Manson

Nowhere near good enough, I'm afraid. We were very disappointed with the standard of the food at Manson, following the breathless reviews it's been getting since it opened. We had one decent course out of four - the other three were in turn undercooked, seriously bland and finally overcooked, one of which was bad enough to send back.

At the end of the day I suppose it's only a local restaurant and shouldn't be judged too harshly, but their pricing and their aggressive marketing of their head chef (who was in the kitchen when we ate) sets them up to be judged against high standards. At the moment their food is absolutely nowhere near the level it should be to justify either the price or the hype.
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Martin
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Ate there last night for the first time - I live very close and it is always packed, unlike the last couple of restaurants that have been on this site.

Service was quick and professional - if I had to complain it's that they need a second door on the front - everytime the door opens a blast of icy air came in!

We shared the pigeon breast salad to start - excellent, perfectly cooked pigeon. Then moved onto mains - my stonebass, polenta & beetroot was brilliant - a fantastically cooked piece of fish. My friend has the tuna loin, which I didn't get a chance to taste as it disappeared pretty quickly - she said is was great though!

Wine list wasn't bad, although it could be improved at the top end. A bottle of Pinot Blanc from Trimbach went very well with our food.

The place is realy buzzy and atmospheric - everybody seemed to be having a good time, and despite almost every table being full, food arrived promptly and hot!

I will definitely be going back.
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Tom
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, March 11, 2010

We were lucky enough to get a table on Friday night and loved this new restaurant. The atmosphere was buzzy and upbeat and within a few minutes of our arrival the restaurant was full. Go for the banquette seating along the mirrors - great for people watching and the odd celebrity. Simple and effective decor that balances chic 1900's Paris against a rustic country feel. The service was swift and our waiter was well informed and charming in that rather attractive French manner (much to the delight of the girls). The menu is original and not too pricey, starters at £6-7 and mains at £12-16. The moules were excellent especially the sauce of which there was plenty left over so we could all dip chuncks of the homemade bread into. The fois gras was equally filling with home baked toast and brioche.

The mains were enormous and we felt we were never going to finish them. However we did! The Ox cheek on a bed of risotto was divine. Leave room for the deserts. We had several bottles of wine (Albarinio from Spain was good) so bill was jumped up a bit but nevertheless a reasonable £45 per head to include service. Nice to see an ex-Gordan Ramsey chef branching out on their own.
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Lou
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, January 18, 2010