THE RIVER Restaurant has been with us for well over ten years and has seen many changes. Whilst part of the Rocco Forte empire it saw three or four different chefs; first being that kiss of death, Marco Pierre-White, who these days seems a little like Elvis in his later years, doing Las Vegas to pay the rent.
We ain’t all about butter, pigs and scraping lichen off rocks
Pierre-White mosied up to Mancunia along with a number of insurgents during the dying embers of the twentieth century, and like most, including Nico Ladenis (who once tried to remove Gordo from his restaurant for drinking gin and tonics throughout) Pierre-White spent about three days here and then slinked off back to London.
He’s a great guy by the way.
In the meantime, the hotel was sold and it's been interesting over the past couple of years watching how the gaff has positioned itself. Gordo felt the city (and he considers Salford and Manchester as one, sorry folks) had lost a great occasion restaurant. We really do have too few.
But what does Fatty mean by an occasion restaurant? Well, that’s where Gordo takes his clan: Maureen, his mum; ‘Shifty' aka Roy Garner, Gordo’s late dad (alleged financier of Manchester’s Quality Street Gang - The Krays with brains); Gordo’s brother, Chris, the tightest man in Manchester; Kathy, the sister-in-law (oooh, that’s a bit too pink); Georgina, the daughter Gordo can’t get rid of (pint of strong lager & your cheapest pink fizz please); and the grandson, Harry, “can I have a glass of wine please grandad?”
“No you bloody can’t, you’re only nine.”
“Mum, mum, grandad just swore! And he’s got a picture of a naked lady on his phone...”
Little bleeder.
So, an occasion restaurant needs to take care of everyone, with the menu as well as feeling a little special. Grand, in fact, with white tablecloths (otherwise Maureen will walk out) and a Maître d’ who doesn’t soil his pants when he sees Shifty walk in.
The River Room (now The River Restaurant) was one of those. It boasted arguably the best bar in the city, serving cocktails that delivered big, along with a view that delivered Manchester. It holds good memories for The Fat One.
The River RestaurantChef Andrew Green has taken over the restaurant and has been slowly rebuilding it to fit in with a city that has morphed from its grey, post-industrial image to become the capital at the centre of a region with more economic clout than Denmark and much more interesting produce. Gordo’s said it before; we ain’t all about butter, pigs and scraping lichen off rocks.
Chef Green knows about produce, using arguably the finest butchers in the region, Mettricks of Glossop, with fish from Neve's of Fleetwood. They’re not the cheapest but it demonstrates the chef's mindset when it comes to picking the best that the North West has to offer.
The new menu is more old-school and robustly British than white coats and chemistry-sets, with few, clear, strong flavours. The menu retains a good list of grills using a Josper; the original enclosed charcoal grills which reach very high temperatures, ensuring a near-instant seal whilst developing great flavour.
Gordo took his colleague Ruth Allan to keep an eye on him. Walking into the bar, the service was up to scratch. It hasn’t changed much and doesn’t need to. Stephen and Helen Best were sat there (you know you're going to eat well when these two are in the gaff).
Gin cured salmon
Smoked duckA glass of Perrier-Jouet wine courtesy of The Bests set Gordo up for the starters of home gin cured salmon with dill, cucumber and rye bread (£9.50) and honey glazed smoked duck breast, confit plums and wasabi (£12.50). The salmon was fantastic, the gin cure didn’t taste of gin (so Nico would have approved), delivering smooth and silky tranches of good quality fish with a lovely mousse, topped off with pickled radish and a rye-toast melba to add texture. Worked well.
The duck was delivered as a small brick and didn’t work, but would have done had it been handled with less vigour. Thin slices of duck served pink would have worked better.
The half lobster (£20) had been removed from the Josper before it toughened up and was beautiful. Great flavour. We also tried crispy beetroot gnocchi, sage and orange foam from the chef’s choice menu (main image), which was huge on flavour but not crispy enough. By the way, this particular menu is stunning value at £24.95 for three courses - see here.
Half lobby
High Peak rack of lambMains were High Peak rack of lamb with ‘hotpot’ carrots and rosemary jus (£23.95) along with vanilla roasted South Coast John Dory with Menai mussels, celeriac apple and chives (£23.95). This was a game of two halves.
The Lamb was a two-bone rack, pan-fried, finished in the Josper and split open to reveal it exactly as ordered; rare. The flavour was immense. The ‘hotpot’, a large ball of chopped, minced hogget, cooked and well seasoned then wrapped in a Caul fat scarf, contributed well to the dish with near-gamey flavour.
The John Dory was less memorable and overcooked. Gordo, shouting across the office to Ruth, asks what the saucing was like. Her reply, “can’t remember", says it all. More work needed here guys. The fish needs to be just lucent in the middle of the flakes in our opinion, but ask the punters, some are a bit fey when it comes to it.
Home cooked chips (£3.95) were those big fat ones that are caramelised but nearly soggy in a sweet, wonderful way. Outstanding. Seasonal steamed greens (£3.95) were poorly seasoned, and a bit strange.
Peanut butter mousse, cocoa meringue, chocolate pudding, tonka bean ice cream
Peachy peachesPeanut butter mousse, cocoa meringue, chocolate pudding, tonka bean ice cream (£6.50) looked great, but isn’t Gordo’s cup of tea. Would be if he liked chocolate, mind you. The white peach parfait with poached peach, honeycomb and lemon thyme ice cream (£6.50) was a wonder of wonderfulness. Next time Gordo visits he’s going to invite the chef to put three halves of peach on the plate and charge more. Them peaches are peaches.
Service is slick professional and friendly. Serving Gordo, Wayne and Colleen Rooney, Ronan Keating and The Bests within one section couldn’t be easy, but the team handled it well.
Wine needs more attention, along with the years. Now come on Mr. Bozkurt, you know better than to omit the years, particularly with the Old World wines. The 2010 Chapoutier Les Bécasses Cote Rotie was in fact a fantastic year, worth shouting about in Gordo’s opinion. And at £75, not bad value, about three times mark up.
This wasn’t a fault-free meal, but it was, mind you, hugely enjoyable. Chef Green and his brigade, with an average age of around 23, can only get better.
One last thing. Do people really like sitting with their backs to the room staring out the window?
The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Pl, Salford M3 5LH. 0161 827 4041.
Rating: 15.5/20
Food: 7/10 (cured salmon 8, smoked duck 6, lobster 9, gnocchi 7, lamb 8.5, John Dory 5, chips 8.5, veg 5, peanut mousse 6, white peach parfait 8)
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
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