I remember when Erst first opened back in 2019; it was like the second coming.  Everybody adored it and the local media buzz was comparable to the scale of El Bulli's in the early 2000s.  For us though it was all a bit OTT.  Everything was wonderful, it was one of the very best in the UK and could easily hold its own in Shoreditch, etc.  And some of that is correct.  

Anyway, we've always really liked Erst but have just always seen it as what it is.  A very lovely wine driven restaurant, centred around natty juice with a compact, focused, solid quality menu of small and larger plates.  That could be their whole tagline to be fair.  It's the kind of place that every major UK city centre should have two of three of yet sadly doesn’t even have one of in most cases.  Fortunately Manchester does have an Erst.  Anyway, prelude done and dusted.

We landed and after a quick gaze over the comprehensive drinks list eventually picked out a glass of white and also a Negroni.  The week following our visit was actually Negroni week, but when I'm around it's always that week.  And Erst's offering was stellar.  So many get it badly wrong but this was a joy being well balanced, generous in pour, with a slowly melting and suitably huge ice cube.  Simple perfection really.

Our appetites were whet by a couple of quality Gilda's (£3 each); a staple that Ill order anywhere that they are on the menu whether Im in Bilbao or Blackpool.  It doesn’t matter. If they are about then they're getting eaten.  Erst's, despite gazing at me intently, were divine.  Again, as per the Negroni; simply done, three elements, all three being class, well put together and just worked.

A pair of Porthilly Oysters (£4 each) followed.   Served with Mignonette, they brought the wave of salinity and freshness that only a solid quality oyster can.  They could have been a bit more plump in size but were still undoubtedly delicious.   These were left off the bill.  Im not sure if that’s because we were spotted, or if our server just forgot to put them through, but either way, thank you.

Next was something that you simply need to order when at Erst, a flatbread.  We went with the one topped with Beef Fat and Urfa Chilli (£8).  I'm not quite sure why the word 'flat' is used as they are more like mini loaves, with substantial rise and crumb structure.  Either way, these are beyond lovely and warrant visiting Erst for in their own right.

Another Erst icon is their Beetroot with Ajo Blanco (£13), which is another reliably delicious course which has rightfully earned its place on the menu since forever.  Paired with the above flatbread, I can't think of many better dish tag-teams anywhere in the city to be honest.

A glass of wine followed, this time a red, in preparation for the main course/s which were about to make their way from the kitchen to us.   This time a lovely Chiara Condello Sangiovese which hit above its 7 quid a glass price tag.  Smoke, oak, chocolate and a touch of coffee too.  It was almost as if it was made to pair with a nice rich dish of pasta.

Which as it happens was our next course.  Textbook Fazzoletti (£17) with courgette in a wonderfully deft sauce, topped with a generous scatter of hazelnut pangrattato for both texture and seasoning, completed the plate.  This was just really good on any metric that could be applied. 

But the true headline dish as Erst's Hogget Chop (£35).  Superb quality protein which was clearly treated well when it was alive, carried huge flavour and was cooked like a dream too. The fat was also nothing short of spectacular, served with a nice caponata which formed a complete plate, as is often neglected on such generous sharing cuts of protein.

To end, a Peach Galette (£10) did the job and it was alright.  Nowt special, just a pleasant enough bit of sugar to end things on, since as a restaurant you're obliged to provide a pudding option even if it's probably made by somebody who couldn’t care much about pastry work.  I'm a pastry obsessive but also a realist and never expect anything else in most places really.   It just is what it is. 

We spent a bit of sobremesa as the Spanish call it, or table blocking as us Brits call it, chatting away after lunch feeling happy that Erst is still a clear favourite amidst a busy Friday lunch-service dining room.  It's tough times at the moment, with more and more venues despite closures, vying for love from same number of willing and able customers.  The strongest survive, and Erst are still clearly doing a great job.

Two neighbouring tables who didn’t know each other, rather than enjoying lunch with their other halves instead struck up a conversation lasting their whole lunches.  A truly Northern phenomenon which even as a middle-aged Bury lad, more than puzzles me.  We heard 'Well this place is knocking on the Michelin Star door', whilst saying negative things about both Mana and Skof despite seemingly never having visited either.  Surreal logic.  I just sat there, hoping that they didn’t try to pull our table into their patter as to avoid us just sitting there, saying little and merely smiling/nodding, in favour of an awkward conversation re. what we do for a living and that we disagree with their self-gratifying opinions entirely. 

So yeah, Erst is great but it's not 'that' kind of restaurant at all, nor is it their intention to be one, as touched on at the very start of this piece.  And that's fine because quite often you don’t want your favourite/regular places to be that at all.  It's the kind of place that you'd happily visit once a month and never get fed up with, and nor would your bank manager.  There can be no doubt that Erst is indeed one of Manchester's favourites in general, for many good reasons. 

Clean, tidy, welcoming, with the usual tall ceilings sported by most of the street level units in Ancoats.  There’s no doubting at all that it’s a welcoming space in a very curb-appealing corner unit, housed at one of the city’s most hospo-led postcodes.  Once inside, it’s suitably bustling yet far from being rowdy.  There’s seating for about 20 covers, with a few more seats at the bar so is a fairly compact space.

The chairs didn’t suit my backside sadly, as much as Im sure that most people would be fine. So we were moved to a bench seat instead, which is fine since it was coincidentally also a window seat.

Small plated gaffs often lead to bills quietly stacking up once you start exploring the menu like a dedicated professional.  We were pleasantly surprised here though, as most plates came in at a stellar £8, with the pricier proteined ones pitched around double that.

The whole bill for 8 plates and 6 small glasses, was £105, and we happily added 15% as service was tip top, and no service charge was added; oddly these days.

Wine markups run at around the x4 RRP level in places, so a bit lofty. But then you pay for the little red sticker that’s sitting in the window, plus eating out is generally more expensive than it was, so it is what it is.

Other than that, on balance, not very much to write home about at all and pricing is more than fair all things considered.

Having recently placed a lofty 54th in the National Restaurant Awards; higher than any other Manchester venue, it’s an indication that Erst is now on the radar of people well beyond Ancoats. In further evidence of that, William Sitwell was in attendance on the same weekend as us and has already published his 4 out of 5 review since he’s far more professional than me. He had 2 hours to kill on the train back to Euston after eating, whereas I went to drink more wine.

Small plates are the vibe here, and the menu is assembled with care, precision, and variety. All options are covered and it wasn’t remotely taxing to find something which appealed, largely because we happily ordered most of the menu.

Wine is all low intervention/natty; a subject which continues to divide opinion. Some instinctively snare a super traditionally produced Gran Reserva Rioja, whilst others prefer to instead seek out an Orange Welsh Albarino with a funky label and bottle top covering. Our view on it all is very simple though; some low intervention wine is 100% foul, and some is 100% delicious, just like more traditional wine. So explore, drink the ones that you enjoy, and don’t drink the ones which you don’t. But appreciate it all for what it is.

6 non sparkling wines by the glass were on offer, so clearly we ordered them all. Each and every one was good quality, well thought out, enjoyable, and fitted the small plates in play ideally.

Gordal Olives (£4) were as fat, plump and juicy as their name already states that they would be. The all-important brine was superb, laced with sliced guindillas for a bit of Scoville bite. A simple, ubiquitous snack to get things rolling.

Mozzarella with peas and broad beans (£10) were light, fresh and bright, tied together with a simple yet precise dressing. Quality produce was the usual key to success here. Some Microplaned hard cheese finished the plate with a dab of lightness and visual appeal.

Foccacia (£3) was absolutely textbook. Laden with high quality olive oil, the perfect bake and the right amount of salt. Everything you expect of a good focaccia made by people with a Trove Bakery link.

Artichoke (£8) was a novel way to present the veg, as a whole, leaving the diner to pick off the leaves, dip them in superb vinaigrette, and then strip off the flesh with your incisors.

Beetroot, ajo blanco and green chilli (£8) was the best looking plate of the evening; with great colour contrast and equally as good flavour balance. Sweet, fat, spicy, rich, acidic, all layered atop each other, with more great produce being the backbone of it all. Quite possibly our favourite full course of the night.

Flatbread with beef fat (£5) was more baking bliss. Light as a feather with perfect char marks from the unmistakable open grill. One of the best flatbreads that we’d had in a very long time, and we eat a lot of bread.

Beef Onglet (£17) was our main course. A cheap cut which is stunning in both flavour and texture if treated properly. Some lovely roasted potatoes and a punchy pesto with suitable acid levels for such a rich plate, finished the dish.

Chocolate Sorbet (£7) was a simple finisher; big chocolate flavour served pre-plated directly from the freezer, topped with some olive oil for a dash of texture and richness.

The Artichoke; now only a week prior, we’d eaten another whole artichoke at a legendary Istanbul eatery called Ciya Sofrasi, who are likely to snag a Michelin Assiette as per the one which Erst already have, when the guide launches over there in October. Their whole ‘choke was brined, the very top removed, the heart scooped out, and the whole thing refilled with rice, spices and other bejewelling goodies. It was just more complete, ultimately more interesting, and the leaves contained way more flesh than the variant which we consumed at Erst. Sadly, you can’t help but compare dishes which are so fundamentally similar as that’s how you learn and how your standards are formed. That’s especially true when you’ve eaten them so closely apart, and was the case here hence you feel let down by the lesser variant.

Our Onglet was sadly a bit of a let-down too, especially as it was our main plate. Sure, it’s a cheaper cut and hence a bit chewier than some of the premium ones. That’s compensated for in flavour though, and when cooked perfectly and treated with the suitable love, the toughness subsides somewhat. Sadly not here. The big smoky beefy flavour was there, but the excessive chew also followed. The table next to us also ordered it, and in the name of fairness before staying this publicly, we observed them also spending a while chewing.

Lastly, the chocolate sorbet; pre plating it felt lazy and dull. The sorbet itself was also very cocoa-grainy too, and looked pretty drab. Generally it lacked an awful lot for an Assiette level pudding. Even just a quick Microplane of some dark or even white chocolate for some colour contrast, or a coarser grate for some textural variety? A very flat way to end. You’d expect better puds/pastry from people of the excellent Trove bakery family in all honesty.

Both of the gents who looked after us during service were superbly friendly and helpful, catering for us in every possible way.

One of them spotted my abovementioned chair discomfort without any prompting, so offered to move us to a bench seat. Our no doubt annoying requests to photograph/Vivino the wine bottles from our by-the-glass tipples, were presented with a smile and nothing was too much hassle for the team.

Not much.  Could some posher plates help lift the whole food-package?  I felt stunned; sitting in trendy Ancoats eating off plain white vessels.  No stonecast/IG-friendly plates anywhere in sight. A brolly stand would have come in handy on the night too, based on where we are in the country.  Nit picking for sure there though.

Erst has quickly become one of Manchester’s go to destinations, and was 100% our first notable small plate and L.I. wine destination.  In the process, they received Michelin’s backing via that Assiette, which instantly puts it on the go to map for people who seek out easy to find food spots.  The same people and will probably eat at Erst for lunch whilst they are also in town to eat just down the road for dinner; if you know what I mean.

There’s clear quality here, we had a great time and wouldn’t hesitate to send people to Erst should they be seeking out a spot for those natty wines and small plates.  It’s up there with some of the best in the city for such things, no question.  The Ancoats postcode also helps with all that too.

But; the term ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ often comes to mind when describing many places in Mcr, as we do tend to get a bit self-protective and big ourselves up more than is often warranted with our bee-tinted glasses. Some places are seemingly immune to any balanced critique or honestly educated opinions at all. You just never hear a bad or even neutral word about certain venues in our great city. Whilst I like that in terms of supporting each other and being positive, it’s also a bit silly in the eyes of somebody who’s all about raising standards in a polite way, and understands that improvement is based on being honest about things which can actually be bettered. You get nowhere by choosing not to see what’s there, or perhaps even what isn’t. Erst doesn’t quite deserve the Emperor’s New Clothes tag though as it can hold it’s own as a very solid casual place to eat, but you do feel that positive things are often amplified here.

54th in the list of the nation’s best restaurants? A lofty 4/5 from a well-eaten and well-seasoned Mr Sitwell, despite finding several issues himself? It’s just a bit OTT for me, and as per our own scoresheet, a 4/5 should reflect a great experience, not just a very good one as per here.