and the gob. Filling too. An unexpected joy in this crispy chicken dish came in the form of roast potatoes so saturated with curry goodness I wanted to put them on a separate plate and take my time savouring each one like a miser studying his shiny, golden coins. But I was very hungry so I wolfed it all down like a ravenous wolf, forgetting in my greed to pause for a piccie. So instead here's one of My Thai's Chinese five-spice roasted pork, which bears little resemblance to the crispy chicken. Gnash, yum, gnash, yum. Jonathan Schofield
My Thai, 39 John Dalton St, Manchester M2 6WH
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