Paddington, Steaks & Grills Restaurant Guide

“A first-class experience we look forward to with each visit” – this Deansgate outpost of what’s nowadays an international chain provides a stylish destination, owing to its location in a late- Victorian courthouse, with plenty of interesting reclaimed décor (including glazed bricks from a Liverpool public lav). “Tender and delicious” meat is, of course, the calling card, but you’ll also find some “very tasty” non-carnivorous options too (an expanding range of fish; and “even as a vegetarian I love Hawksmoor”). But while all reports rate it well, it didn’t inspire any full-on rave reviews this year.

2022 Review: Multi-Michelin-starred Barcelona chef Paco Pérez was the marquee signing for Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, the trio behind Manchester City’s success, when they launched their upscale Catalan restaurant three years ago. The cool interiors – industrial chic for communal eating on the ground floor, minimalist glamour upstairs – are designed to throw a focus on the food, served as ‘tastets’ (small plates with more complexity than tapas). The verdict? definitely Premier League (in both quality and prices), if not yet a Champions League winner.

2021 Review: “Good-quality, well-cooked and inventive burgers – and some genius specials” (remember the ‘Spam Allardyce’?) draw a steady stream of salivating carnivores to this Northern Quarter joint, “although the trademark barrage of social media seems to have calmed down last year, as has the constant invention/reinvention of new burgers”. “The steaks are also some of the best around, and they make a decent bearnaise”, as well as four different meat-free burgers. Outposts in Prestwich and Preston have closed down, but there’s still one in Didsbury.

2023 Review: Stylishly decorated, comfortable and good value hotel dining room which didn’t attract feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but which in March 2022 Giles Coren of the Times complimented – in between lots of gauche commentary on the nature of Manchester women – for its excellent steaks, grills and fish. An even better read is the riposte a week later from Ben Arnold in The Manchester Evening News – similarly upbeat on the “wildly reasonable” pricing of the restaurant along with its steaks and wines, but about Giles… not so much.