 | |  | | | Cesare's San Rocco Italian Restaurant - reader comments |  "My husband and I enjoyed our visit to San Rocco in the city centre, which is one of the 8 restaurants within the San Rocco Chain situated throughout the North West. Unfortunately we were seated next to a very large plant in the corner of the room which seemed to attract a few pesky flies which buzzed around us throughout our meal. We were also quite disappointed after ordering that nobody had pointed out the Specials Board to us. A pleasant surprise was the very tasty complimentary bread which arrived seconds after being seated. For starters, we ordered Funghi al Gorgonzola (£6), which were just delicious, two big flat mushrooms stuffed with spinach and gorgonzola cheese and the Carpaccio di Manzo (£6.90), also very tasty, consisting of thinly sliced fillet steak and parmesan cheese marinated in olive oil and lemon juice. For the mains we chose Penne ala Fiorentina (£7.50) which is Italian sausages, cherry tomatoes and chilli, which was washed down with a very good Chianti. The desserts (Tiramisu and Profiteroles) were ok but nothing special, the presentation needs to be improved. The food service was a little like fast food, I think they could have taken their time a little more. However, the Italian waiters were very friendly throughout the evening and made us both laugh which helped us to relax and feel welcome. Overall the food was great value, tasty, and with very generous portions. We will probably return in the future" - michelle knowles, rochdale - TRUSTED REVIEWER (30/8/09 - visited on a thursday evening) |
| | "We were a fairly large party (30) booked in advance with a multi-choice set menu (we were offered one of two such for the entire party). We had previously 'tested' the San Rocco in addition to some of the other best known town centre Italian eateries; The food quality, relaxed staff attitude, mellow ambience of the restaurant and the available annex all contributed to our selection. On the night, the staff were superb - clearly fell in with the mood of the party and contributed to its success. All courses were extremely efficiently produced so that there was no noticeable 'stagger' of guests on different courses at the same time - the odd guest who deviated from the set menu were easily coped with (ie courses kept pace with the rest). Everyone commented on the quality of the food which without exception was wonderful. In the case of those who selected filet steak (the majority), almost all thought that the accompanying sauce was as delicious as any they had previously enjoyed; scarcely creditably, but without exception, all filet selectors also commented that the quantity was very generous too. Overall, the San Rocco played their part in helping to make a lifetime landmark truly wonderful. They could not be faulted either by me or my wife, or a single one of my party - many of whom are regular visits to the town centre eateries." - Tex Waite, Manchester - NEW MEMBER - 23/8/09 (visited on a friday evening) |
| | "We had a lovely lunch at San Rocco before going to the theatre. The three course lunch was great value. Food was delicious and very plentiful. The staff were very friendly. Would definitely recommend!" - Helen Petherick,Brighouse - NEW MEMBER - 26/3/09 (visited on a thursday lunch) |
| | "The food was tasteless. Starters of stuffed mushrooms tasted so salty I could just taste that! Garlic bread was 3 thin slices of tasteless French bread! Main course pasta and risotto was boring and tasted of salt again, with an extra helping of a long strand of hair (with hindsight, we should have complained then). Sweets were ok, nothing special for almost £5.00 per head, the Cheesecake was nice though! Tiramasu was tasteless, no kick of alcohol in sight. The waiter, although not attentive or smiley in any way, was pleasant enough, and did ask as he was clearing the plates if everything was OK. As he walked off we had no chance to reply. Very disappointed with the whole experience. Never again!" - annette , urmston 28/12/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
| | "I went to San Rocco for the first time for a meal with my partner. We booked the table for 9.30pm to go after the cinema, which was fairly late but as it was a Saturday night we expected it would still be fairly busy. When we arrived there were only 3 occupied tables and we were shown to a table right in the window, which felt like they were basically putting us there as a display rather than for comfort. There were far more spacious and comfortable tables we could have sat at. I cannot fault the food. It wasn't anything out of this world, but it was authentic, tasty and fairly priced. The restaurant was also clean and tidy. The main problem was in the way we felt very rushed. I understand that we booked the table for 9.30pm, but the restaurant was open till 11pm as far as we knew so didn't see the problem. The second our starter plates were removed, our mains were in front of us, far too quick, leaving no time for our food to go down. The service was also terrible, with waiters sitting at the bar drinking beers between serving, they blatently didn't want to be there that time on a Saturday night. I have not returned to San Rocco, so I cannot make a judgement based on a busier evening, but on this evening it was a very unenjoyable experience!" - claudia, manchester 9/12/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
| "San Rocco Manchester, or Cesare's as it's better known to a generation of Mancunians has deservedly earned a reputation for serving great authentic Italian food. In a scene that has witnessed many so-called fashionable Italian restaurants emerge, San Rocco has remained true to its principals of serving traditional dishes, and there's many to choose from. As a result it has remained forever popular with weary shoppers, hungry office workers, pre-theatre diners and food connoisseurs alike. It's not hard to see why. For starters, we opted for the Cape Sante (£7.25), pan fried scallops served with crispy bacon on a bed of vermicelli, which were tasty if somewhat chewy on this occassion. The Carpaccio di Manzo (£6.90), on the other hand, was excellent and possibly amongst the best we've tried. The thinly sliced fillet steak was perfectly marinated with olive oil, lemon juice and wafer thin slices of Parmesan cheese and instantly transported you to the cafes of Milan, Turin or Genoa, in mind at least - so no airmiles available! For the main courses the Vitello alla Milanese (£13.90), a veal escallop served with spaghetti, was rather nice and possibly one of the only places in town we've encountered wiener schnitzel, albet of the Italian variety. The Agnello al Rosmarino (£14.50), also selected from the choice of 18 meat and fish dishes, was slightly dsappointing - more so for the fact that it turned out to be lamb cutlets as opposed to the expected rack of lamb . Nonetheless, they were very tasty and well cooked. We decided against ordering desserts as by this time it was past the restaurant's usual afternoon closing time, which possibly explained the waiter's stand-offish approach. On previous visits, we've always found the service to be excellent - especially so for large partes - and you generally get the impression that the staff enjoy working here, which probably explains why you may recognise the same faces from previosu visits dating back many years - San Rocco has been here since 1971 remember! Whilst San Rocco don't serve pizzas, yhere are 15 pasta and rissotto dishes avalable at just £7.50 each, and salads start at just under seven quid. The lunch menu of 3 courses for £10.50 is great value, and San Rocco also accept Hi-Life card diners cards, giving you 3 complimentary courses. The restaurant is reportedly one of the most popular with Hi-Life members, and they've picked up the award for best restaurant a few times at the wonderfully named HILDAs (the Hi-Life Dining Awards). It's not hard to see why" - restaurants of manchester 15/11/08 (visited on a weds lunch) |
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