47 King Street West, Manchester

This week I was invited by Manchester Confidential to sample the menu at 47 King Street West. My husband couldn't make it, so I invited my friend Emma to give me a hand with all that food. Ever the warrior, she accepted, and off we trot. 

It was lashing it down. We arrived looking like a pair of spaniels, hair curly and make up slightly skew-whiff - testament to our trek from the safety of Northern Quarter in search for 47 King Street West. There was a slight incident where we had successfully found Cath Kidston on King Street, but then realised we were actually looking for a restaurant...

47 King Street West is nestled just behind House of Fraser, opposite San Carlo. We were welcomed in from the rain, and coats, brollies and other useless waterproof paraphernalia were removed from the theatre of conflict. Inside is a little old fashioned but clean and well finished, and window seats offer a great people watching spot. They market themselves as 'fine dining', but I think 'smart casual' is more appropriate. 

Our waitress arrived and enthusiastically started talking us through their evening menu. Once again, I recited my piece about my lifelong hatred of wine, but explained I was happy to try a recommendation after recent success at Albert Square Chop House...

She suggested the Semillon Chardonnay; medium dry with fruity flavours and not too much oakiness. Apparently this is a house wine at Buckingham Palace! It was lovely. This is clearly what old age has done to me; it has decided I need more alcohol. Emma (a bit of a wine pro) opted for the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; she was thrilled that they had warmed the wine slightly - apparently this is a good sign...

For starters I picked the soup of the day, which was honey roasted parsnip, and Emma had the Mediterranean risotto with parmesan. In the interest of the review, we both stole a bot of each others'. The risotto was perfectly cooked and had a generous amount of vegetables. The soup was a good thick texture and I enjoyed the taste, but I fear some would find this too sweet. Parsnips are sweet enough without lots of honey. Saying that, we both loved it. My only criticism of this course was the Chorton artisan bread. It was a little stale and came with packaged butter - only a minor thing but worth noting.

We both fancied the fillet steak medallions, but had them in slightly different ways. I originally ordered the spatchcocked poussin because the pepper sauce was calling, but then when Emma was offered a choice of peppercorn or sunblushed tomato jus, I couldn't resist swapping. They even let me have fat chips with mine rather than pomme puree. I'm done with pomme puree. And micro herbs. And pea foam. Rant over.

We really could not fault these dishes. My steak was rare as requested whilst Emma's was served medium, the sauces were gorgeous and the fat chips were perfectly crispy, just as I had hoped. A very enjoyable main.

As I checked in on Foursquare, someone had recommended the Eton Mess. Couldn't resist. This was a rich pile of ice cream, cream, berries, meringue and coulis. Brilliant. Emma had the Chef's Hot Chocolate Indulgence Pudding with ice cream. This arrived bubbling away! Very rich but equally satisfying.

In summary, 47 King Street West seems to have divided opinion amongst the other bloggers I have spoken to. Yes there are elements which appear a little dated but the execution of our food was good. It's a little expensive (we worked out that our meal would have cost the best part of £100) but I believe there is a cracking deal on at the moment via Manchester Confidential's site - three courses plus Prosecco for £25. Keep an eye open for these.

An enjoyable evening with chatty staff, a great friend and good food. Oh, but they definitely need a bigger coat stand.

Disclaimer: I was invited to review 47 King Street West by Manchester Confidential. I was not paid for the post but received a free meal for two. All views are my own (plus a few of Emma's...)

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