THIS site in Chorlton has been lively.
A couple of years ago it was the excellent Ostara, then it was the latino Charango, now, under new ownership, it's Scott's Hill.
Clearly there's talent in the kitchen, but it needs to refine itself while keeping the skill shown in that rillete, mess and cheese pot.
Much of the decor has survived from Ostara days, in otherwords this is a bright and clear dining room, unfussy, softened by flowers and plants and pictures.
Scott's Hill
There are some new light fittings which are worrying because they don't fit into the cavity that must have previously housed spots. Thus you get to see into the ceiling. Careless little things like that can be off putting and make you worried about the care of the food preparation.
Let's hope it's remedied soon.
The drinks are good - as befitting a restaurant that has significant bar trade in the front area.
There's an excellent range of ales, I enjoyed a particularly full-on Salopian Oracle ale at 4%. There is a good selection of wines priced between £13 and £30 a bottle - including some Witt's End products and a Solaguen Rioja.
Ale and hearty
The menu is a straightforward A4 sheet, no-nonsense, and includes deals on 'Burger of the week' and 'Pie of the week' both at £9.95.
I went for a starter of baked cheese pot with homemade puff pastry sticks (£2.95). This was excellent, cheesiness perfected and hoisted into an aromatic collation of smoky loveliness, full of those smoky and rubbery Northern European cheeses that melt so well. The Jarlsberg (I think) lumps were fabulous.
Cheese pot
The sweet potato rosti with mint yoghurt (£2.95) were also good but not quite as distinctive, but the admixture of ginger and orange lifted the it all.
Rosti
As a proxy main I had two curiously advertised 'medium plates' on the menu, the spicy crab and glass noodles with a sweet lime dressing (£5.95) and the duck rillete with hoisin, cucumber and spring onion (£5.95).
The rillete was fabulous as you can see from the main picture at the top of this page, beautifully constructed and gloriously rugged. The cucumber pile it came with was too tough, the cucumber skin almost indigestible. That arrangement needs to be re-thought, it's ruining a classically rustic rillete.
The spicy crab, which was lifted with the lime dressing and the coriander, given heat with the chilli, and texture with the crushed peanuts, was entertaining but failed because somehow the flavour had been worked out of the crab. It simply wasn't crabby enough. In fact the chill noodles overwhelmed the dish.
Crab and glass noodles
The same odd lack of character invaded the roasted seabass with herb risotto, roasted cherry tomatoes and salsa verde (£13.75). The fish merged into mush with the risotto. It lacked the rugged virtue of the rillete and despite the salsa was frankly bland. Another dish that needs re-addressing.
Sea bass
The desserts conversely were magnificent.
I didn't get a look in with the much complimented sticky toffee pudding but I did bask in the strawberry Eton Mess (£4.95). Everything was right with this Mess, the meringue, the cream, the ice cream, the fruit. It's worth a trip to Scott's Hill just for that dish alone.
A total mess
Maybe nip in on a sunny day, sit on the terrace and enjoy it with an Aresti Gewurztraminer dessert wine at £4.95.
Scott's Hill is at present a decent restaurant but it could be much better.
While the service and the drinks were very good, the mains and mediums on the menu lacked clear definition.
Clearly there's talent in the kitchen, but it needs to refine itself while keeping the skill shown in the rillete, mess and cheese pot.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
Scott's Hill, 458 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 0BQ 0161 881 8596
Rating: 13.75/20 (please read the scoring system in the box below)
Food: 6.75/10
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5
Drinks
Food
Scotts Hill
Sticky toffee pudd
A matter of rillete
