The River Flows Once More

Following an extensive program of refurbishment, The Lowry Hotel is building up to the re-launch of their acclaimed River Restaurant. Restaurants Of Manchester were invited over for a preview of what you can expect from Head Chef Dave Ashton’s new menu once the restaurant is open to the public from September 25th.

Dave’s modern and progressive play on classic dishes has always stood out as one of the city’s best food offerings, with the new menu further showcasing this style and quality.  Guests enjoyed highlights from the new menu, in sumptuous surroundings.

To get the ball rolling, we were served a lovely Organic Sourdough, which came with tomato butter and Lancashire cheese custard.  It’s great to see the bread made in-house, as it’s a sadly dying skill these days, and the sourdough starter used to give the bread its life, was born on June 22nd.

Next off the pass was a dish from the snack section on the new menu. Chicken Liver Partait is a Blumenthal-esque play on a classic parfait. A single ball of rich parfait, coated with white chocolate and then enveloped in a contrastingly-sweet cherry jelly.

Lightly beetroot-cured Loch Duart Salmon, came with a garnish of pickled beetroot disks and razor clam, finished with fennel fronds.  Fatty, acidic, sweet, earthy, aromatic, fresh. This was a real table-pleaser, and a great first proper course to start with.

For the main course, we were treated to Cheshire Farm Lamb, which was probably our personal favourite. Perfectly cooked lamb rump, carrots which were slowly cooked for 6hrs in lamb fat for added depth of flavour, with a lovely textural variation via a fatty lamb rib.  An amazing, zingy mint jelly rounded the dish off perfectly, waking up the palate with an iconic flavour combination.

Stuffed Dover Sole was the final savoury course, and one which is destined to become a customer favourite.  A sandwiched Dover sole fillet, filled with a sumptuous prawn and ginger mousse, finished with dashi cream and Morecambe bay shrimps for a pop of salt.

The Lowry Gin was another playful dish, imitating a fruit and using the Lowry’s own house-recipe gin.  This time, a chocolate lemon shell, housed a light and vibrant lemon filling, with tonic gel and a garnished-at-table cucumber granita.  A lovely way to freshen up the tastebuds ahead of the final course.

Hazelnut Praline Profiterole was adorned with some of our favourite flavours, and as avid pastry obsessives, a lovely way to end a meal.  A light, textbook choux bun, sliced down the middle, piped full of salted coffee caramel cream, then adorned with a perfect rocher of malted milk ice cream. Rich and luxurious, yet light and refined.

So, The River Restaurant is back with a bang, and September 25th is a date for the calendar. We look forward to welcoming venue back onto the city’s high end dining roster, where the bar has most certainly been raised since the 5 Star hotel first opened.

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