18 June 2010

Lisa Higginson

Lunchtime is undoubtedly the most sacred hour of a working day. It also happens to be the fastest, so there is no time to waste when it comes to deciding where to spend your dinner money. Being the conscientious luncher that I am, I have spent the past few years perfecting a way of saving those precious lunchtime minutes, and have thus avoided the subsequent disappointment that a hasty sandwich/salad or soup purchase inevitably brings for quite a while now. What, I hear you ask, is this time-saving trick? Well it is simply to spend all morning thinking about what to have for lunch so that when 1pm strikes you know precisely what you fancy and where to procure it. I apply an unashamedly similar process when it comes to deciding on dinner, but that’s a story for another day.

If you fancy giving this theory a try, then let me tell you about somewhere to consider spending your morning thinking about. It’s called The Eatery and is a welcome new face to the lovingly shabby Stevenson Square. This part of the Northern Quarter is undergoing a major regeneration that is expected to see new offices and business spring up throughout the year, laid-back bar Noho being one of the first followed now by The Eatery. With its clean lines, white and chrome furnishings, citrus splashes and ‘fresh food fast’ ethos, my first thought about this new cafe, patisserie and take away was that it wouldn’t look out of place in some of the sunnier cities in Australia. During my stint living there, lunchtimes required not only a morning of planning, but much of the night before, such was the choice of excellent places.

Set up by a Richard Neilson – who has trained in catering at the Savoy and Hilton hotels in London – and managed by his mum Rose, The Eatery aims to provide a quality, healthy and tailored experience for customers and to convey a passion for food. It certainly has the building blocks in place to deliver; sandwiches are made using organic baguettes, free range produce and Fairtrade items are used and everything is made on site by chef Mike King. And the prices are very reasonable. The menu consists of salads, sandwiches, jacket potatoes, homemade soup and hot specials, as well as cakes and speciality hot beverages. There is also a great breakfast menu.

The first thing to greet you as you walk into The Eatery is the stunning salad bar that sweeps across one side of the counter. Bowls and bowls of fresh leaves, mixed beans, cous cous, roasted vegetables and rice salads are laid out to tempt even those with even the most unhealthy of dispositions. And tempted I was, so I went for the token World Cup Special Salad (£4.50), which allowed me the choice of six of the seducing salads and a choice of one of the meat offerings. Since pulling Serbia out of the hat in my office sweepstake, I’ve somewhat snubbed the World Cup, but I was soon back on the bandwagon when I saw the size of the salad coming towards me. I had chosen cous cous, bright red roasted tomatoes, olives, some vibrant looking pea shoots, a spoonful of chunky ratatouille, tomato and mozzarella and parma ham, which all came with standard salad leaves, cucumber and tomato as standard.

Needless to say, it scored very highly on portion size and value for money. Each of the salad dishes were delicious in their own right and tasted as fresh and you get. The cold ratatouille served surprisingly brilliantly as a salad dish and the pea shoots and roasted cherry tomatoes were also a highlight. If I thought my salad was big, then I should have waited until I saw my friend’s meatballs and pasta (the hot special of the day for £5.25) that arrived a few second later. Three huge, homemade meatballs lay atop a sea of perfectly cooked al-dente penne in a pleasant tomato and basil sauce. Again, it got the big thumbs up for size and value, but the dish as a whole could have done with a bit more seasoning for me.

With plans in the pipeline to create a function room/comfy seating area for Wi-fi surfers and the like and changing weekly offers, this place is sure to become a lunchtime favourite. I know I’ll be spending a many a morning’s work plotting a lunchtime pilgrimage to this excellent Eatery in the future.

The Eatery
3 Stevenson Square
Manchester
M1 1DN
T: 0161 236 0088
W: www.eaterymanchester.co.uk
Open Monday to Friday from 7.30 to 4pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm.