Whilst the table we were allocated is certainly the best in the restaurant, you’ll still find a decent view from elsewhere in Second Floor. The ambience is additionally helped with a playlist of modern acoustic tracks from the likes of Ben Howard and Lana Del Ray.

The restaurant was reasonably busy for a Tuesday afternoon with many diners here for the Tasting Menu offer and the brilliant Afternoon Teas.

As you would expect for a restaurant which is literally 20 metres from the Harvey Nichols Wine Shop, the wine list is the best we’ve seen in Manchester however is notably pricey. The “Wine Of The Month” was the Australian favourite Cloudy Bay, with a choice of 2013 Sauvignon Blanc at £45 (£23 in their shop), the 2011 Chardonnay at £46 (£24 in store), or the 2011 Pinot Noir for £57.50.

The rest of the menu is packed with a huge array of Champagnes and sparkling wines which , complementing the offerings from Burgandy, Bordeoux, Loire Valley, Alsace, Rhone, Germany, Austria, Hungary, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Lebanon, Australia, New Zealand, America, Argentina and Chile amongst others. There’s also a great variety of wines available “by the glass”. We opted for the reasonably priced Harvey Nichols Brut Champagne (£8.50) and a glass of their own label South Australian Clare Valley Riesling (£9), which were both excellent.

The Tasting Menu amuse bouche arrived first – an extremely tasty Rosary Goats Cheese with roasted fig and pickled beetroot – if the rest of the meal is as good as this, we’re on to a winner for £25.

The Sea Trout starter from the Tasting Menu, with butternut squash, herb gnocchi and squid ink was nice, however our personal preference would have been to have the skin more crispy. We should point out that it was the same size as the a la carte menu starter of Seared Tuna, tartare, wasabi, carrot and ginger, which beautifully presented on a slate, was maybe was not as pink inside as we would have preferred but was delicious nonetheless.

The Intermediate Tasting Menu dish of Pea Tortellini looked delicious and was very well cooked but lacked flavour. Served with rocket salad, rocket pesto and one macadamia nut, it unfortunately tasted bland.

Service throughout was excellent, the three different waitresses were all very attentive and friendly. Our main waitress, from Prague, was excellent and seemed to also be having a good laugh with other diners in the restaurant. We got chatting to some ladies-who-lunch on the table next to us and they also commented on how good the service had been, whilst pointing out how good the Tasting Menu was.

Mains were excellent. The Corn Fed Goosnargh Chicken on the Tasting Menu was amazing, possibly the stand out dish – with the shallot & thyme polenta worthy of note. The roast carrots and grelot onions adding to the flavour. It’s certainly a dish we’re likely to return for when the craving kicks ins as it’s also available on the a la carte menu (apparently double the size, not that we were complaining with the portion we got).

Talking of flavours, there was so much going on with the Lemon Sole. The beautiful wild mushroom risotto was perfectly cooked – possibly the best we’ve had since one cooked for us personally by Antonio Carluccio – and was perfectly matched with artichoke barigold (whatever that is), black grapes and almonds. Delicious in every sense!.

The desserts were equally delicious – the Strawberry & White Chocolate Souffle with Strawberry Meringue (on both menus) was perfect and the Pumpkin & Parkin, served with pumpkin ice cream, ginger espuma and golden syrup jelly was perfect for a grey Manchester Autumn Day.

Overall, we were very impressed with Second Floor Restaurant – it’s certainly one of the best restaurants in Manchester and there’s enough special offers available to appeal to those put off by the a la carte price. In fact, Harvey Nichols is a fantastic place for a meal with The Second Floor Brasserie next door also giving diners the option to dine from a cheaper more basic menu.

This being the first of the 15 best fine-dining restaurants we are to visit this week, the standard has been set very high for many aspects. Second Floor Restaurant truly delivers on being more than a restaurant with just a good view." - restaurants of manchester - 22/10/13