"Combine the stunning canalside setting and the exposed brickwork walls, which remind you of the important part this beautiful area of the city centre once played in Manchester's history, with the fantastic locally-influenced dishes, first class service, exhaustive wine list and the reasonably priced menu, and you can see why Choice is quite rightfully regarded as one of the best restaurants in Manchester.

The venue is ideal for business meetings and more sophisticated romantic occassions too. We visited to catch up with an old friend who had never been to the restaurant before and, not surprisingly, the restaurant gained a new fan. The service staff are incredibly professional and have been working at Choice for as far back as we can remember. Without wanting to upset too many of our friends in other restaurants, we've gone on record numerous times by saying that the friendly Irish manager, Caoilfhionn, is the best we've experienced in Manchester, and would be the first name on the team sheet of any dream restaurant we were to open ourselves.

The drinks menu is impressive with an amazing choice of import beers, including Innis Gunn at a reasonable £3.40, Erdinger at £4 and Boddies at £3.50 a pint. Celebrating their local roots, you can also buy Mawson's Sarsaparilla, Dandelion & Burdock or Ginger Beer (£1.95) and the wine list is incredibly impressive with nearly every bottle also available by the glass. Ranging from £15 a bottle or £4 a glass (there's six to choose from at that price) to £60 for the 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru, there's over 39 bins on offer from all across the globe, together with a further six Champagnes or Proseccos (again, most available by the flute).

Since Mark Anthony Jones was promoted to Head Chef role, the menu has become more varied with plenty of fish and bird dishes joining the great selection of local dishes, which the restaurant has always been celebrated for. Whilst the menu changes almost weekly, on our visit, the a la carte option boasted Crab Creme (£5.50), King Scallops (£7), Makerel (£14.95), Monkfish (£17.95), Pigeon Salad (£5.50), Game Bird Terrine (£5.50), Guinea Fowl (£16.95) and Duck (£17.95), whilst the incredible value Smart Choice Menu (3 courses for just £16.95) also boasted a good varied selection (3 starters, 4 mains and 3 desserts). The staff are that accommodating too that they are more than happy to allow you to order dishes from either menu.

I opted for the Pigeon Salad (£5.50) from the a la carte menu. Complemented perfectly by shredded chicory and a sherry vinegar, it also came with pickled walnuts and toasted hazelnuts, adding an Autumnal feel to proceedings. An excellent dish, the pigeon was cooked to perfection, and the vinegar not too sharp to be a distraction to the main event. For mains, I took the Makerel, which was also available on the Smart Choice menu. Grilled just as I like it, it was served on a caramlised onion tart with a beautiful chive mash potato and poppy seed dressing. Excellent value for money at £14.95, and even more so if you were on the Smart Choice Menu. By this stage, we were full but how can you turn down the option of Sticky Toffee Bread & Butter Pudding (£5.50)? Indeed it lived up to expectations, albeit not as good as one I had enjoyed in the unlikely surroundings of Zermatt a few days previous, but, to be fair, that's a comparism not many would make. Is there anywhere else in Manchester we can compare like for like? Answers on a postcard as I'd be happy to review that dish all day long and I'd wager Choice would come out on top.

Overall, Choice is an excellent... erm... choice and, whilst the difference in prices between the Smart Choice and A la Carte menu's is considerable, you can't complain at paying full price for food of this quality. The service is certainly worth the automatic 10% charge and, if not eating from the incredible value Smart Choice menu, you can also use your Hi-Life card to get 2 meals for the price of 1. Fully deserving of its place in the Restaurants Of Manchester Top 10, you can understand why so many people vote for Choice as their favourite restaurant in town in the Pride Of Manchester Awards. This is how all independent Manchester restaurants should be!" - restaurants of manchester 12/11/09 (visited on a monday evening)

"As we're based in the same building, above Choice in Castlefield, we should apologise to Jon, the owner, for not visiting anywhere near enough. Running a restaurant guide moreorless means eating out every night all across the city and it's the restaurants closest to home that you tend to ignore. It's for that reason that we were extremely pleased Choice was voted 'Members' Restaurant of the Year' at the Pride Of Manchester Awards 2008 and prompted us to book a table for Mother's Day.

The Pride Of Manchester Award is just another in the already bulging trophy cabinet that Choice boasts. This place has won more awards than Sir Alex Ferguson and it's no surprise why! The service was as professional as ever, the impressive wine list (with most available by the glass too!) is matched by an equally impressive beer list and the ambience was spot on, as always! The selection of dishes on the a la carte menu, all made with locally sourced products, was superb, with many regional favourites to choose from. Although it didn't affect our visit, the Sunday (and Mothers' Day) menu is a bit restrictive if you don't like your red meat, but at just £12.95 for two courses is arguably one of the best restaurant offers in Manchester.

For starters, the North West Terrine was worthy of mention, if purely for the fact it expertly combines Bury Black Pudding with Cumberland Sausage and Cheshire Ham. The mustard dressing was a little overpowering though and would have been better served as an accompaniment rather than artistically drizzled over the top. For mains, The Roast Lamb was cooked to perfection and, together with the Roast Beef, is one of the best Sunday dishes to be found anywhere in town. The Steak Burger, covered in Lancashire Cheese, is also very nice on the taste buds, if not the waistline. And the same could be said for the desserts, one of Choice's biggest selling points - each of the desserts are even more a work of art as the main dishes and we're still to have a better Sticky Toffee Pudding anywhere in town.

Away from the superb value daily set menus, prices are a lot higher (starters and desserts around £5.50 with mains around the £17 mark) although when a chef can produce dishes as good as these, even the tightest of tightarses would begrudge paying. It's no surprise that Choice won more votes from our members than any other restaurant in town. It's a faultless operation that's well worth many a repeat visit and, we've promised to ourselves, to visit on a more regular basis too! " - restaurants of manchester 3/1/08 (visited on mothers day sunday)

"On a busy Valentines Day, the one day of the year where everybody seems to eat out, we tend to stay away from restaurants, as they tend to offer overpriced, overbooked, reduced quality set menus, rush you out after 1.5 hours, and generally make an unnecessary meal of the whole occasion. No pun intended. Due to this, we decided to pay a visit to Choice on Sunday for our romantic meal out. I just hope that the Mrs doesn't get used to it! Anyway....

We arrived quite early, so had a drink in the bar first of all, and found the service to be prompt, helpful, friendly, with a warm welcome, and generally the guys couldn t do enough for you. All in all, very good indeed. Incidentally, it was nice to hear from our waiter that there were no overpriced set menus anywhere on the previous day, although the waiter said that it's definitely an insiders tip to put off a Valentines visit to another day if you can.

We spent half an hour with our drinks at the bar, and never at any point did we feel rushed. The guys asked if we wanted to look at the menus whilst having our drinks, after which we sat in the main dining area, with a good idea of what we fancied. The dining area was all in all, very nice, understated, with 'background' music, yet classy. Just as a good dining area should be in my opinion. Perhaps in places, such as on the ceilings, the paint could do with a lick, a few breeze block holes filled in, and a couple of light bulbs were out, the gents could do with a bit of a spruce up as they were very bar like, but all in all it was a well kept, ideal place to eat in peace, with well spaced tables and plenty of ambiance, totally free of pretence, which is great to see, and sadly lacking in town.

We went for the Pork Belly and Potato Hash Cake starters, and Pigeon and Pork Loin mains. Both starters arrived, were presented very well, in ample portions, tasted superb, and got us off to a great start. My pigeon was perfectly medium rare, and again well presented and flavoured, with fresh and flavoursome crushed new spuds, and split lentils with bacon. Lovely stuff. My other half's pork loin was equal in quality. It came with a really nice chorizo broth, and an unusual combination of salt and pepper squid rings, which actually matched the pork really well. The only criticism is that her crackling was a little underdone, hence quite chewy, so didn't get finished. Other than this, 2 very good mains indeed. The wine list was a little small for one which has won awards, but there was still plenty on it to suit most tastes, and at the 1/3rd off prices, theres some real bargains to be grabbed. We opted for a bottle of Porcupine Ridge Shiraz/Viognier, which was bold and spicy, going especially well with the saltiness of both pork dishes. Our bottled water was fine, and it was nice to see an English brand being offered in a restaurant which sells mainly British inspired, regional food. Only a small point yeah, but things like this really do give the impression that a restaurannt is well thought out or not.

For desserts, the Bread & Butter Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Cream was ideal in size, not too sweet, and a very good ending to the meal. The cheese board was fine, with 3 quality cheeses, including one of my favourites, Blacksticks Blue, a smoked cheddar, and a very powerful creamy white. Perhaps 3 slightly smaller pieces, and a soft cheese addition would be better, but still all was fine and we finished our meals with big smiles on our faces. My preference is water biscuits when eating cheese, and luckily, this is what you get, but nothing else. Some people may prefer a variety though I guess. The desert Riesling and Port, both of which matched well with the cheeses, (but not the pudding), probably helped the smiles a bit too.

Upon paying the bill, I gave them my cash card, only for them to return, to remind me that I was a Hi Life card user, and that I'd forgot to give them my card with the payment card. Top notch service indeed. We had actually earlier debated not using the Hi Life card on purpose, as you can only use it once at each place, and they currently have 1/3rd off anyway, so thought about saving the card for later use, as we intend to return before very long. It worked out at just under £30 for 3 courses without wine, or about £50 per person with decent wine, water, service etc, which was perfectly acceptable for the quality on offer, and the same as you'd pay anywhere for comparable quality.

It's the first time in a quite a while that we've eaten out in town at a supposed top end place, and not left feeling let down and dismayed by pretence of lack of substance. Just the opposite in fact. Top notch Manchester stuff, one of the best in town for sure, and definitely deserves its place in the Restaurants of Manchester Top 10.

Food 8/10 - Service 8/10 - Ambiance 8/10 - Overall 8/10 (a rock solid 4 stars out of 5)" - chris handley, salford 16/2/09 (visited on a sunday evening)

"This was one of the most relaxing and pleasant dining experiences I have had in a while. Choice Restaurant provides quality, honest food in a relaxed environment, where the lack of pretence leaves you feeling comfortable, un-judged and well cared for. I often find that many restaurants can serve superb food but this can be tainted by pretentious design, tiny portions and prices reflecting the pomposity demanded by some clientele. At Choice, you will find great service, great food and a simple but stylish restaurant; a perfect venue for a relaxed meal with friends, family or for business. I don t think this restaurant would be suitable for people requiring something more cutting edge and lively, this restaurant is definitely for those who want relaxed dining centred around good conversation.

I cannot stress enough how the competence of the waiter greatly complimented the evening. We had a committed waiter all evening and he was very professional, approachable, polite and helpful. He took our orders without paper, using only memory and then remembered who was having what when bringing out the meals. He had also mastered the art of waiter presence, that is, we didn't feel harassed or intruded on at all throughout our meal. I have found in so many restaurants that the waiters are either over keen or incompetent. Our waiter brought everything we asked for immediately but gave us enough space to enjoy our food and conversation, not continuously coming over to over fill our wine glasses like in some places.

Choice is not the cheapest, but I feel it is fairly priced for the food quality and portion size you receive. I often feel disappointed in many restaurants when you receive fabulous food, but in a portion size fit for a squirrel. This is obviously suitable it you are eating many courses, but if you want a wholesome filling 3 course meal it is not so great. You will not be left feeling disappointed at Choice, the portion size of food I received was just right, I felt very satisfied.

I had a Salmon & Prawn Terrine for starter, which was light and delicious, then a Roast Poussin in Red Current Sauce accompanied with roast winter vegetables. This was also lovely and great for a winter's evening. For dessert, I had a Plum Crumble with Saffron Custard which was superb! The menu truly reflected the season, offering warm, wholesome winter dishes, using consciously sourced produce.

The only tiny fault I could find with the whole meal was with something they hadn't made in house; the cheeseboard. The cheeseboard could be improved greatly with some fruit, a few more crackers and maybe a broader selection of cheese. I had around five of the same crackers with three small pieces of different cheese and a tiny pot of chutney (which was homemade and very tasty but far too small). For a similar price in other restaurants, I have had something far more extensive. A cheeseboard is something easily improved and with a few altered touches, it could be perfect. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who needs their faith restoring in British food. I will definitely be returning!" - claudia, manchester 2/1/09 (visited on a saturday evening)