TASTE of Manchester always considered The French’s plates as small but that was all part of a well-timed lengthy tasting menu. It never felt casual.
Now the new post-Simon Rogan regime mustered by head chef Adam Reid is aiming for a slice of the tapas-influenced, mix and match market offering dishes for less than a fiver.
Most expensive dish on the groundbreaking new small plates menu – only available Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12pm-1.30pm – is £12 for a larger plate of grilled plaice with mussels and carrot, but most cost much less and you can grab a bowl of bread and broth for just £5.
It may be at odds with fellow diners splashing out £65 on six courses and £85 on nine (wine flights extra), but it is a refreshing dose of realism in a Manchester where lavish, long lunches are not the norm they are in more affluent London. It is part of Manchester-born Reid’s pledge after taking over to help The French “evolve and modernise”.
Hence this limited menu offering pig trotters, pickled onion and steamed buns (£4), grilled langoustine, chicken skin and squash (£8), potato, ramson caper, black garlic, chestnut (£7) and a malt tart, butterscotch pear, crème fraîche (£8) for ‘afters’.
Doesn’t sound like dumbing down to us and ToM waits to see what a promised more radical overhaul of the gourmet menus in February will bring. We trust this is governed by the canny culinary nous of Great British Menu winner Reid rather than any pressures from hosts The Midland Hotel. The King is gone, long live the new King.
To book, visit The French, or call 0161 932 4198.