Saturday 26th January 2013. The atmosphere in the bar upstairs and the restaurant below, still retained the feeling that you were in a bank, it was very austere really, more like a gentlemans club/ library, and this was a saturday afternoon but it had a hushed feeling about it. I think that it takes more than a few armchairs and red tea lights, to make a place warm and inviting.
The food, considering its being marketed as plain home cooking etc hence Annie's home made pies… and quite expensive, was disappointing.
I ordered the three cheese and onion pie??? When it came, accompanied by a small blob of mash potatoe. I thought there had been a mistake, as it wasn't covered by a crust, just a ring of mash potatoe, in a small souflle dish and the cheese was fete, goats cheese padded out with lumps of potatoe and something else, the consistancy and appearance was more like a fish pie. They should make this clear on the menu, I couldn't eat it as I do not like fete or goats cheese but I took it for granted that it would be a traditional cheese and onion pie, my mistake.
The Manchester tart for desert, again was a disappointment, the pastry was hard and there was hardly any filling in it. No marks again for that and it wasn't cheap!!
There is a lot of competition in Manchester for the saturday afternoon diners, not to mention in the evening and especially in that location.
So that was probably my first and last visit.