10 June 2008

Manchester is pretty quiet, it’s early evening on a Saturday where a duo of major sporting events have conspired to empty almost every restaurant in the City, well, so it seemed. Not so, however, at The Grill on the Alley where the place is packed with an across the board clientele including many diners already dressed for a serious night’s clubbing ahead.

Over a bottle of crisp, oaky Veramonte Chardonnay Reserva (£24.00), we perused the recently installed summer menu, aided and abetted by an excellent, personable, waitress who had recently tasted the new menu and seemed to know everything about it. She was candid too on why the changes had been made; dropping less successful dishes to add focus to the menu as a whole.

My dining companion selected a subtle, nicely dressed salad, with oh so tasty seasonal asparagus, accompanying a King Scallop, just the one mind you, sweet, juicy and drizzled with hazelnut butter (£6.75). For some reason, that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, I realised it had been an age since I’d had a simple starter of garlic prawns (£7.95). Time to rectify the situation with a sizzling cazuela of toasted garlic and chilli beauties that drew admiring glances from adjacent tables.

The atmosphere at Grill on the Alley is a vibrant one, busy, buzzy with service that manages to keep one step ahead. Given the provenance of the meat at the Grill I’d already decided on a steak for my main, but which one? Eventually I opted for a medium sized rib-eye (£17.25), cooked fast and furious, nicely rested, served with what would have been some of the best mash this year if it hadn’t been so grossly over-seasoned. Side dishes of broccoli and boiled rice were poles apart; the veg overcooked, terrific rice though, suffused with flecks of wild garlic, the delicious aroma once more causing a gentle stir at the next table.

So, the Turf was good but what about the Surf? The fishy component of the main event was an outstanding fillet of Organic Shetland Salmon (£14.75) that looked and tasted just the way it used to, in the days before farmed salmon became the norm. The sauce too was excellent, good consistency, just the right amount of Tarragon; a perfect béarnaise.
In addition to the wine and Champagne specials, a Beers of the month list also warranted investigation. I’ve been writing articles about beer and food matching for years but 2008 seems to be the year when this admirable pastime is really taking off. With further research in mind I ordered a bottle of Harpoon IPA (Boston, 5.9 % 355ml £4.50) a stronger than usual Indian Pale Ale with the requisite bitter, hoppy finish.

For dessert it was nice to be presented with a cheeseboard that displayed, in a simple fashion, a trio of classic cheeses; Brie, Cheddar and Stilton served at the correct temperature. The chutney was great, celery there too, of course, and water biscuits – the only ones that, for me, must be present on a cheeseboard.
Edging through the crowd after our meal we managed to squeeze into a recently vacated space at the bar for a post-prandial drink. A terrific atmosphere here too and a cocktail list that is one of the City centre’s finest: but that’s another story…….

The Grill on the Alley.
5, Ridgefield,
Manchester.
M2 6EG