Image courtesy Fetch Didsbury
There are some restaurants that come so highly recommended you’re sure you’re in for a let down. Rhubarb was one that had the hype…. and then lived right up to it.
I could start with the friendly and knowledgeable service, or the ambiance enhanced by the heavily misted windows and the background chatter that’s generated in a packed restaurant – but you can take that as read, so I’ll get straight to the food.
Described as a modern international restaurant, it has a small but perfectly formed seasonal menu. 7 times out of ten I go for beef so I could have selected the sirloin steak, 2 times out of ten I’ll have lamb so could have selected the roast lamb rump served with Moroccan spiced sweet potatoes, but this time my attention was drawn straight to the roast chicken served with creamy mash, merguez sausage and spinach.
I can honestly say that this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, and that’s some achievement for roast chicken! The chicken was perfectly moist and the flavour of the merguez sausage really brought the dish alive. The mash was warming which is just what you need on an icy night, and the whole dish was complimented by the chefs selection of, and superbly seasoned spinach. The gravy brought it all together and was there in sufficient quantity to delight this yorshireman.
My wife had the Sea Bass served with ratatouille which was beautifully presented and did justice to the exceptional ingredients. Her star choice though was the decision to order a side dish of green beans in a herb and garlic butter. OH MY GOD is all I can say, and for those who know me it takes a minor miracle for me to get excited about veg. The side was £3 but was plenty to go round the four of us and is my top tip if you head to Rhubarb Didsbury any time soon.
I’d been highly recommended the sticky toffee pudding so I thought ‘who am I to argue’ and dived straight in. Now I had sticky toffee pudding from The Red Lion high lane the previous week, so this was setting up a direct battle. I have to admit the pudding itself was more flavourful and moist at Rhubarb, but the toffee sauce was better at the red lion and you got more of it. So bring the two together and you’d have the perfect pud!
Rhubarb had a chance to finish with a flourish though as we’d ordered a cheese board to share between the four of us. This was a hand picked selection of six award winning British cheeses (and where possible local). I won’t review all six but a full list can be found here on the sample a la carte menu. My favourites had to be the Sandham’s smoked Lancashire, the Barbers cheddar and the welsh brie. All were top of their class cheeses and finished the meal of as it should be. My only minor criticism of the night though was that there was not enough of the cheese – for £13 we expected bigger chunks so there was a bit of an anti climax when the board arrived. ‘Please sir, we want more‘ would be my only ask of Rhubarb when we return!
I have to leave this review on an entirely positive note though as we had a fantastic night, phenomenal food and excellent service from a restaurant with a clear passion for what they do.
So next time you’re looking for a restaurant in Manchester head to west Didsbury and experience Rhubarb for yourself.
