Restaurant Review

Turlough McNamara visits Britain's 'Coolest City' - Manchester

Mention Manchester to most people and they'll probably think of Coronation Street, grey northern English skies and a world-famous football team they'll either love or hate.
It's certainly not a city that's on many lists of places to visit before you die. Yet, the reality is that Manchester has thrown off its industrial image and if you haven't been there, you're missing out on what many now regard as Britain's coolest city.

While there's plenty of excellent architecture, arts and culture to admire and enjoy, it's the great bars and restaurants that have drawn me back to this city at least as often as the shopping and football though these too are world-class!

For my most recent visit, I travelled with three friends from South East Regional Airport (Waterford) on the thrice-weekly Aer Arann service. From the vast Manchester Airport, it was a quick cab ride to the city centre where we'd accommodation pre-booked at Malmaison in lively Piccadilly.

Located in seven British cities, Malmaison hotels are very stylish and offer spacious individually designed rooms with great big beds and large bathrooms with excellent toiletries. For reservations at Malmaison in Manchester, call 0044 161 278 1000 or email manchester@malmaison.com
Healthy Waterford appetites and some good advice from an old hand brought us to Yang Sing. Opened in 1977, Yang Sing sprawls across several floors and bills itself as the finest Cantonese restaurant in Europe - a title that it might just merit, though my research on this front is not yet complete!

One of the most refreshing aspects of the service is that the waiting team are always happy to seize the initiative by helping you select what suits from their exquisite range of food. On our visit, once it was established that we were happy to make a leap of faith, a long-serving waitress dispensed with the menu and instead guided our group on what we should try. This approach, and the spectacular quality of the dishes, made sure we were perfectly content in what were very comfortable Chinatown surroundings.
Dim Sum is a highlight of the food offering here but based on the spread of food our foursome enjoyed, you could stick a pin in the menu and rest assured that the chefs would come up trumps. As well as meat and poultry standards, there are excellent fish dishes while vegetarians are also well accommodated.

To book a table at Yang Sing, call 0044 161 236 2200 or email info@yang-sing.com If the restaurant is full then you may want to try the offshoot Little Yang Sing on Manchester's George Street. It too offers a well-selected range of authentic Cantonese favourites. For details, call 0044 161 228 7722.

Another Manchester favourite that I'm looking forward to returning to is Restaurant Bar & Grill. What the name here lacks in imagination, the cheerful service and excellent food make up for. The cooking's mainly Mediterranean and fusion in style and the presentation of food is simply superb with each dish a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. For details, call 0044 161 839 1999.

While you might have detected a food obsession here, the shopping's also excellent in Manchester and the city gives crowded London a good run in this regard - not least as everything's so convenient. Some of the stores worth checking out include Paul Smith, Mulberry, Armani, Burberry, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges where a must-visit are the themed food bars in the Food Hall where excellent wines and beers are available by the glass if the shopping's left you parched - oh yes, and there's loads of great food too which is where I came in!

Turlough McNamara is proprietor of Coast Restaurant in Tramore in Co Waterford www.coast.ie