Fairly new to the taste of Manchester website in the recent past, I was decidedly delighted to find that my latest assignment out of the office would be to venture to the largest four star hotel in the city. This was, however, not a trip to simply sample the new menu. On my day out I was to learn much about the supply of meat to the hotel and much about the suppliers themselves, Barton Meat Company.
As I was preparing to leave the office on my journey to the Manchester Macdonald Hotel, I took a minute to double check the directions with my colleague, having never been there before myself. He explained the route to me concluding his explanation with âmy mates and I used to call it âthat dirty, horrible buildingâ...have a nice time.â? Slightly perplexed, Luke, my lunching colleague and I set out on our way.
Arriving at the former BT building we were very pleased to see that the recent £50 million investment had been spent well. We would not be spending our afternoon in a âdirty, horrible buildingâ, far from it. From the outside the Macdonald looks fairly modern and clean cut - a rather professional establishment but not too exclusive.
On entry we were instantly greeted by some obliging staff. The main receptionist was unaware of the events that were to proceed but soon got us sorted, having consulted a series of his colleagues. After a trip up in the elevator and then down a set of stairs, we ended up in the chic, contemporary and lavishly stocked bar, where we were each consigned a glass of wine.
After a brief chat with Daniel Rich, the operations manager, about the current state of dining and hospitality in Manchester, we were ushered through to one of the 12 conference rooms. As we breached the entrance, we were greeted by a large table, on top of which rested about 65 kilograms of pork, courtesy of Barton Meats Company. On display was pretty much every cut of meat one is able to obtain from a pig; chops, spare ribs, belly pork, fillet, like I said; pretty much every cut. Also on display was a whole flank of a pig which, to my great felicity, we were about to witness the butchering of.
As the head butcher from Barton Meats took us carefully through the âdissectionâ of the carcass, we learned a lot about the way in which, pigs especially, make there way from the sty to our table. Mark Gilmore and Sean Hallows from the meat company were on hand to answer any questions we had and informed us of how old cuts recently used as sausage meat were coming back into fashion. Cheek, for example, is being used for braising and ears are now not just something for your dog to chew on.
After the extremely informative display, we filtered out of the conference room and into the 150-seat restaurant. Feeling suitably underdressed, Luke and myself took our seats and prepared for what was going to be probably the tastiest meal I have had for a very long time, courtesy of executive and head chefâs, Stuart Duff and Joe Horvath, respectively. Stuart has 19 years experience at executive and head chef level at establishments such as the Crowne Plaza Liverpool and De Vere St Davidâs Park Hotel. Joe has worked as head chef at the 3 AA Rosette Thyme Restaurant in Sheffield, the 2 AA Rosette Attic Restaurant in Harrogate and has spent time working in the kitchen at Michelin starred Chez Bruce.
Their years of experience are reflected in the choice of menu and the quality of the food itself. We started off with Whitby crab and prawn cocktail in a Bloody Mary sauce. I personally am not always a fan of seafood but this was done exquisitely. The tastes of the crab and prawn were not overwhelming and balanced well with sauce. A flute of the light and fruity Mansart Rose Non Vintage helped wash it down. Light and refreshing, it left us both eager to see what was in store for main course.
After no time at all, we were sat in front of what I thought was an oil painting at first yet soon realised it was Watton Farm pork fillet, belly and shoulder, fondant potato with Calvados jus.
This course was complimented by a cool glass of the crisp yet elegant, Viognier de Waal Estate 2006. The pork fillet was possibly the most moist piece of pig I have eaten. The belly was slow roasted and covered in a crackling that bridged the extremities of moist and crispy perfectly. The shoulder, in generous helping of soy sauce, complemented the creamy fondant and apple sauce irreproachably.
For dessert, we were presented with a Warm prune and Armagnac tart and Cornish clotted cream. This was accompanied by an Epinette Cocktail (50cl Simple Cream, 30cl Armagnac, 10cl Benedictine, 10cl Frangelico) served in a shot glass. I was extremely pleased to see this on our menu as prunes are a favourite of mine. The tart was beautifully warm and moist, the tartness of the prunes cunningly offset by the sweetness of the cream. The outer pastry may have been slightly hard but that is the only criticism I have.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Macdonald Manchester Hotel. The interior has been designed well but not overdesigned. It retains a rather understated contemporary feel excellently. The staff are what you would expect of such an establishment, for the main part, well informed and ruthlessly efficient. The food, as stated previously, was the best my colleague and I have tasted in a long time. I would thoroughly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for quality hospitality or catering in the Manchester area.