Grenache - Walkden, Salford

From the outside you’d be forgiven for walking past Grenache and just passing it off as another little neighbourhood place with outdated dishes and staid ingredients; but if you did walk you’d be missing a trick. Give this neighbourhood place a try and you'll be wishing your local streets had a little gem like this.

Located on a back street in the area of Salford known as Walkden, Grenache is a small place with a lot of attitude - they recently won The Good Food Guide's Best North West Restaurant and have a new chef at the helm who's got some big ideas. Couple this with the big personality of the owner and a friendly front of house team you know it's not just the Good Food guide that's going to be throwing accolades their way.

Grenache - small and surprising thanks to Phil Taylor Photos

As I was dining on my own (sob sob) I asked the kitchen to send me our their favourite dishes - I was keen to see what their new chef, Mike Jennings, had been concocting. First out was a light as air smoked haddock ball – full of fish, slightly smoky and matched brilliantly with a mustardy piccalilli on the side (a smooth piccalilli, controversial, but much better for dipping).

Big salty ball

Then the biggest scallops I have ever seen – placed on a bed of avocado, radish and fennel; I was a little sceptical of the match, but the chef has obviously thought this through a great deal as it was served with a bloody mary jelly that brought the whole dish together - cutting down but also being calmed down by the avocado and scallop, with a crunchy freshness from the radish and fennel. Could have done with a little less tabasco as I began to loose the sweetness of the scallop, but still an inspired dish.

Bigger scallops

Another dish that surprised was the mackerel with goats cheese – I’m one of those old fashioned people who doesn’t like to pair fish and cheese, but again each constituent part of the dish played out in harmony. The lightly baked fish was cut through by the slight sharpness of the cheese and mandarin – the wafer thin beetroot provided an earthy undernote, but the whole dish was kept light and fresh; delicious on a humid evening.

Surprising makeral

Next out was the softest, most succulent and massive piece of lamb I’ve eaten in a long time. The spice crust wasn't over powering, just warm and smoky playing into the subtle sweetness of the lamb and adding a delightful crunch to a dish that could otherwise be over soft. Ensuring there was a lightness about the lamb and lentils, a salad of carrot and creme fraishe was a welcome addition to the plate rather than a boring garnish as you find in many places.

Smoky, sweet lamb and lentils

Having ensured after all that food I had room left for pudding (I’m a girl, we have another stomach for puddings. Fact.) I was then surprised with a pudding amuse bouche – a light little brownie with divine candied orange peel. And then the main event; I was talked in to the panna cotta because it was lavender – I hate panna cotta, but this was edible in a big way. The merest hint of lavender combined with the floral notes in the sweet slivers of strawberries, the berries adding a slight tartness that the dish needed to stop it becoming over-powering.

Perfectly perfumed panna cotta

Grenache really is a super surprise – given the décor is a little Homebase and the music needs an overhaul, but for food and service you can't fault it. A few little tweaks here are there and this will definitely be an award winning destination.

Ps try the homemade focaccia - the best I've had in Manchester.

Price for all the above food – £35.65

Food – 9/10
Service – 9/10
Atmosphere – 8/10 (one knocked off for the awful music)
Value for money – 10/10 (the portions are VERY healthy and you get two amuse bouche AND homemade bread)

Total – 36/40

Go back? Yes definitely – I want to see Mike grows as a chef and how the food develops, plus I had a bloody good time so will be back!

Please note the restaurant knew I was there and my meal was free, however I am under no obligation to write nice things and all views are my own.

Grenache, 15 Bridgewater Road, Walkden, Salford M28 3JE - 0161 799 8181 - Twitter

Grenache - Walkden, Salford

Small, high street restaurants can be a gamble; much loved by regulars they never have to change the menu, busy because they're convenient but that's all they have going for them, or ghostly vestiges hanging on with dated curtains and dead flies on the windowsills.

Grenache in Walkden is a little high street affair; sitting off the main street in a quiet residential area, it's not much to look at from the outside. We stepped inside to a warm welcome from the proprietor and were ushered into the tightly spaced dining room.

Grenache, not much to look at - with thanks to localdatasearch.com

Grenache has been quietly making a name for itself lately and we were here to see what the fuss was about whilst celebrating a friend's birthday. The menu is pretty standard; a mix of modern British, bistro classics and Mediterranean influences. Some of the dishes we spied coming out of the kitchen looked a little dated and clunky (the salmon and the steak). But we were not to be disappointed when our dishes arrived.

Initially we were treated to a canape of feta omelette - cute little circles of well seasoned eggs on top of a sharp and salty middle. Canapes were not something we had expected - the decor and pricing suggesting family bistro, not fine dining.

Itsy, bitsy, little salty feta omlette bites

Lamb skewers were dainty, soft and charred on the outside, brushed with a moreish mint sauce - the cous cous; under seasoned and tasteless didn't add anything to dish, but nothing else was needed thanks to the exceptional lamb. The game terrine, again beautiful, fell short of the high precedent set by the lamb; a nice enough dish and beautifully set out, but the lumps of unidentified game were dry and lost in the strong liver pate that surrounded it.

Lamb skewers with the fab mint sauce

Choosing off the early bird menu (before 6.30pm on a Sat) I had felt somewhat disappointed with the choices for the mains;  but thankfully was surprised when my dish came out. Juicy pork loin was thinly sliced and covered in a thin, smokey, sweetly spicy layer of paprika - not enough to be overpowering, but enough to perk up what could have been a very boring but very well-cooked piece of meat. A red-wine poached pear cut through the sweetness of the meat and the crispy sage leaves added texture that could have otherwise been missing. The boy's duck with cherries and our friends' lamb dishes displayed the kitchen's knack at getting the meat just right, coupled with well thought out accents to liven up standard fare.

Pork and poached pear

Another surprise was awaiting - this time a sweet canape. Not something I have experienced elsewhere and a lovely, caring gesture that was all the better for being great; a buttery, melt in the mouth star shaped shortbread with a raspberry on top.

Sweet canapes - an ace idea!

My pudding of chocolate torte was cleverly jazzed up with shards of caramel and crushed pistachios - a dence chocolaty slab of decadence; no fine dining, pastry chef creation - just an honest and well made pudding. Spotted dick was warm and comforting; tending to our primal, nursery needs - but weirdly served with a very watery, almost stone cold creme anglais. When we mentioned this to the proprietor he testified that this is how creme anglais is served - really, what about it being able to coat the back of a spoon? You don't pull the wool over Nosh's eyes that easily! (Either it was porkies or I'm seriously worried at the level of food knowledge here; judging from the rest of the menu I'm going with porkies).

How big is this serving? (ashamed to say I scoffed the lot!)

Apart from the odd custard slip up, the service couldn't be faulted - we were well looked after and made to feel very welcome. Our complaint of feeling a little cold was met with the immediate rustling up of a floor fan, turning up the overhead heater and a fiver off our bill. Tables are a little squeezed in, sometimes giving you a feeling of having people on top of you - but it made for good atmosphere and for  spying on other guests' food.

Grenache isn't going to win any awards for gastronomic brilliance or cutting-edge cookery with boundary crossing ingredients and I take a little offence to being told obvious porkies about the creme anglais; however it's a place where you can be sure of a pretty good meal and some very good portion sizes. The fact it's slightly out of Manchester means the pricing's pretty good too.

Price for two starters, three mains, two puddings off the a la carte, plus a three course decadence menu and drinks: £108.80

Food - 7/10
Atmosphere - 7/10 (one knocked off for the cold)
Service - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10

Total - 29/40

Go again? Yes I would if I was in the area, though there's more exciting places on my list to try.

Grenache, 15 Bridgewater Road, Walkden, Manchester M28 3JE - 0161 799 8181 - info@grenacherestaurant.co.uk

http://www.grenachrestaurant.co.uk/

The Mark Addy - Salford

A great meal is not usually preceded by "Ergh, you're not going there are you?!" Which was the comment we received from the boy's boss in the pub just before I popped down to The Mark Addy on the Salford/Manchester boarder.

Thankfully it's been a few years since the boss has been there and in that time Robert Owen Brown has taken over as Head Chef and brought the menu bang up to date in line with the modern homage to various bits of animals that used to be detained for poor northern tables, locally sourced produce and sustainable fish.

Robert Owen Brown - with thanks to Citylife

I'm not going to wax lyrical about how Robert Owen Brown and Fergus Henderson (of St Johns fame) are best buddies as a) it's pretty apparent in the menu and b) Jay Rayner did such an excellent job of explaining it in his blog that you can read it there and I'll save on word count.

We'd booked an 8pm table at the Mark Addy and were shown to a large circle table in the middle of the restaurant, unfortunately we weren't next to the window overlooking the canal, but we could still see the murky waters swirling past.

Mark Addy interior -with thanks to guardian.co.uk

The restaurant is very 1970s (not much they can do to change it - see referenced JR blog); but has lovely exposed vaulted ceilings, the aforementioned broody views of the waters and an open fronted kitchen to have a look at Robert Owen Brown doing his thing.

Unfortunately when we visited his 'thing' seemed to be very slow and a little off kilter, which was further hampered by very slow waiting staff (although they were very lovely to be fair).

To start we ordered half a dozen natives on the half shell. Seeing as we had only ordered oysters it took a full 40 minutes from the order taking until the dish came out. If I hadn't been involved in a long overdue catch up with old friends and the fact that, try as I might, I couldn't catch a member of staff's eye, I would have said something. It may have take a long time to come out, but the dish of oysters were so spanking fresh it was almost worth it.

Oysters on the half shell - spanking fresh!

The Mark Addy's menu has some unusual items and it was two of these dishes that were the stars of the starters (after a further 25 min wait after the oysters). A simple dish of Leagram's day old curd on crumpet looked simple - almost too much cheese on a crumpet with a little balsamic drizzle. However simplicity, in this case, was genius - the sharp, creamy curd softened by the buttery crumpet and offset brilliantly by the sweet and sticky drizzle. The crumpet expertly toasted to be slightly crunchy, contrasting with the soft curd and adding texture to what could have been a boring or overly soft dish.

Curd on crumpet - simplicity and genius

Another simple but genius dish was the daily special of razor clams. The clams arrived in the shell, simply cooked with garlic, butter and a little parsley. The clams were well cooked and not chewy at all, unlike clams I've had elsewhere. The garlic butter was simplicity itself, but set off the sweet flesh and let the freshness of the produce shine through.

Razor clams

After a long wait (again) the mains came out from the kitchen and looked great. Whilst everyone else was served I was left without a meal. In time a member of staff arrived to explain that chef had 'inadvertantly' sent my rabbit to another table and 'unfortunately' it was the last rabbit in the house and would I please choose something else?

I chose bone marrow - none left, pork belly - none left, whiff - none left etc etc. I was left in a quandary - I didn't want something heavy, I don't like suet or batter and I wanted something a bit lighter. In the end I had to choose the monkfish cheeks off the specials. Seeing as most of the dishes I was asking for as replacement were off the mains menu, I was surprised that The Mark Addy was so understocked and had run out of staple dishes so easily.

Surprising the cheeks managed to be on my table in about five minutes flat from ordering - I'm guessing that my fluffed dish was put on the priority list. The monkfish was good, but unfortunately in the rush to get it out the cheeks were a little undercooked and chewy and the sauce it came with was slightly under seasoned, but the mussels that came out with it were soft, fresh and delicious so there was a saving grace.

(Plus we did get a bottle of wine for free - I did ask if we could have the dish for free instead as I wasn't drinking, this was agreed, but it was the wine that was taken off the bill at the end - it had been such a long meal that I really didn't have the strength to complain).

The other mains were of good quality, the steak had been well hung and was well cooked - an intense beefy flavour shining through and the hoggert was intensely rich with soft and salty root veg to compliment. The posh scouser had managed to get the last portion of sea bass off the specials, which was a lovely dish - the fish succulent and again expertly cooked, displaying the skill that the kitchen possesses when it puts its mind to it.

Sea bass and razor clams

Puddings were ordered and once again we were left waiting - also they didn't reach the pinnacles of the mains/starters. The main highlight was a dark chocolate cup with a divine lavender cream - made off site a waitress informed us. The choux buns made with this season's rhubarb were slightly chewy and a bit lacklustre: on top of this puddings start at £5.25 and I'm against this excessive pudding charging that seems to be going on across gastro pubs and other establishments lately.

Lavender chocolate pot - apparently made off site (v.good shortbread though!)

In all the Mark Addy has the chemistry to be a really great place. The setting is moody and slightly retro, which marries well with the homage to the now fashionable unfashionable cuts of animals and the broody dark waters sloshing past the windows. To be really great the kitchen needs to get it's timings right and needs to employ more dynamic staff - our waiting staff were lovely, but we could never catch their eyes and anything we asked for took an age to arrive or be acted upon.

The food is good and has the potential to be great, it's not expensive (apart from pudding) and the commitment to local, seasonal and quality produce is a approach and is there to see. Robert Owen Brown has a great cooking style and hopefully with a few more tweaks The Mark Addy will put Salford (and Manchester) on the culinary map.

Ps - try the homemade pork scratchings - divine!

Pps - check out the website as they often have events on such as a foraged food night or a tasting menu.

Price for one nibble, six starters, five mains, three puddings and drinks (and a free bottle of wine) - £114.75

Food - 8/10
Atmosphere - 7/10
Service - 6/10
Value for money - 8/10

Total - 29/40

The Mark Addy, Stanley Street, Salford, Manchester M3 5EJ - 0161 832 4080 - info@markaddy.co.uk
http://markaddy.co.uk/ @TheMarkAddy