Manchester Smokehouse and Cellar
Restaurant name:- Manchester Smokehouse and Cellar
Location:- 18-22 Lloyd Street, Manchester
Date/Time:- 19th January 2018/8pm
Atmosphere 3/10
Hygiene 7/10
Price 7/10
Service 3/10
Taste 2/10
OVERALL 4/10
It seems that this restaurant is an option for diners who couldn't get a table at Reds' True Barbecue which is close by. First impressions were great. Nice interior and has a real BBQ feel to it but it all changed soon.
We walked down some stairs-the disabled access is at the back of the building. We were given menus and sat at a table we were led to. So far so good.
There wasn't many people in which I thought was strange for a Friday night. We were asked whether we wanted drinks by another waiter. Then a different waitress asked for our order. Three different staff members in the space of ten minutes. We ordered:-
Crispy Smoked Wings (Pants on Fire) £5:95p
Sweet Potato Fries £3:95p
Miss Piggy Burger £11:95p
Wood Fried Nachos with Brisket £6:95p
Hoegaarden (Belgium Beer) £5:95p (each)
We requested that the BBQ sauce that comes on the burger could come separate and that we would like all the food at the same time as we were sharing everything. The beer we drank whilst waiting for the food tasted amazing. Really crisp and fresh. So far and still so good.
Then comes the food-some of the food. The wings and the nachos. were bought to us. I assumed that they were bringing the burger and the fries momentarily but they didn't-it's fine, nevermind. The wings as you can probably tell from the description are indeed VERY HOT as in spicy but as in the temperature, they were only luke-warm. Not good. The nachos came warmer than the wings. I wondered whether I should say something to a waiter or waitress but didn't until later on. About five minutes later, our fries arrived, just bought to the table with nothing said whatsoever-where was the burger? I called the waitress who took our order and asked her and also stated that we had requested all the food to be brought together. She scurries to the kitchen, after five minutes yet a different waiter brings the burger which was not only completely drenched in BBQ sauce (after requesting to have the sauce separate), but also like a tyre. We had trouble cutting through it and had a very tough time trying to eat it. We then asked for the manager. We had to explain almost point by point what happened:-
1-All the food didn't arrive at the same time. Not a big deal but...
2-The wings were only luke-warm. Were they supposed to be like that? No.
3-The burger was drenched in BBQ sauce when we had requested the sauce comes separate.
4-The burger itself was very tough and actually almost inedible.
The manager (who seemed genuinely apologetic) said he would take the burger off our bill and also scurries off and comes back with two more pints of beer which were on the house. A very kind gesture but what if one of us was driving? Most of the burger was left and I thought that it was odd we weren't asked if we wanted another burger. The fries were average but the nachos were actually very nice-the only bit of food we ordered that actually was.
We asked for the bill. It came to half of what it would have been had we paid full price and when another waitress-a totally different one yet again asked "Was everything alright with your meal?", I wasn't sure whether they were playing a joke on us. We explained what happened and her response was absolutely classic. It was:-
"Oh."
And that was that.
Conclusion:-
Maybe they were having a bad day, although it wasn't busy but this wasn't a good experience at all. Nachos and beer-good. Everything else was not good. I think maybe they just left the burger on the grill and had forgotten about it but also with the wings being luke-warm-maybe the kitchen staff just weren't with it. The manager did seem nice but it was strange that including himself, we had six different members of staff-most of them who definitely need more training. I don't think that we will; be returning here.
Monday 30 April 2018
Saturday 23 September 2017
Ask Italian
Ask Italian
Restaurant name:-Ask Italian.
Location:- 1, Piccadilly, Manchester.
Date/Time:- 1st September 2017.
Atmosphere 5/10
Hygiene 7/10
Price 7/10
Service 7/10
Taste 5/10
OVERALL:-6.5/10
This restaurant is located in the middle of Piccadilly Manchester where they probably get hundreds, if not thousands of people walking past everyday. It was a Friday evening and we expected it to be really busy but noticed that there were quite a few empty tables although the restaurant is quite big. The next thing I noticed was that they were playing pop music which definitely took away from the Italian feel. The waitress was polite and very natural. No fake or being over-pleased which I liked. We sat next to the window and we could see everyone through full length windows with the view of Piccadilly Gardens. The waitress took our order quite quickly. I expected the restaurant to be really busy being a Friday night but it wasn't. We decided to get two main meals to share. We chose:-
Pollo Piccante Con Pancetta £12:95p
(Pizza. Seasoned chicken breast, pancetta, roasted peppers,
red chillies, mushroom, spinach, rosemary and fontal cheese)
Aragosta E Gamberoni £14:95p
(Pasta. Lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce,
with a hint of chilli. Topped with a king prawn in it's shell)
Coca Cola £2:55p (each)
Before the food arrived, we were given two shots of Limoncello. I thought this was strange as it is supposed to be given after the meal?The food arrived after about twenty minutes and it looked good. However, I have to say that the pasta tasted very strong. It was overwhelming of a fish smell. It was too strong but if you like that, then you would love this. There were sufficient amount of prawns and I liked the king prawn still in its' shell. The pizza was OK. Just basic really and din't make me think that I couldn't wait to come back to the restaurant.
Conclusion:-
This was a very average restaurant. Nothing exciting, no amazing taste, nothing that was really good or really bad. I get the feeling because of its' location alone, it gets more than enough business. If this was an independent restaurant on the outskirts, it would have been closed down due to lack of business.
Italian food that was avaerage.
Restaurant name:-Ask Italian.
Location:- 1, Piccadilly, Manchester.
Date/Time:- 1st September 2017.
Atmosphere 5/10
Hygiene 7/10
Price 7/10
Service 7/10
Taste 5/10
OVERALL:-6.5/10
This restaurant is located in the middle of Piccadilly Manchester where they probably get hundreds, if not thousands of people walking past everyday. It was a Friday evening and we expected it to be really busy but noticed that there were quite a few empty tables although the restaurant is quite big. The next thing I noticed was that they were playing pop music which definitely took away from the Italian feel. The waitress was polite and very natural. No fake or being over-pleased which I liked. We sat next to the window and we could see everyone through full length windows with the view of Piccadilly Gardens. The waitress took our order quite quickly. I expected the restaurant to be really busy being a Friday night but it wasn't. We decided to get two main meals to share. We chose:-
Pollo Piccante Con Pancetta £12:95p
(Pizza. Seasoned chicken breast, pancetta, roasted peppers,
red chillies, mushroom, spinach, rosemary and fontal cheese)
Aragosta E Gamberoni £14:95p
(Pasta. Lobster and king prawns in a creamy tomato sauce,
with a hint of chilli. Topped with a king prawn in it's shell)
Coca Cola £2:55p (each)
Before the food arrived, we were given two shots of Limoncello. I thought this was strange as it is supposed to be given after the meal?The food arrived after about twenty minutes and it looked good. However, I have to say that the pasta tasted very strong. It was overwhelming of a fish smell. It was too strong but if you like that, then you would love this. There were sufficient amount of prawns and I liked the king prawn still in its' shell. The pizza was OK. Just basic really and din't make me think that I couldn't wait to come back to the restaurant.
Conclusion:-
This was a very average restaurant. Nothing exciting, no amazing taste, nothing that was really good or really bad. I get the feeling because of its' location alone, it gets more than enough business. If this was an independent restaurant on the outskirts, it would have been closed down due to lack of business.
Italian food that was avaerage.
Wednesday 31 May 2017
Pinnochios
Pinnochios
Restaraunt name:-Pinnochios (Italian)
Loation:- Old Street, Ashton-Under-Lyne
Date/Time:- 9th March 2017/8pm
Atmosphere 8/10
Hygiene 9/10
Price 9/10
Service 8/10
Taste 9/10
OVERALL 9/10
This really is a gem of a restaurant and it is great that it is in a town like Ashton-Under-Lyne rather than in a city centre as it just adds to the quaintness.
On arrival, we were greeted by a jolly waiter who directed us to our table. It was noticeable that tables were very close to one another in this restaurant and it is very small. Such is the popularity of the place that about three years ago, they had to open their upstairs to the public as part of the restaurant. However this is a very small gripe which shouldn't put anyone off who may pass the place and not try it, thinking that it may look too small.
The restaurant was very busy considering it was a Thursday evening but I could imagine it being busy everyday of the week and it it not a negative point as this was part of the vibrant atmosphere. We were provided the menu straight away and offered drinks in a very polite manner.
We were provided with a midweek menu which has a selection of starters, mains and desserts for a very reasonable £13.99p for three courses. On request, you can ask for the main menu which we did. I personally like trying different things so opted to get four starters plus garlic bread to share. We opted for:-
Gamberoni Al Limone
(King Prawns with lemon juice, garlic and white wine sauce) £8:50p
Fritto di Calamari
(Deep fried squid served with garlic mayo and salad) £6:95p
Polpette al Pomodoro
(Homemade meatballs cooked in a tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese) £6:50p
Alette di Pollo
(Grilled chicken wings in a spicy tomato and garlic sauce) £5:80p
Garlic pizza bread £4:50p
House red wine £12:99p
When the food arrived, everything looked and smelled delicious-as it tasted. There was just about enough room on the table to fit everything on. All the dished arrived on small hot pans which was brilliant to keep the food warm. If the wine in our glasses was empty, there was always a waitress on hand to top the glasses up.
Conclusion:-
The food is actually amazing. Very tasty, very filling and very moreish. The service was fantastic with the staff not continuously asking us if we were OK which can get quite annoying. They were polite, friendly and seemed very genuine. If I had to say anything negative it would just be that you cannot help but feel involved in other peoples conversations as the tables are so close together and that the restaurant closes at 10:30pm. But these are not major points at all!
Genuine Italian food.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone.
Tuesday 6 December 2016
Mowgli
Restaurant name:- Mowgli (Indian street food)
Location:- The Corn Exchange
Date/Time:- 5th December 2016/12:45pm
Atmosphere 6/10
Hygiene 9/10
Price 6/10
Service 5/10
Taste 5/10
OVERALL 6/10
The first thing that drew me towards Mowgli was the amazing aroma. There are numerous restaurants in The Corn Exchange and originally not knowing where I wanted to go, I let my nose guide me once I entered The Corn Exchange. We were greeted by a very polite gentleman who after giving us the menus, advised us that it would be better for us to get maybe three or four dishes each as the dishes were like "tapas" and quite small. I thought that it was strange to mention "tapas" at a restaurant that prides itself on serving "Indian street food" and when a waitress took our order ten minutes later she also said the exact same thing. Very polite staff but strange they mentioned "tapas" when if they're going for the Indian experience, they could have said "thali" and maybe describe what that was to people who may not know.
I noticed that the surroundings were very nice and clean. they have ropes which separate the tables from each other and ghee pots to hold the cutlery. I was hoping that they didn't use ghee in the cooking as it is very bad for you! I liked the surroundings but thought that it was a bit odd as the tables and chairs along with the bar area were very modern but then they had ghee pots...
The toilets were very clean. I did notice that the toilet check sheet dated back to November however the toilets had visibly been cleaned so that is just a minor thing that I noticed.
We ordered:-
Maas (Ma means mother) Lamb chops and turmeric chips £7:25p
Agra ginger chicken £5:25p
Aunty Geetas' Prawn curry £6:95p
Elephant atta roti (Flatbread) £1:50p (for two)
Mowgli basmati rice £2:50p
Coke £1:90p (each)
The first bit of food didn't take too long at all. The lamb chops. We had two small metallic plates given to us which again I thought was strange as they had full cutlery. Only half going for the Indian experience it seemed but the main thing now was to see how the food tastes. The lamb chops weren't a starter but it was about five minutes later when the rest of the food arrived. On eating the lamb chops and turmeric chips, I noticed that they weren't piping hot. They tasted good with the lamb having a lovely char-grilled edge to them however I was a bit disappointed that it didn't come piping hot and was just warm-it did cross my mind to send them back but I didn't.
The rest of the food arrived served in metal pots which was a nice touch but again, strange to have posh restaurant type cutlery. All this food was piping hot. I tasted the chicken-it was nice but I did not notice any ginger in it whatsoever-it was more tomato and not much else. The prawn curry (which I would bet my last chapatti on that it wasn't actually made by anyone called "Geeta") had a LOT of peas in it. As told, the dishes were indeed small and for such a small dish to have so many peas in it, just made it taste very sweet. If that is what they were going for then they succeeded however I think they should state that it was going to be sweet.
Lastly, the rotis tasted fine but were too small. We were only offered the normal menu. They do currently have a Christmas menu, a vegan menu and a gluten free menu.
After we finished the food, we waited an eternity for the bill. No dessert or anything else was offered. I really thought that this let the service down a lot. being so pleasant on arrival but then after the food we were almost an afterthought. They only came to charge the bill when we got up to leave.
CONCLUSION:- The Mowgli website states that it was "built to house the handful of dishes to which many Indians are addicted" and that it "represents the way Indians eat in the privacy of their homes and on the street" however I can safely say that this is a VERY inaccurate description as my own family/relatives do not eat like this and I do not know any that do. The food was not as good as I thought it would be and the service was really great at first but then deteriorated. And it seemed like they were not fully going for the taste of Indian food or atmosphere. The music was normal pop music which only added to the strange mix of things. I also had to laugh when a gentleman behind me sated to a member of staff that "the food was comparable" to when he was in India-I'm assuming he stayed in a tourist resort and I really wanted to ask "Was it that bland?" For just under £30, for two of us, the price wasn't that bad and the seating area was really nice, however if you want to taste better Indian food-there are most probably far better places.
Location:- The Corn Exchange
Date/Time:- 5th December 2016/12:45pm
Atmosphere 6/10
Hygiene 9/10
Price 6/10
Service 5/10
Taste 5/10
OVERALL 6/10
The first thing that drew me towards Mowgli was the amazing aroma. There are numerous restaurants in The Corn Exchange and originally not knowing where I wanted to go, I let my nose guide me once I entered The Corn Exchange. We were greeted by a very polite gentleman who after giving us the menus, advised us that it would be better for us to get maybe three or four dishes each as the dishes were like "tapas" and quite small. I thought that it was strange to mention "tapas" at a restaurant that prides itself on serving "Indian street food" and when a waitress took our order ten minutes later she also said the exact same thing. Very polite staff but strange they mentioned "tapas" when if they're going for the Indian experience, they could have said "thali" and maybe describe what that was to people who may not know.
I noticed that the surroundings were very nice and clean. they have ropes which separate the tables from each other and ghee pots to hold the cutlery. I was hoping that they didn't use ghee in the cooking as it is very bad for you! I liked the surroundings but thought that it was a bit odd as the tables and chairs along with the bar area were very modern but then they had ghee pots...
The toilets were very clean. I did notice that the toilet check sheet dated back to November however the toilets had visibly been cleaned so that is just a minor thing that I noticed.
We ordered:-
Maas (Ma means mother) Lamb chops and turmeric chips £7:25p
Agra ginger chicken £5:25p
Aunty Geetas' Prawn curry £6:95p
Elephant atta roti (Flatbread) £1:50p (for two)
Mowgli basmati rice £2:50p
Coke £1:90p (each)
The first bit of food didn't take too long at all. The lamb chops. We had two small metallic plates given to us which again I thought was strange as they had full cutlery. Only half going for the Indian experience it seemed but the main thing now was to see how the food tastes. The lamb chops weren't a starter but it was about five minutes later when the rest of the food arrived. On eating the lamb chops and turmeric chips, I noticed that they weren't piping hot. They tasted good with the lamb having a lovely char-grilled edge to them however I was a bit disappointed that it didn't come piping hot and was just warm-it did cross my mind to send them back but I didn't.
The rest of the food arrived served in metal pots which was a nice touch but again, strange to have posh restaurant type cutlery. All this food was piping hot. I tasted the chicken-it was nice but I did not notice any ginger in it whatsoever-it was more tomato and not much else. The prawn curry (which I would bet my last chapatti on that it wasn't actually made by anyone called "Geeta") had a LOT of peas in it. As told, the dishes were indeed small and for such a small dish to have so many peas in it, just made it taste very sweet. If that is what they were going for then they succeeded however I think they should state that it was going to be sweet.
Lastly, the rotis tasted fine but were too small. We were only offered the normal menu. They do currently have a Christmas menu, a vegan menu and a gluten free menu.
After we finished the food, we waited an eternity for the bill. No dessert or anything else was offered. I really thought that this let the service down a lot. being so pleasant on arrival but then after the food we were almost an afterthought. They only came to charge the bill when we got up to leave.
CONCLUSION:- The Mowgli website states that it was "built to house the handful of dishes to which many Indians are addicted" and that it "represents the way Indians eat in the privacy of their homes and on the street" however I can safely say that this is a VERY inaccurate description as my own family/relatives do not eat like this and I do not know any that do. The food was not as good as I thought it would be and the service was really great at first but then deteriorated. And it seemed like they were not fully going for the taste of Indian food or atmosphere. The music was normal pop music which only added to the strange mix of things. I also had to laugh when a gentleman behind me sated to a member of staff that "the food was comparable" to when he was in India-I'm assuming he stayed in a tourist resort and I really wanted to ask "Was it that bland?" For just under £30, for two of us, the price wasn't that bad and the seating area was really nice, however if you want to taste better Indian food-there are most probably far better places.
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