24 Bar and Grill is housed under the Arora hotel on Portland Street. Popular with film and air crews, itâs a small hotel and restaurant. Itâs also allegedly co-owned by Cliff Richard which adds a touch of glamour to proceedings. I get the same vibe at The Clarence Hotel in Dublin which is owned by U2. When youâre eating, one of them could come and say hi and, similarly, the 24 Bar and Grill is a normal restaurant but one that Cliff could walk into at any time, just to check on the béarnaise sauce.
Iâm waiting for Siobhan Hanley, my colleague at the Food and Drink Festival so I start with a drink at the bar. Neil Woodward is the restaurant manager, and he gives my drink preferences to the barman. Strong, simple martinis are what I like, and the apple and lychee edition fits the bill. Served in an icy-chilled glass, itâs sweet but serious balancing exotic lychee with a solid base of apple. As the Polish know, apple juice is the perfect partner for vodka, especially bison grass vodka, like Zubrowka.
The restaurant changed from the modern British Obsidian into a new bar and grill, with a focus on value around two months ago. Steaks, clam chowder, huge tiger prawns are now served instead of the old, fine-dining fare. And the change in name and menu is working well according to Neil. Customers are dropping in to eat more frequently and spending more, he says. I preferred it to Obsidian at any rate â although it doesnât look wildly different. The bar still shouts âstatementâ (in a good way) thanks to glowing under-lighting, and lashings of chrome, while the restaurant itself is still home to cute booths and simple furnishings.
We start the meal with goats cheese on toast with roast beetroot and toasted pine nuts (£4.50) plus whole jumbo tiger prawns with smoky paprika and garlic butter (£8.50). Simple and sturdy, starters were juicily reminiscent of meals Iâve eaten at seafood shacks in the US. The prices are on the crazy side of reasonable too â particularly for main course steaks. This being a âgrillâ I sample the 7oz fillet steak sourced from a butchers in Morecambe, with a jumbo prawn on top (£23) and a tub of rewarding béarnaise sauce (£1.50) on the side, while Siobhan tucks into a spice-a-licious Cajun blackened pork chop with sweet potato & herb rosti, lime guacamole and sour cream (£12.50).
Siobhan thinks Iâm going over the top by ordering triple-cooked chips, salad and home-made winter slaw on the side. Everything sounds great though. Say this out loud: âhoney roast rootsâ. Good huh? What about âroast garlic field mushroomsâ? Thatâs another total winner, right there. We eat so much that we canât do dessert, but with chocolate and chilli brownies with cardamom ice cream (£5) and a âbig old ice cream sundae with peanut butterâ on offer, I think we were deluded.
If youâre looking for a reasonable grill which you wonât walk away from trying not to spend anymore money for the rest of the month, 24 Bar and Grill may be the one for you. Itâs simple, stylish, practical, tasty: the kind of place you could eat every night of the week if you so desired.
24 Princess Street, M1 4LY, (0161) 238 4348
www. 24barandgrill.com