The Crowne Plaza Manchester is situated right on the edge of the Northern Quarter. On the other side is Shudehill, which has seen some improving over the years, with a new bus station and apartment blocks such as West Propertiesâ Skyline Central highlighting the horizon to the north.
I have been in the hotel and its restaurant, The Glasshouse, before but never taken in the architecture which is reminiscent of the 1960s with high ceilings and sloping angles. The bar area was stark and minimalist in a way that sits nicely with the trendy Northern Quarter bars. Both were surprisingly busy for a Monday night with people both drinking and eating.
Executive chef Karl Bittner moved over to set up The Glasshouse restaurant at the end of last year from setting up City Inn, and worked at previously Harvey Nichols. He has brought with him his modern take of combining unusual ingredients and making them sing in harmony.
This was demonstrated by the ham terrine (£6.50), which features strongly on many a modern menu, but not usually combined with mango salsa. The terrine was a chunky fellow with huge wedges of pink meat pressed together, and was set off by the tropical salsa flavours and also a swoosh of curried mayo.
A slow roasted pork belly (£7.50) was given a similar treatment and served with five spice papaya salad and barbecue sauce to spice up the rich fatty tender meat. A nice summery touch to both starters.
Moving onto the mains, the Best end of Morecambe Bay salt marsh lamb (£17.50) was given a Moroccan feel. Served very pink, the small rack was balanced on a collection of hot Greek salad of big rich flavours, involving sundried tomato, cucumber and feta cheese. Also on the plate was a kleftiko pastillo, which is like a long spring roll, and kamala olive polenta, which was a great neutral flavour to sit alongside the rich lamb and fresh salad.
The Beef Fillet Diane (£18.50) was a steak-loversâ treat. A small but perfectly formed suet pudding filled with shin beef and tiny mushrooms was topped with a glistening red rare beauty of fillet steak, which was bred in Lancashire.
It turned out to be completely unnecessary but we ordered and still ate a portion of chunky chips and a rich crushed carrot and swede flavoured with a hint of cardamom and lots of orange juice (all sides, £3.50).
Like the whole of the a la carte menu, the dessert section (all £4.95) was short and sweet (no pun intended there). Croissant bread and butter pudding was a rich but enjoyable portion, while the Baked cheesecake was all crumbly and set off with some berries. Neither of the desserts were too sweet, but just nice and creamy.
To wash this lot down, I had a glass of Argentinean Avanti Malbec, from San Juan, 2006, which was a very fruity berry flavoured number and reasonable at £16.50 for the bottle (£4.25 for small glass and £5.95 for large glass). The other half tried another house wine served by the glass - a smooth South African Rocheburg Shiraz/ Cinsault 2006 (£15.75 for the bottle, £4 for small glass and £5.75 for large glass).
As well as the more adventurous a la carte menu, there is a standard menu with all the old favourites on it , essential for any hotel dining room. The Crowne Plaza also has a cracking deal on which appealed to me and my money-saving other half - a four course Taste of the North menu for £15 per person.
Glasshouse Restaurant, Crowne Plaza Manchester, M4 4AF.
T: 0161 828 8600
W: www.cpmanchester.com