THE smoked salmon confirmed it; presented beautifully, ribboned across the plate with a small mound of finely chopped shallots and tiny capers. A half of lemon, wrapped in muslin. Fresh, buttered brown bread.
Simple is the most difficult thing to get right. Coco Chanel and little black dresses along with Matisse and Blue Nudes say it all.
The black pepper was already on the table in a small mill, alongside the sea salt. The provenance, from the Inverawe smoke houses, though farmed was immaculate, the rivulets of fat closely packed together showed a fish that had been given space and some work to do.
Smoked salmon
Farrow and Ball couldn’t have got the colour of this salmon more salmon and the cure rose off the luscious flesh perfuming the air around Gordo with scents of oak and green tea along with gunpowder notes.
The Lowry River Restaurant hasn’t been great for some time. It sat back for a while and scratched its arse, waiting to see what would happen to the ownership of this great hotel. It was breaking Gordo’s heart, as the staff front of house are amongst the best in the country. They are also pals.
Now it’s the Lowry Bar and Grill.
The Lowry Hotel
Gordo had been told this three weeks earlier, apparently, it’s been re-named to underline a new menu. The smoked salmon confirmed what Gordo had for so long wanted to hear. That something was being done to arrest the slide in quality that was flying towards an event horizon, into the black hole of hotel obscurity.
The new restaurant has three things in its favour. A voguish Josper grill, a solid chef in Andrew Wilkie and a menu that takes superior ingredients, dealing with them with the simplicity of a diva ballerina. Escoffier with his grill sections at the Ritz a hundred years ago would have smiled.
Let’s start at the beginning. It’s actually the second time Gordo has been in two weeks. The first was to catch up with his pal, the photographer Pip Rustage.
That visit was a professional invite from Helen Hipkiss, the marketing gaffer of the hotel. She had, ten months before, listened to a litany of moans from the Fat One about the food. She said she wouldn’t mither him until she felt they had it right. So eventually Gordo got a ‘come and tell us what you think’ invite, not for general consumption.
And it was pretty bang on.
Onion soup get's chef compliment - what a shocker
The second visit was a paid walk-in to check it wasn’t a fluke; or over-engineered just for that occasion. Gordo arrived with the Editor and their pal, the remarkable chef David Gale, lately of the Hilton on Deansgate and soon to take over The Waldorf in that there London.
There are subtle changes to the bar, which serves arguably the best gin and tonic in town. The restaurant remains the same. The front of house is led by Huseyn Bozkurt, Manchester’s smoothest Maitre’d. It is always a pleasure to sit down at one of his tables. The staff on the first occasion the score was a perfect five. The second a 4.75 out of five. More of that later.
Chef Gale wasn’t sitting for the whole meal and so simply ordered the French onion soup (£6.50). He talked through our meal without mentioning it, apart from a ‘very good’ to the young lady serving us. Which is praise indeed. Normally all the chefs love to find something to moan about their competitor’s food. Gordo could smell the hour and a half it had taken to sweat and caramelize the onions and knew it was class simply from the aroma.
A tuna tartare (£10.50) on the first occasion had gone a bit Peru; Gordo wasn’t concentrating well enough but recognized the background acidity of the ceviche style, done extraordinarily well.
The wine list is excellent at all levels. Huseyn advised the table to try the most weirdly named Meursault Gordo has had; Mischief and Mayhem. This wine is from Burgundy and is a white wine using Chardonnay grapes.
Decorum and Delight from Mischief and Mayhem
The team behind this product are Micheal and Fiona Rigg, with their pal, Micheal Twelftree. Marking a usually stuffy French label with the grape variety in bold, and a name that Americans can easily remember, is clever marketing. The other bit of cleverness is the absolute quality of the wine. Gordo can’t remember a more impressive introduction since discovering the merchant Louis Latour and one of their grand cru Chablis on a hot summer’s day at Sharrow Bay, in the Lake District thirty-three years ago.
Like Latour, trust the brand whenever you see them. This feller was a hefty £97, the wine has risen from around £20 a bottle in the shops to around £40 plus today. One to have on special occasions.
This is what Schofield, the Editor, wrote about his lobster bisque:
‘I had to keep my hand on the bowl to keep this from floating away. Wilkie had produced a bisque that smelled gorgeous, looked gorgeous and lifted the spirits. It was succulent and beautifully light, aided by the crème fraiche. The over-riding memory is of it being delicately yet persistently and exquisitely fishy. A top job. I want it this minute…Now Gordo, write your own bloody reviews next time.’
Thank you Mr Editor.
Bisque to bask in
Gordo’s main was a rack of lamb, (£25.50), cooked rare, highly seasoned, crisped on the outside from the fiery heat of the Josper, and a classy result in the middle with big flavour. Served with pureed potatoes and roasted, skinned tomatoes. Gordo attacked the bones with his fingers. He wasn’t offered a finger bowl. The only mistake in service.
Gordo likes a lovely rack
Schofield had the North Sea Lemon Sole, (£24) which Gordo had on his previous visit. Both were fantastic, cooked in the Josper grill. The fast cooking with this bit of kit works well with a chunky piece of seafood, keeping it moist and not allowing the flavour to run off into the middle distance.
Lemon sole not dry and soulless
There are abundant sides to choose from, priced at around £3.50 and delivered with panache, keeping to the fresh and simple line.
Puddings included a baked apple custard (£6.50). A whole apple, cored, stuffed with raisins reminiscent of Christmas, baked, sat on a pillow of custard in a deep puddle of liquid, tart jam. It was just bloody lovely. The picture tells the complete story here.
Baked apple works perfectly
The only food fail of the two meals was the ‘traditional trifle’ (£6.50), which, whilst charming, let down Gordo and t’Editor, from Salford and Rochdale respectfully. Both have very firm views on trifles. It was nice, but didn’t grip it. It was a bit, er… southern…and thus weak? Jelly should never be presented in cubes on top of the trifle, they should be inside the belly of the monster.
Trifle all wrong
All in all these two meals show that the Lowry is back on form and in the thick of it.
Simple is the most difficult thing to get right. Coco Chanel and little black dresses along with Matisse and Blue Nudes say it all.
This chef is delivering with a simple passion.
You can follow Gordo on Twitter here @gordomanchester
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
The River Bar & Grill, The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearman’s Place, Chapel Wharf, M3 5LH. 0161 827 4041.
Rating: 16.75/20 (please read the scoring system in the box below, venues are rated against the best examples of their kind)
Food: 8/10 (Smoked salmon 8, tuna tartare, lobster bisque, lamb 9, lemon sole 9, baked apple 8, trifle 6)
Service: 4.75/5
Ambience: 4/5
