Podium
Restaurant Hilton Hotel Manchester - reader comments
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| "The
service was very good. The atmosphere was quiet and
somewhat subdued. I went just before Christmas and
the menu was poor, a bit like a Beefeater Inn. That
said both these factors were overshadowed by the fact that it was
freezing. The doors to the hotel lobby were constantly
open with people queueing for the Cloud 23 bar. I was with a party
of six and we ended up wearing our jackets, I ordered the soup as
a starter to try and warm myself up. Maybe worth trying in summer
when the breeze from the doors will cool you down"
- paul, ramsbottom 13/1/08 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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"The
restaurant was fairly quiet for a Saturday night but there was enough
people milling about the bar to make a pleasant atmosphere. We were
very impressed with the decor and especially the lighting
- very romantic. The staff were friendly
enough and were there when you needed them. I wasn't very
impressed with the menu. Considering we were eating late
October, the menu had a Summer feel about it. I was also shocked
at the prices of the food with what you were actually served.
I would say the food was okay but nothing special.
I wasn't impressed at having to pay £5 for a bottle of mineral
water or £16 for a steak and then £3 for each accompaniment.
I would recommend this restaurant for people with more money than
sense. If you are staying at the Hilton Deansgate then try the restaurants
outside of the hotel. I would have preferred a fantastic meal at Simply
Heathcotes or Gaucho Grill"
- Clare, Ashton-under-Lyne, 30/10/07 (visited on a saturday evening) |
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| "My
husband and I were staying at the Hilton for a romantic evening in
Manchester with dinner and breakfast included, both served in the
Podium Restaurant. Evening meal: The starters were lovely,
soup and Fish Cakes. although I did have a few bones in my fishcakes,
but I can live with that. So disappointed with the Lamb.
I adore lamb and even though I'm pregnant and cannot eat rare meat
I still like it to melt in the mouth. But this was dry and
chewy. I hated the Barley Beans it came with also. My husband
had the Steak and he loved his. The waiter was excellent.
One feedback I would also like to mention is the tables are
too close together. We were lucky as we had a corner on our
own, but when we went down for breakfast the next morning we were
crammed in like sardines. Overall, I did enjoy both my meal and stay
at the Hilton"
- lisa smith, manchester 27/10/07 (visited on a friday evening) |
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| "If
you are thinking of visiting the Hilton Hotel's Podium restaurant,
my advice to you is to not to bother. It was my birthday this week
and a party of six of us decided to dine at Podium, as we would be
visiting the Cloud 23 bar earlier that evening. The meal was very
expensive - we only had a main course and two bottles of
wine - and it came to £185. You don't mind paying extra for
a really fine meal, but this was extremely mediocre.
We all ordered the ribeye steak, at £22 a pop. But it was particularly
uninspiring. Chips, veg or salad had to be ordered extra,
and they worked out incredibly expensive too. We worked out that the
chips cost 60p each! And they weren't even that nice.
The wine list was amazingly expensive too. We worked
out that on their Faustino Rioja, they were making a 450 per cent
profit mark-up, compared to what the same bottle would cost you in
an off-license. No wonder Paris Hilton can afford all those handbags.
The only positive thing I could say about Podium is that the waitress
was very nice. And we had to tip her well, because she let
slip to us just how badly she was paid by the Hilton. She also told
us that no Hilton staff are allowed anywhere near the Cloud 23 bar,
not even on their day off. This is the kind of restaurant you only
ever go to once. Because once you've been, you won't want to go there
and get fleeced for a mediocre meal at sky-high prices again"
- marc smith, manchester 15/8/07 (visited on a monday evening) |
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"I've
visited Podium on a few occassions and, apart from one excellent meal,
I have to agree with the reviews below. Podium is little more
than a hotel restaurant for guests who are too lazy to explore outside
the terrible Beetham Tower, rather than a destination restaurant.
I'm not too sure if I visited on the same Sunday as Ian (after the
United v Reading game) but his review sums up my experience - they
were out of a few dishes claiming they'd been busy (it looked pretty
quiet), whilst the food was extremely poor and overpriced.
The lamb was overcooked and the green salad was just a huge bowl of
lettuce - even a cow would have complained! As always, service
was superb although that would be the only positive from
this report."
- neil, manchester 15/8/07 (visited on a sunday evening) |
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| "Expensive
for what you get and it was too dark in
there - had a 70's feel to the place. The waitresses were
friendly and very good though (pleasing on the eye too!)"
- rob, manchester 15/8/07 (visited on a sunday evening) |
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"Disappointing.
At 8pm on a Sunday evening the place had the feel of a restaurant
which was due to close its' doors in 10 minutes after a busy weekend
which had just about wiped them out. The green salad and the steak
and chips were average to poor, although the sweets
were much better."
- ian, warrington 13/8/07 (visited on a sunday evening) |
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"Was
a great experience. I'd probably give it 4.5
out of 5, marked down only because they were all
out of the lamb which I initially ordered."
- elizabeth, manchester 23/4/07 (visited on a sunday evening) |
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"Superb
restaurant serving great quality arty food
in generous portions. Not the best steak I've had
in Manchester but would definitely return again and again. The large
luxurious surroundings make it ideal for business
lunches too."
- matthew, manchester 23/4/07 (visited on a sunday evening) |
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