Hawksmoor Manchester Reviews |
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Service  |
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Slick, knowledgeable, prompt for much of the experience, with great humour and above all, a genuine feel. All too many places tick all the boxes, say all the right things and do everything that any black and white scoresheet expects. But then that’s service, not hospitality, and the two are not entirely the same. We felt looked after as if we'd popped into a very well-versed mate's house for dinner, for the duration of our evening. Even telling us to move to the bar when the next attendee at our table arrived, was done with the correct manner.
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Some delays on drinks but then it was a chocca Saturday evening service with every table filled for the entire evening, and we did have an annoying habit of ordering a Diet Coke every 15 minutes as they come in tiny circa 250ml bottles only.
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Food & Drink |
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Mackerel Salad (£15) is a Hawksmoor favourite. Baby potatoes coated in the right amount of well-balanced dressing, plenty of mackerel with a watercress garnish and a Microplaned dusting of horseradish. It's just so simple, yet light, delicious, and the ideal way to brace yourself for the beef overload which lies ahead once the main courses hit your table.
Two of our gang shunned any lightness with the Potted Beef (£12). It's a dish that I've eaten dozens of times via Hawksmoor's exceptional value lunch menu, and it never lets you down. A generous portion of butter topped potted beef, with two perfectly formed Yorkshire Puddings to use as a means of making a sandwich with the beef. Theres then a jug of gravy on the side for dipping. It's big, indulgent, beefy, and sums Hawksmoor up in itself.
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Our final starter was the Roasted Scallops (£20), served as a portion of three, still in their shell alongside garlic butter and white port, coated in crumb and then grilled. Sweet, plump, well balanced, etc. The accompanying slice of lemon had been topped/tailed with the centre removed too. It's the kind of little prep detail which most customers won't even consider, but those who do will appreciate it as making a difference.
With the starters down, we went for a few different steaks in terms of size and cut, but I'll save my copy/your patience by not detailing them all in depth. Three of the table went for a Sirloin, two weighing a gluttonous 450g (£51), with one person sticking with a more restrained 350g slab (£42). All three were seared to perfection over that charcoal grill, with the middle left as medium rare as we'd all asked for it to be. It's just superb quality beef with melting fat, seasoned just brilliantly, served simply, confidently and to the point with no garnish, no pointless herbs. Just a steak as it. |
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And the final person in our quartet, who evidently wasn’t paying the bill, went with the most expensive solo steak on the menu which was a huge 350g Fillet (£55), and she ordered it rare to boot. It was more of the same exceptional provenance and sourcing, prepped expertly well. It's a dish which was the very definition of indulgence, not to mention somebody blatantly taking the mickey with her ordering.
Sure, steaks are the main event here, but for me Hawksmoor's sides have always been a bedrock of their class. If you've never watched Death Row Diners on Instagram, then do so. At least their older stuff before it became stale and samey in terms of answers. They ask people in the Manchester restaurant and media game for their favourite dishes in the city, and most peoples favourite sides are usually from Hawksmoor. The Mac and Cheese (£7.5) side would 100% be my pick, with the Caesar Salad (£7) and Beef Dripping Chips (£6.5) coming in as fence-sitting joint winners. They are all just first class and executed perfectly every single time.
We added a few more seasonal sides too, just to avoid the inevitable regret once they've gone, following the ongoing festivities. Cows in Blankets (£7.5) were a beefy spin on everyone's favourite roast dinner garnish. Delicious, generous in portion, and delightfully sticky. We also went with the Hawksmoor Stuffing (£8), despite not ordering anything to be stuffed. Again, it was absolutely delicious despite not really fitting what we ordered.
So onto the home straight, and only desserts stood in our way. We started with the Sticky toffee pudding (£10), which I imagine most people will to be honest. And so they should. Hawksmoor's is super light yet sturdy, baked properly and tempered with a lovely toffee sauce, topped with a healthy rocher of clotted cream to bring some balance to all that sweetness.
Black Forest Pavlova (£9.5) was next to the table, and was the most visually appealing of the three, also feeling super festive. A great meringue with Morello cherries, sour cherry sorbet and a dark chocolate mousse, finished with shaved chocolate to bring that all important indulgence.
And lastly, we went for the Upside-down Apple & Almond Cake (£9.5), which was another dish that will appeal to most. Almond cake, baked with slices of apple underneath the batter to become soft and caramelised during the bake, turned out onto the plate tarte tatin style, served with Calvados sauce and a splendid sour cream ice cream. |
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However; the Mackerel Salad's spuds were a bit overcooked/soft, and is the dish seasonal in December? I guess it's on the as the menu doesn’t really change throughout the year, so aside from those festive tweaks it’s a year-round offering. But then nobody forced us to order it.
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Overall |
It's hard to fathom why after 10 years of operation in Manchester, it's taken us until now to carry out a proper scored review of Hawksmoor. I guess because in many ways there really isn’t that much point to be honest, since you know exactly what you'll get long before you arrive. And that's wholly consistent with every single venue of theirs across the entire country and beyond. I've been to every UK branch bar Liverpool, and the formula is the same at them all.
Superb quality beef, cooked properly over charcoal, with super-efficient and friendly service, some of the best sides in the game, along with a wine list that’s assembled with the kind of quality that defies expectations of even a really good steak restaurant.
And on top of the quality aspect, it's just a plain and simple fact that a very chunky percentage of the population's most desired meal is a good steak, so as a result Hawksmoor has become one of Manchester's most loved venues over the last decade, being one of the first London based operators to launch up here with huge success, in line with the huge numbers of people moving up from the capital over the last decade.
As a likely relation to that, there's two other newly opened London based steak brands in the city which both play on their value for money, which is clearly an indirect jab at Hawksmoor's prices. An infamous local food PR bod only this week claimed on his socials that one of said duo now has the better of Hawksmoor in terms of both beef and value; whilst likely getting fed for free on the quiet. But ultimately, value for me comes down to delivery of quality. Whilst the other venues have their own place in the market and I enjoy both of them for what they are, the others don’t credibly compare to Hawksmoor as a truly premium package. And such is life that you pay more for the best, and value/price are not the same thing after all.
Hawksmoor is a PhD level lesson in an operator picking a product that's seemingly simple, and then polishing every single facet perfectly to produce something rather special. |
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Hawksmoor Summer Lunch
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As with any city in which it operates, Hawksmoor is one of Manchester's most loved venues and for good reason. It's always one of our go-to destinations across the UK when in search of a reliably outstanding lunch or dinner, so we were delighted to be invited down to sample their new lunch menu.
We had; Hawksmoor Caesar which is a classic Hawksmoor dish that we religiously order as a side to our steaks when visiting of an evening, but this was also the perfect lunch time starter. Light, fresh, and utterly delicious as always. |
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Smoked Mackerel Salad was another perfect Summer plate. Outstanding quality smoked fish with perfectly boiled potatoes, wrapped up with a stunning dressing to tie it all together.
35 Day Dry-Aged Rump Steak is likely what most people will order from this menu though, and we were no exception. It's the same superb quality protein for which Hawksmoor is now legendary, cooked like a dream with a generous side salad, and some exceptional chips. Soft in the middle, but glass-like and crunchy on the outside. |
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Our second main was the Big Matt Burger, which is a clear spin on your favourite fast-food burger. Clearly though, this was on another level in comparison to that. Great beef patties, superb buns, all the usual familiar garnishes, and was just a huge and very well assembled masterpiece. We also had chips with this course too, as much as we usually like to order everything different to showcase things as best possible.
Special note goes to the lunch deal drinks offering, which features a selection for just £6 each. So whether you want a beer, a glass of Rose, a cocktail or a prosecco, Hawksmoor have you covered for a bargain price point on the drinks options! |
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Onto the puds and Sticky Toffee Sundae was a delight. Rich, creamy, generous in size, with layers of pudding, ice cream and shards of toffee to give it a bite of texture. It’s just absolutely perfect for that indecisive Summer sun outside on Deansgate.
And finally, peanut Butter Shortbread. Buttery goodness from the well executed shortbread, filled with peanut butter and a creamy hit from that Cheffy rocher of ice cream. A wonderful combo of temperatures,textures, and of course flavours. |
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Some extra icing on the cake is that Hawksmoor’s lunch menu costs just £19 for a main course, £23 for 2 courses, or an astounding value for money £26 for 3 courses. It’s available Monday to Saturday inclusive.
So whether it’s a working lunch, a Summer date, or a cheeky treat, Hawksmoor’s new lunch menu is a delicious excuse to dine out without breaking the bank. Walk-ins are welcome, but bookings are recommended. Can you think of a better combination of quality and value? |
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** Our experience was gratefully comped **
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Hawksmoor At Home - Sunday Roast
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Now everybody knows all about Hawksmoor. The London based bovine paradise which made it up to Manchester a few years back, selling top end steaks, top shelf wine, with some of the best cocktails that you'll sip anywhere in the land. Giles Coren rated it as the best restaurant in Manchester at the time. Clearly he was being more than a bit controversial and Southern-centric, but still, they do a sterling job. Simple stuff, done really well, using the best produce. All pretty straightforward really.
As per many places, they've offered at home kits for some time now with a variety of options. Most of the boxes contain both wine and cocktails, and of course top quality cow. This is Hawksmoor, after all so you're hardly going to specifically look for a falafel wrap or kale salad. |
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Almost shamefully, we have a freezer full of steak at the moment amidst some mid lockdown impulse buying, including a ton from one of Hawksmoor's main suppliers. So, couldn't justify shelling out on more steak and hence instead we opted for their Sunday Roast offering of roast beef.
The box hit our doorstep on the Friday, so waiting 2 days to get into the kitchen wasn’t going to be easy. Could a Friday Roast be an actual thing? We briskly opened the box to check over our haul yet somehow had to wait until Sunday to get our cook on. |
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Sunday landed. Pre -roast we started with the bundled cocktail which was an Ultimate Dry Martini; a 200ml bottle, so enough for two measures. Well balanced, made well, just as you'd expect it to be served in house. We even used a proper Martini glass and some preserved lemon, just to be fancy.
The above torturous delay was more than worth our patience. The ample wedge of 35 day dry aged rump roasted up like an absolute dream to blushing perfection, and the roster of the semi prepped sides was effortless to finish at home, even after a large Martini. Hawksmoor's 'Ultimate' roasties, super sweet roasted Chantenay carrots, properly buttered greens, a decadent cauli cheese, the all-important Yorkies, and some extra rich bone marrow gravy completed the ensemble. |
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The wine was a 2018 Mas Montel Petite Syrah (French Durif). Bold and hefty with bags of red fruit, cherry, redcurrant and just a nod of oaky smoke. Idyllically paired up with the roasted protein which it was picked out to meld with. This bottle retails at about a tenner and you'd pay £34 + 12.5% service whilst sat at a Hawksmoor table.
It's great to see decent vino being used in food boxes. All too often in DIY boxes they include a dodgy five quid bottle of plonk which would never see the actual restaurant wine list. Hawksmoor are doing things properly though. |
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With the main course and wine dealt with, can you honestly think of a better pudding on a Sunday afternoon than a classic apple crumble and custard? Hawksmoor's was a fine performance; apple cut to just the right sized dice, cooked to a perfect texture, hugged with a dreamy apple sauce, topped with substantial chunks of popcorny crumble, and a creamy custard which came laced with bags of vanilla pod. |
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At this stage it's worth noting that the cocktails alone would cost £24 on the dine in menu, plus that 12.5% again. So doing some maths, you'd pay £72.50 for just the drinks if you ate out. The at home box including delivery was £75. So based on some booze biased logic, your food in the home kit is essentially free, in a way, kind of. If you want to justify £75 on Sunday lunch for 2 at home.
We think that it's a bit of a bargain in all seriousness, and the only thing that wasn’t well-done, was that stunning beef! |
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The Court House, 184-186 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WB
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WORLD CLASS! 
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Good 
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OK 
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Poor
