Damson MediaCityUK |
|
MediaCityUK, Orange Building, Salford, M50 2EQ [map] |
Excellent British fine dining restaurant in Media City, next to The Lowry and Old Trafford. Opened Jan 2013 |
|
|
|
|
Damson Media City Manchester ~ overall readers' reviews |
food |
price |
service |
smartness |
overall: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
most popular dish: Breast of Gressingham Corn Fed Duck (£19.95) |
|
|
Damson Media City Salford Quays ~ our review |
Champions League Standard Dining (Oct 2013)
|
"So, restaurant four of our 15 in seven day challenge and it was on the tram for the 15 minute journey to Media City for a pre-match meal before heading over the footbridge to Old Trafford for a Champions League match. Entering a side entrance to the ITV Studios and climbing some stairs above Prezzo, you enter the bright glass-walled Damson restaurant with great views over Media City, The Imperial War Museum and The Lowry – a fantastic panorama and arguably one of the best in the region.
An acoustic pop soundtrack featuring the likes of Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz adds to the ambience whilst the staff are notably friendly with the owner, Steve Pilling, the man behind Damson’s acclaimed older sister in Heaton Moor and previously Sam’s & Mr Thomas’s Chop Houses, mucking in and serving customers without giving any indication he’s the big boss.
We chose dishes from both the A La Carte Menu and the Set Menu, which is aimed at the pre-theatre/pre-match crowd with The Lowry next door and Manchester United just over the footbridge. At two courses for £16.95 or three for £19.95, this is incredible value.
|
|
|
|
|
It should be pointed out that away from the excellent Set Menu, which is available Monday to Saturday 12pm - 2.45pm and 5pm - 6.30pm, prices are not cheap. Starters average £8.50, mains at £20 (plus £3.50 for sides) and desserts at £7.95.
This is in stark contrast to the wine menu, which is incredibly good value for money, as are beers with Kaltenberg at £4 a pint or San Miguel at £3.50 a bottle. Cocktails aren't cheap though, setting you back between £8.95 and £9.95, which is a lot more than you'd pay at some of the award-winning places in town. |
|
|
Talking of the wine list; it's incredibly impressive and offers grapes from around the world. The preamble in the menu states “There are 10,000 known grape varieties that can be used to make wine, although the French authorities only list 200 of commercial significance.” Damson offer 74 of these, 19 by the glass.
You can even choose three award-winning fines wines by the glass, including the only Rioja served at El Bulli, the Rioja Reserva Valenciso 2006 (£10 per glass), or the hand crafted white burgundy, Meursault Premier Cru ‘Les Perrières’ Vallet Frères 2008 (£25 per glass).
The house Champagne for many Michelin Star restaurants in France, Champagne Lallier Grand Cru Grande Reserve Brut, is just £7.99 a glass.
Away from the fine wines, the rest of the menu is also reasonable value, starting at just £15.95 for a 2011 Sicilian Ca’ di Ponti Catarratto or a Nero D’Avola (£5 in the shops), with a further 40 bins less than £25. As a comparison, the reliable 2010 Pouilly Fume, Domaine la Renardiere, Sauvignon Blanc at £29.95, is a whopping £47 in Michael Caines (generally £15 in the shops). |
|
|
|
|
There was no amuse bouche on our visit, which was surprising given the technical nature of the dishes that followed. That said, the bread was fantastic, as were the starters. The whole meal consisted of some of the best looking dishes we’ve had in Manchester during a week of visiting 15 top restaurants.
The delicious Slow Roasted Onion Squash with Goats Cheese Pannacotta, wild mushroom, macerated grapes and candied hazelnuts on the Set Menu was the same size as those on the A La Carte Menu, of which the Salad Of Mr Ashcroft’s Mixed Beetroots with Goats Cheese Moose (£7.95) was described as “to die for”. Served with pickled Thai shallots, candied walnuts (which seem to be everywhere we’ve visited this week), pickled apples and pain d’epice crumb, this was cooking at the highest level.
The Tuna Tartare (£6.95) was also excellent whilst the Roasted Breast, Club Sandwich & Fried Quail Egg (£8.95) was beautiful but little more than a mouthful.
|
|
|
The main courses continued the wow factor. Steve Pilling and chef-partner Simon Stanley may have left Sam's and Mr Thomas's Chop Houses behind but the dishes prove they haven't lost their ability to source the finest meats. In fact, Steve later explained to us, whilst showing around an incredible eco-friendly kitchen, that Damson actually have an in house butcher, who produces incredible stock and sauces on site. These were especially apparent in the the Breast of Gressingham Corn Fed Duck (£19.95), which was excellent.
Served with wild mushrooms, green beans and parmentier potatoes, spiced butternut squash puree, white
truffle oil and sherry vinegar, with port wine sauce, the flavours were incredible.
The Grilled Cod Loin (£18.95) was equally good. Accompanied by provencale crumbed mussels, kalamata olive tapenade, butternut squash, baby
spinach, girolles with parsley and garlic and sauce bois bourdain, you can understand the high price tag, given the number of quality ingredients.
The 28 Day Aged Fillet Steak (£25.95) with dauphinoise potato, roasted onion puree,
Portobello mushrooms, spinach & onion rings in a red wine sauce, was the only disappointment. Whilst still beautiful, it was served Medium Rare when Medium had been requested. |
|
|
|
|
Obviously such a mistake could have easily been rectified and the excellent waiter would have no doubt bent over backwards to correct it, however we were slightly in a rush to get to the match and, by now, we had one grumpy diner, already upset by the miniscule size of his Quail starter.
Desserts more than made up for the disappointment. These have to be some of the best dishes available in Manchester, even if the Dark Chocolate Mousse (£6.95) with its amaretti biscuit, griottine cherries, amaretto jelly and coffee ice cream did look like "a cow ball on a bed of cattle shed brush ups" as one of our Facebook followers kindly put it when we uploaded the photo.
The Baked Cheesecake (£8.95) with citrus doughnuts, kiwi granita, strawberry gel and lime curd was also worthy of note, continuing to showcase the skills of the talented kitchen." - restaurants of manchester - 23/10/13 (visited on a Wednesday lunchtime)
|
|
|
All in all, Damson at Media City is a fantastic restaurant and, of the 15 we visited in our week long project, was the one that left us most pleasantly surprised. Of course, we're fully familiar with its multi-award winning sister in Heaton Moor, however we'd go as far as saying that Messrs Pilling and Stanley have taken their admirable talents up a notch with the 140 cover restaurant in Media City.
As we paid the bill (on which service charge wasn't automatically included), we noticed other smartly-dressed diners also doing the same, ahead of their short walk across the water to the bright lights of Old Trafford. There was a few famous faces and notable big company bosses amongst them. With the BBC located next door, you can't help but feel that the restaurant will become the regular haunt for many media executives. Damson should definitely help quash some of the nonsense that was quoted about their relocation from London." - restaurants of manchester - 23/10/13 (visited on a Wednesday evening)
|
|
|
|
food |
price |
service |
smartness |
overall |
|
|
|
|
|
"beautiful" |
"expensive a la carte" |
"friendly" |
"great views" |
"a pleasant surprise" |
|
|
Damson MediaCityUK ~ members' reviews |
"No reviews submitted in past 12 months." - Submit your review below |
|
Submit a Review of Damson Media City Manchester |
To submit a review of the Damson Salford Quays, you must be a Pride Of Manchester member... |
Not yet a Member? |
Pride Of Manchester members receive weekly... |
~ Exclusive restaurant offers (including 2 for 1 deals) |
~ Exclusive theatre offers (including many 2 for 1 deals) |
~ Exclusive bar offers (including many 2 for 1 deals) |
~ The latest news of what's on in Manchester (new concerts to be announced, comedy shows, cinema releases and pre-sale info) |
We promise never to share your info with anyone else and you can manage your subscription at any point. |
|
|
|
|
|