By Neil Sowerby
CARNIVORES of my acquaintance salivate over upmarket steak house Hawksmoor making the leap from London one day. In the meantime, Manchester is presented with an outlet of the middle market chain, Miller and Carter, whose nearest branch (a bit corporate, I know, but the parent company is Mitchells & Butlers) before was in Wilmslow.
Branch is appropriate to their new site, though its the old Lloyds Bank building on the corner of King Street and Cross Street. Outside its Edwardian Baroque in Portland stone. Inside is equally impressive and M&C have converted it attractively, all white pillars and red leather banquettes.
Fillet, ribeye, sirloin, rump, {Porterhouse, T-bone, Chateaubriand, the menu ranges across grill-able cuts and there are Amercian-style complimentary lettuce wedges served with a variety of dressings.
The British meat only from selected farms policy is high on traceability, even if the proclaimed 28 days ageing is slightly misleading. Order a steak at rival establishments such as Mr Thomass Chop House just across the road and youll be served a rib-eye, say, with 28 days dry-ageing. Miller and Carter give theirs seven days' dry and then three weeks wet ageing, which means storing it in a vacuum-sealed bag to retain its moisture.
Dry ageing, espoused by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, encourages moisture to evaporate from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of flavour, while the beefs natural enzymes break down the connective tissue, making it more tender. Significantly, though, up to a third of the weight can be lost, slicing away profit margins.
Intense flavour
Gaucho, off Deansgate, is current boss steak house in town, serving Argentine beef with a policy of total wet-ageing, I believe... and I have enjoyed their steaks over the years, An 8oz fillet steak there costs £28, compared with £22.95 at Miller and Carter and a big Gaucho plus is their immensely impressive wine list, sourced from the homeland.
Pick of M&Cs list is, as it happens, an Argentine Malbec, Aruma (£30.55), produced in Mendoza by Lafite Rothschild and the Catena family. Its all ripe plums and power perfect steak wine. Whether such a steakhouse is the perfect fit for Manchester we'll have to wait and see. The late, unlamented Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte further up King Street is being refitted as a Pizza Express. Just what we didnt need another of.
Miller and Carter, King Street, Manchester, M2 4LQ. Tel: 0161 839 2846 www.millerandcarter.co.uk