WELCOME back, the River Restaurant, we’ve missed you as a serious culinary contender in the city. We certainly hope that’s going to be the case as the dining room of the Lowry Hotel and the menu it serves gets a serious overhaul as part of an ambitious seven-figure refurb across the five-star riverside property.
Mid-September they are going to unveil The Lowry Lounge & Bar and River Restaurant, a complete redesign but still profiting via its terrace from that riverside view.
The Lowry Lounge & Bar will benefit from a new feature bar and a choice of ‘sociable or secluded seating’. Long home to impromptu performances from some of the hotel’s high-profile guests including Lady Gaga and Take That, the new venue is planning an entertainment and events programme featuring live performances most nights.
This will be complemented by a new drinks and food offer under the stewardship of Food and Beverage Manager Daniel Thompson, the Lowry Lounge & Bar promises to be a vibrant new addition to the city.
ToM’s focus has to be on The River Restaurant, which despite the presence of some seriously good chefs (most recently Andrew Green) it has never quite recaptured the high end lustre of the Eyck Zimmer era in the mid-Noughties.
One dish we always associate from not so long ago is Dover Sole, boned on the terrace. That may not be part of the remit for exec head chef Dave Ashton but his reimagining of classic English dishes for the new menu does include the sole served as a fillet, stuffed with a scallop and ginger mousse with a dashi cream. Which sounds like it has pzazz.
More trad is a 10oz Cheshire Farm beef steak, with bone marrow butter and triple cooked chips, which we expect will continue a Lowry tradition of excellent sourcing.
Desserts couldn’t be more in-house – heather honey cake, made with honey from the Lowry Hotel bees and a gin & tonic syllabub, made with the hotel’s own gin.
The three course live-music Sunday Lunch will continue, while we are promised an upgrade of the already excellent Afternoon Tea with a spectacular range of scones, sweets and savouries paired with a choice 70 plus tea varieties from James Green of Tea from The Manor.
2019 is a huge year for investment at the hotel. As well as the new-look Presidential Suite lobby and mezzanine, other confirmed developments include a redesign of the hotel’s luxury corner suites and upgrades of its meeting spaces.
While the fresh new destination for riverside drinks and dining is being prepared, the hotel’s ballroom has been transformed into a pop-up restaurant and bar to cater for guests.
General Manager Adrian Ellis told us: “It’s an incredibly exciting year for The Lowry Hotel. We’re investing nearly £5m in developments to cement our status as Manchester’s premier five-star hotel amongst growing competition in the city. The new Lowry Lounge & Bar and River Restaurant allows us to maintain our five-star service standards as well as offer a personalised experience for all guests, whether it be an overnight stay or superb evening out”
The Lowry Hotel has 165 bedrooms and six suites, as well as a spa, restaurant and bar, and a variety of meeting and event spaces.
The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf, Manchester M3 5LH. 0161 827 4000.