"'One of the problems with reviews of celebrity chef owned restaurants is they are often written by journalists based on free meals at launch parties and the like, where the star man dons his whites for the night, wins rave reviews and then only ever returns to the same restaurant for similar evenings. For that reason, we decided not to review the out-of-this-world food at the opening night of Michael Caines new restaurant in the basement of the Abode Hotel at Piccadilly. Instead, we returned a few weeks later.

Having seen the friendly double Michelin starred chef working earlier that morning in the MC Cafe upstairs, we returned at 9:30pm with the expectation that the evening menu would be the work of Ian Matfin, the restaurant's normal Executive Chef, who has worked alongside Gordon Ramsay, Raymond Blanc and Terry Laybourne, as well as the previous six years with Michael in Devon.

On venturing down the stairs to the basement restaurant of Michael Caines at Abode Manchester, you're instantly greeted with four colourful photographs of Debbie Harry. Other photographs from Brian Aris adorn the walls, including many of The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and The Who. The decor is impressive, dim lighting complements the beautiful dark wood and brown colours with a fitting soundtrack of lo-fi music that the likes of Lamb and Mr Scruff would be proud of. Come to think of it, we could have actually asked Mr Scruff (real name Andy Carthy) his opinion, as he was dining on the table opposite.

The service throughout was friendly and faultless - the staff certainly earned the 11% 'discretionary' service charge - and took time out to chat to each customer, either on a personal level or to help with the menu, which offers a superb concept similar to that on offer at the likes of the Novotel's inferior Elements restaurant. Together with the normal Starters, A La Carte and £55 Tasting menu's, there's a 'Grazing Menu' which offers a delicious mouthful of each dish for less than half the price (a minimum order of 2 dishes is required) and this is also available at the stunning marbled Champagne bar, which sits comfortably next to the restaurant, and from which we opted for a bottle of the surprisingly good Michael Caines branded house champagne - great value at £34.95.

Unlike the excellent MC Cafe upstairs, prices are on the high side (the five main courses ranging from £18-£22), however for food this divine even the tightest of Yorkshiremen wouldn't raise a grumble (although many cynical Lancastrians may question that statement). And it really was divine - our meal was the best we'd ever experienced in Manchester city centre - the impressive Ravioli of Spinach and Parmesan (£5), served as a single raviolo with herb and garlic purée and a tiny poached quail egg in rosemary cream, was fantastic and was also the highlight of our previous visits. The frothy Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, with its white truffle oil, was also worthy of mention (£4.50).

The Best-End of Herdwick Lamb (£20) was fantastic, served with an onion and thyme purée, fondant potato and a tapenade jus that also won praise from the couple on the table next to us. The Honey Roast Goosnargh Duckling (£18) was beautifully cooked and presented with apple galette, baby turnips, garlic confit and a Chinese five spice sauce. The small village outside of Preston seem to produce every single duck, chicken and goose being served in Manchester's restaurants, but there can't be many served better than this!

We ordered the desserts from the Grazing Menu (£5) instead of the larger a la carte option (£8.50), together with a highly recommended Blazer (£6.60), the signature dessert cocktail, rich in cognac. These were delivered by the chef himself, which sadly, from a review point of view, turned out to be Monsieur Caines once again. It was now 11pm, confirming our perception that he's the hardest working man in Manchester, determined to bring the first Michelin star in over a decade to the city. The desserts alone would go someway to winning that accolade - he explained the Chocolate Orange Confit Mousse was his signature dish, one he'd learnt as a youngster working in France from his mentor Bernard Loiseau, a winner of the coveted Michelin 3 stars. Hopefully Michael can be a good enough mentor to Ian Matfin for him to be able to produce dishes this good when he's not around. In saying that, it wouldn't surprise us if he'll still be there every time we happen to visit - after all, this is the man who was back in the kitchen a fortnight after losing an arm in a car accident in 1994. He'll probably split his days up working in Exeter in the morning, Manchester at lunchtime and Glasgow in the evening!" - Manchester Restaurants 1/4/08 (visited on a monday evening)