"We
went to The Colony for the first time last night as a pre-theatre
outing. Things started badly when we couldn't even get through the
side doors and had to make our way to the front entrance and in via
the hotel lobby. I wish we had taken the hint!
First off we discovered the small print on the menu that revealed
that the £15.95 two course offer only applied to three of the
mains and a couple of starters, hmm... Then the wine list arrived.
Now I'm used to restaurant mark ups, and I understand that, but a
number of the wines were those I know well from the supermarkets and
we were looking at a three fold markup - a glass for the price of
a bottle!! I did something I have never done before and ordered a
glass of tap water. So what about the food, would it make up for all
the other failings?
Well my starter was a Chicken Liver Parfait with Brioche and fig chutney.
The Parfait was over chilled, under seasoned and to be honest didn't
even rate as average. The Chutney was odd, nice enough flavour
but served as a whole fig and needed to be chopped up to eat. This
had the added downside of then ending up with large pieces of fig
which overpowered the parfait.
For main, I had Seared Cod with spicy beans and pancetta. The beans
were slightly curried, the latter having a rather raw taste. The cod
was just badly cooked. The skin was as soft as when
it came out of the sea rather than seared and overall it was a
little undercooked. I suspect the fish was too cold and the
pan not hot enough. So not great flavour and very poor technique,
not what I'm really looking for in somewhere at this price
point.
Oh and then we had to go looking for someone to pay as we had to get
to the Halle... although they did still add the 10% service charge
- maybe that was for the effort they put in to changing the dirty
cutlery? I can think of at least a dozen restaurants within
5 minutes of here all of which are better, not sure I can really think
of any worse."
- gc, ramsbottom 6/2/08 (visited on a tuesday evening)
"As
we visited on a Monday evening, it's possible the normal chef was
on his night off. For that reason alone, maybe they could be excused
for the cold burger or the massive waiting
times. They could not be excused for the poor service
- in a restaurant that wasn't even busy we seemed invisible to the
waitress. The Sommelier had never heard of 'Prosecco' ("it must
be a brand name as I've only heard off Secco") offered us a sparkling
glass of wine instead. Looking at the price charged, it must have
been champagne. The food is also very expensive for the quality
served and if you order chips, expect around six greasy potatoes
piled high in a Jenga style tower. It's a pity as they've spent a
fair bit on the decor of this place and it looks fantastic.
Truly luxurious, with artwork representing the history
of the building. I'd like to revisit on a busier midweek night as
I'm afraid my first impression was that of an average hotel
restaurant."
- matthew, manchester 3/4/07 (visited on a monday evening)
Disclaimer:
All information correct 1/11/2006. RestaurantsOfManchester.com
can not be held responsible for any differences experienced at
the premises listed. All images and information copyright 2006
HotelsForEurope.com
"As
we visited on a Monday evening, it's possible the normal chef was
on his night off. For that reason alone, maybe they could be excused
for the cold burger or the massive waiting
times. They could not be excused for the poor service
- in a restaurant that wasn't even busy we seemed invisible to the
waitress. The Sommelier had never heard of 'Prosecco' ("it must
be a brand name as I've only heard off Secco") offered us a sparkling
glass of wine instead. Looking at the price charged, it must have
been champagne. The food is also very expensive for the quality
served and if you order chips, expect around six greasy potatoes
piled high in a Jenga style tower. It's a pity as they've spent a
fair bit on the decor of this place and it looks fantastic.
Truly luxurious, with artwork representing the history
of the building. I'd like to revisit on a busier midweek night as
I'm afraid my first impression was that of an average hotel
restaurant."
- matthew, manchester 3/4/07 (visited on a monday evening)