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.

Brambles Cafe and Bar, Holmfirth

A Friday night in Holmfirth to watch the wonderful Lau in concert at the Picturedrome and an opportunity for a bite to eat before the gig.

I went for the Brambles beer battered haddock, chunky chips, minted mushy peas and tartar (their spelling not mine) sauce at £8.95.

The fish was bland and the batter was a little oily and the oil it was cooked in may have been past its best as it gave the batter a slightly burnt taste.

The chips were not chips and they were not chunky as claimed. The wedges with bits of potato skin on them were also a little oily and had a burnt flavour like the fish batter. They were thankfully a standard sized chip.

The mushy peas were a challenge. They tasted OK but had no mint. It was only after a few dips into the bowl that they came in that I realised the mint had been added to the bottom of the bowl and my job was to mix the peas with the mint to create the advertised effect. Unfortunately I’d already eaten quite a lot of the peas before I found the mint and so I had half a portion of perfectly good mushy peas and half a portion of very minty peas.

The tartare (my spelling not theirs) had been blended to within an inch of its life and none of the flavours that went into it had any distinction. A decent lemon wedge was provided.

My main grumble was with the presentation. The meal came on a plate with two equal sections. Section one, on the left, had the fish and chips and the other side had a bowl for the mushy then minty peas, the lemon and a tiny cup for the tartare. It seemed to be trying too hard for a plate.

I went for the Brambles Best Bitter which was a house beer from a local brewery and was pretty good.

The service was great. Quick, efficient and helpful.

The Bull, Broughton near Skipton

Firstly an apology. I had the opportunity for a standard fish and chips and had my head turned by deep fried East coast Monkfish tail in breadcrumbs with a marrowfat and green pea crush and real chips, which was a bit steep at £13.50, but it was Easter and I was living dangerously. 

Purists look away now.

The monkfish tails were meaty and juicy. They were effectively big goujons which worked well as a really tasty alternative to the traditional cod or haddock. The batter had breadcrumbs added and was light and crisp and the crumbs brought extra taste and texture, which was an enjoyable break with the norm.

The chips, which came in a separate bowl, were really tasty and very very long. I shouldn’t have a problem with really long chips but they did look a little odd, but more importantly they should have had a couple of minutes extra in the fryer just to crisp them up and get more colour into them. They were good chips, if not outstanding.

The marrowfat and green pea crush was lovely as it had all the different flavours and textures in a big dollop on the side of the plate. They had a variety of colour and added something a bit cheeky to every mouthful.

The presentation of the lemon was very clever. They put the lemon in muslin, tied at the top, and you could squeeze with impunity in the knowledge that the pips were going nowhere. The tartare was OK. It had a good balance of all the essential flavours with lots of lovely bits to bite through but didn’t have enough of a zing for me.

I went for the Bull’s beer board which was three thirds of three different beers – Hetton Pale from the Dark Horse Brewery, Joshua Jane from the Ilkley Brewery and the Signal Main Line from the very new Settle Brewing Company. All were lovely.

The service let the whole experience down. Staff talked too quickly to be understood, simple requests for a glass of water or for the bill both needed to be repeated. It was a big busy pub but  and it seemed  that there was a process the staff had to follow and your request went into the system rather than the member of staff assigned to your table just getting it done. It seemed quite odd that this ‘restaurant and real ale gastro pub’, which is part of the part of the group which runs Northcote Manor, didn’t have a better way of managing the customer experience. After all, it was a £13.50 fish and chips.

 Great food, great beer, shame about the service.

Forster’s Bistro and Deli, Bradford

This city centre restaurant is run by Forster Community College which gifts all its profits back to the college and is a great addition to the City Park.

I went for the fish and chips with minted mushy peas which was very reasonably priced at £6.95.

The fish had great big chunks, was incredibly tasty. However, we were back on the skin on/skin off issue and whilst I can see that it might be tricky for a fish with such big chunks to hold together for deep frying for me it doesn’t work in terms of flavour as I can’t eat it. The batter the fish came in was light and a little too oily but was a good, no-nonsense traditional batter.

The chips were like your mam used to make them. Hand cut, with the odd tiny bit of skin on them, they were reasonably cooked but I would have given them a couple more minutes in the fryer to crisp up some more but they did have a lovely light floury flavour. They came as a side dish as yet again Forster’s had decided to move away from the traditional circular plate. This time it was a plate with a deep well in its middle which I’ve found out is called a deep plate – which is interesting. It worked OK for the fish and peas but less well when you added the chips and hence the need for these to be in a side dish. The outside edge of the well did make for a very handy circular mini-table to rest the squeezed lemon and inedible skin on but it would have looked better on a more ‘normal’ plate.

A beautiful puree of minted peas contributed enormously to the enjoyment of the meal with a subtly to the flavours which worked really well with the fish. The tartare was lemon zesty and really well balanced, the lemon was a fine size and the only problem was the vinegar. It came in a jug and needed tremendous dexterity to pour just the right amount on the chips without drowning them completely. 

To drink, I had an unremarkable bottle of Saltaire Blonde which wasn’t helped by being too cold followed by a stunning glass of Soldiers Block Shiraz.

Forster’s is a great example to other towns and cities of what colleges that have hospitality related courses can do to add to the culinary offering of a centre. The staff, many of whom are students at the college, clearly understand what high quality customer service is and delivered a quietly efficient experience even though they were rushed off their feet. A real pleasure to have visited.

Hinchliffe Arms, Cragg Vale

We were hungry on our way back from a trip to Liverpool and decided to drop into the Hinch for a bite to eat before heading home.

I’ve known Miles, the landlord, for many years and it’s always a fantastic welcome from him and his team and something to look forward to in terms of the beer and the food.

I went for the small fish and chips at £10 and a cracking pint of Edge Pale Ale from the Raw Brewing Company.

The fish was very fresh moist and tasted fantastic with excellent chunks of meaty fish which had been cooked perfectly. The batter was light and crispy with a strong solid flavour that had been well seasoned.

Proper bloody chips! All sides of the chip had been peeled and they were just the right size, golden brown in colour, crisp on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. And not a wedge in sight.

Although the peas had a good deep flavour they were a little too dry for me but they had a good colour and were a good balance between fully mushed and whole peas.

There was no lemon, which was a shame as I quite like the little acid zing it adds that’s far more refreshing than adding too much vinegar, which I inevitably do in the absence of the lemon. The only let down the meal had was the tartare sauce.  I think a good tartae starts with a very good mayonnaise; some quite roughly chopped gherkins and capers with some lemon juice and seasoning and then whatever you fancy to make it your own. This tartare tasted very good and had a good balance of flavours but it has the problem of being runny as it had been blended and I didn’t like the fact that I wandered around the plate trying to find the fish rather than the other way round.

All in all an excellent meal with great service from the team at the Hinch and I can’t wait to go back. If you’ve never been go, and go especially in the daytime because if the sun is shining and you can sit outside with a pint and admire the scenery it is truly one of life’s pleasures. 

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