Northern Quarter Restaurant, Manchester

A 40^th birthday party and the host’s choice was the excellent Northern Quarter Restaurant in Manchester. I’m a big fan of the Northern Quarter with its combination of eclectic bars and restaurants and a real sense of being an independent spirit in a big conventional city. It does enjoy being different but its enthusiastic celebration of all things artisan makes it a lovely break from the mundanity of life. 

I went for the fish and chips with homemade pea puree and tartar (their spelling) sauce at £9.50.

The fish was excellent and had a fresh, light flavour. The batter was light and crispy and had a really well balanced taste. A lovely combination.

The chips were really good. Twice fried and full of floury loveliness. 

The pea puree was good but didn’t pack as much of a flavour punch as I expected. 

The tartare (my spelling) was excellent with the myriad of ingredients working well with each other and it came in a big portion on the plate with lots of little chunky fresh flavours. 

I was surprised that there was no lemon and the salt and vinegar needed to be requested. The vinegar came in a jug which made it another job for high-quality motor skills.

The TNQ, as it’s branded, is posh and therefore the pea puree and tartare has to swiped across the plate which meant that the chips were sitting in both of them and as I’m a little odd I always prefer to have all the ingredients separated out so I can choose what to add at any time of the meal.

I went for the house red as they only sell bland bottles of lager which is still a bit of a surprise. When I asked what beers they had the waiter was quite animated telling me their range of continental lagers, but I can never get excited about San Miguel.  

On the whole it was a pleasure to eat at TNQ and I’m looking forward to my next visit.