Our writers and staff choose their favourite dishes from August
Another month, another round of dishes that held our taste buds to ransom. The Manchester Confidential writing staff (and lesser-spotted species from the likes of social media and technical) share their favourite dishes from August.
Swordfish Salmoriglio from A Tavola, New Mills (£25.50)
Eating simple things that are done very well is why I love this job, and A Tavola's swordfish salmoriglio is why I sometimes wonder if it's all a dream.
It's one of the best things I've recently eaten on my travels, the spada alla griglia, described as 'a traditional Sicilian dish of chargrilled fresh Sashimi Grade Swordfish steak dressed in Salmoriglio'.
Salmoriglio is a sauce of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and herbs. That's it. Nothing more needed.
Swordfish doesn't really get the PR of other similarly ugly fishes - see monkfish's rise to the upper echelons - but when it's caught, cared for and cut in the way this was all that pales into comparison. A meatier fish than most, it more than stands up to heavier sauces but why bother when the gorgeous simplicity of lemon, olive oil and seasoning results in something like this. Perfectly chargrilled and needing nothing else. A wonderful dish.
David Adamson @davidadamson123
Roast beetroot, smoked feta and glazed seeds at Jaan by Another Hand, Exhibition (£6.50)
On a midweek visit to Exhibition, my partner Dave and I ordered a mixture of plates to share at Jaan by Another Hand. One of said plates was the roast beetroot, smoked feta and glazed seeds, served with a wood fired flatbread, still warm from the stove.
We delved into the Persian plate; the beetroot and feta combo was beautifully creamy, fresh and had just enough zest from what I presume to be a lime to keep it alive and the glazed seeds were perfectly toasted, adding a nice amount of texture when a spoonful of the whole thing was dolloped on top of the bread and ready to be devoured.
The flatbreads themselves are lightly dusted with a sprinkle of rosemary salt and a few globs of garlic butter that have melted their way into the dough, meaning with every bite a little bit more oozes out. Angelic.
Harley Young @Harley__Young
Thai fried whole sea bream, Tampopo, Albert Square (£20)
Tampopo is 27 years old and easily one of the oldest surviving restaurants in Manchester city centre. The airy open design will be familiar to at least two generations of restaurant-goers in the region and beyond. For much of Tampopo’s life the menu would have been very familiar too; nasi goreng, Thai green curry, ramens. They’re all still there but the menu has been given a thorough shake-up with loads of new items plus some big hitters labelled ‘Signatures’ such as the Yamato fillet steak with its big fried onion
My dish of the month is the Thai fried whole sea bream on the signatures selection. This is one of the richest fish dishes in the city smothered and sitting in an oyster sauce with basil, shallots, spring onion and lots of very welcome chillis. The surprise is the mango which adds sweetness. All this gives the nutty and dense sea bream flesh added punch and pungency. Timing is everything here as overcooking would be a disaster, sea bream gets tough as old boots if mistimed. My sea bream was timed perfectly.
If you’ve not been to Tampopo for a while then with this menu it’s a good time to rediscover the place. There are other Tampopos in the Corn Exchange, the Trafford Centre and two in London.
Jonathan Schofield @jonathschofield
Iberico Secreto, Baratxuri, Exhibition (£16)
My favourite dish of the month came from an impromptu lunch with my colleague Neil Sowerby, who is living proof that a life spent drunk isn’t a wasted one. He’s very good company over seven pints of Guinness.
We were in Manchester’s coolest example of the small plates, multi-kitchen food hall ventures, Exhibition, on Peter Street.
The venue is arguably (during the day) better than the offerings of Higher Ground and Erst, neither of whom though get confused after 6:00 pm. These fellers believe that the demographic on the evening shift still want conversation with their beautifully crafted food. Because after six Exhibition becomes loud. The DJ starts. And the conversation stops.
This is a great pity. As I haven’t come across anyone, across the demographics, who has said to me, “You know, I love it when the DJ comes on half way through a world class meal with great conversation and turns the music to thumping level". So many people have said to me that they walked through the door in the evening and walked straight back out.
So I go to Exhibition regularly, but lunch only. And what lunches they are. My dish is the Iberico Secreto, a cut between the shoulder blade and the loin from pigs fed on acorns in and around Catalonia, Spain. I first had it at one of the sister restaurants of Baratxuri, before the pandemic up in Ramsbottom. I was bowled over with a rosy interior, cooked nearly burnt on the outside, fat mainly rendered making the flesh gloriously moist and melting.
The crisp exterior has been marinaded and dribbled with umami and hardcore sweetness. I simply have not had better across the north of Spain. I’m sure I’m not dreaming in thinking the thick steak had been lain across lentils that had been cooked in a strong stock finished with a splash of (sherry?) vinegar. It was sharp and bright, lifting even further this beautiful, masculine aria of a dish.
Mark Garner @gordomanchester
Tama Squid, Wagamama, Didsbury (£9)
Most people assume that squid is rubbery and chewy, and yes, nine times out of ten this would be right but if you want to experience squid without it feeling like you’re chewing on elastic bands, head down to Wagamama for some Tama squid.
This dish is squid moulded into balls and deep fried and then topped with the lightest bonito flakes. Now until writing about this I hadn’t got a clue what bonito flakes were – all I knew was that they were the crisp lightest flakes but according to the fountain of all knowledge, Wikipedia, they are shaved flakes from fermented skipjack tuna, and I must admit after Googling how this is created, I can’t believe I like such a thing.
Moving swiftly on. This dish, even though deep fried, doesn’t sit heavy on the stomach and the topping of mayonnaise doesn’t weigh this dish down. Go try it and wipe the thought of fermented skipjack tuna out of your minds.
Georgina Harrington Hague @georginahague
Burnt Basque Cheesecake, Baratxuri at Exhibition (£8.50)
Soft focus cheesecake is always enough to make me swoon. If one memory of San Sebastián is cinematic – at the Film Festival homage hotel Zinema7 we stayed in the Hitchcock themed room but didn’t use the shower – I also remember a brief encounter with a perfect little tart.
The premiere of the Burnt Basque Cheesecake came in 1988 at a tiny Old Town bar called La Viña. It was the inspired conception of Santi Rivera, who was taking it over from his parents. He’s still at the helm and, despite winning a ‘Pintxos Oscar’ in 1998 for his anchovy and cheese stuffed cone, that cheesecake remains the star attraction here in its homeland and across what seems like a million Instagram posts.
A hard act to live up to, but Baratxuri’s version is terrific, the abiding legacy of Rachel Stockley, award-winning chef when the Botham family’s pintxos project was based in Ramsbottom. Although a garnish of fruits macerated in Pedro Ximenez accompany the cake, she was certainly no Basque separatist in the preparation proper, adhering to the tested formula of a pan-browned ‘crust’ transitioning into the creamiest of soft cheese custards. “The interior all jiggly and loose,” to quote San Sebastián based Marti Buckley in her definitive new The Book of Pintxos (Artisan, £30), which contains the original La Viña recipe and a wide screen survey of the world’s finest small plate producers.
Neil Sowerby @AntonEgoManc
Roast Chicken Sandwich, Medlock Canteen (£13)
At Manchester Confidential I’m the equivalent of that one politician that shouts 'declare an interest' from the back of the commmons. I have my own rules for these monthly entries but on this occasion I would just like to say, I love quite a few people that work at Medlock Canteen; Sam, Chris, basically everyone I’ve ever met at Medlock or any of their associated venues. However, that ‘doth butter no parsnips’ if it isn’t greeted by delightful food.
SPOILER: It always is.
A couple of days prior to this we were interviewing Naomi Broady at Club De Padel and the idea of Medlock Roast chicken sandwich with their rotisserie chicken, perfectly seasoned with lettuce and pickles and a warm crusty baguette, was what had been on my mind for a solid 48 hours. And now it was in front of me. I usually take lots of photos of food, that’s kinda my shtick but this was gone within the five minutes it was in front of me.
So yeah, you can probably expect another sandwich from me next month, Bada Bing is coming back, I’ve already had a Rack/Mickeys and I’ve been eying up Tartuffe.
Hayden Naughton
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