|
Masons Winter Menu Preview
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There’s not many nicer places in the city to spend a few hours of quality time over some delicious food, than at Mason’s Restaurant and Bar in the stunning Manchester Hall. It’s always an absolute pleasure to pay a visit and you’re guaranteed to feel special on any occasion. So, when Mason’s launched their new Bistro-style Winter menu and asked us to come down and take a look, we simply couldn’t say no.
Once inside that grand entranceway we were led to our cozy window booth, surrounded by customers having a great tine on a chilly Thursday evening. We were excited to get stuck in and see what all the fuss over the new Winter menu was about. |
|
|
|
|
|
Said Winter menu sports some true classics along with a score of Winter warmers, to help keep you going amidst the current artic-like climate.
Whilst picking our dishes we grazed on the Artisan Bread Selection (£8.5), which was uber generous and handy when partaking in some Winter carb-loading, which I tend to do all year round. The selection was made up of 3 different styles of good quality bread, with an array of compound butters. Chilli Honey Butter was the star here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ham Hock (£9.5) was a generous, hearty slab of shredded pork, seasoned properly with some well-cooked veg for textural variety. Winter chutney and a slice of toasted brioche finished the plate along with a garnish of well-dressed salad.
Duck Carpaccio (£12) looked fantastic and nailed it on flavour too. Well seared duck, sliced and plated into an attractive pattern. Some Romanesco added a touch of colour and a bit of shave fennel on top brought freshness to tie it all together. |
|
|
|
|
|
12 hour Slow Braised Short Rib (£22) feel apart into mere strands at the lightest of touch, following that long cooking process. Some tasty onion mash and roasted tender stem broccoli completed the plate, along with a delicious gravy made from the braising liquid, of which there was plenty.
Slow Roasted Pork Belly (£19) was superb. Crispy skin, with silky, juicy pork within. The cider-based sauce which this dish came served with, was fabulous. Sweet, rich, comforting with balanced acidity that worked so well with the fatty pork.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sticky Toffee Pudding (£8.5) is everybody’s favourite for good reason; because it’s straight up delicious in any weather. And this was a good one. A lovely pudding bathing in a deeply rich toffee sauce, with some clever caramel brittle and a ball of great tonka bean ice cream. As delicious as you’d hope it would be.
Ginger Spiced Cake Roulade (£9) completed our desserts and was a real treat, being a novel twist on the festive yule log, only covered in chocolate and nuts. Pear caramel, a ball of vanilla crème fraiche and caramelised nuts completed the plate. The perfect way to end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
So, Mason’s Winter menu is a winner. It’s hearty, delicious, great value, and as mentioned, the dining room is stunning, and easily one of our favourite spots to spend a couple of hours anywhere in the city, especially if you’re lucky enough to bag one of the booth seats as we did!
Book your table today!
|
|
Masons Restaurant Bar Autumn 21 Menu Preview |
|
|
|
<
|
|
|
New menu launch events; it feels like a lifetime ago since they last happened. And that’s probably because it actually is, so when we got an invitation to sample the new menu at Masons, we jumped at the chance.
Now Masons has always been one of our favourite dining spaces in the city. Tall ceilings and super modern blue colour schemes with gold accenting, built in the days when accountants had little say in how much was spent on making things look great, and long before everything was made of generic plasterboard and looked Scandinavian. It’s just a fantastic space.
Landing on a seasonally soaked Thursday evening, our greeting was warmer than the weather outside, and much better organised than the city centre traffic was on this particular evening. Our late arrival wasn’t a problem, and was handled with courtesy ahead of us being escorted to our comfy corner booth. |
|
|
|
|
|
Parmesan Arancini started us off, and are one of my favourite small bites; a Sicilian street snack classic which with some garnish and a plate, easily segways into becoming a proper dining room starter. Well cooked rice, lovely and gooey with the right amount of cheese, sat atop some truffle scented mayo, then garnished with some decadent slivers of black truffle and pea shoots; probably too many of the latter.
Our other starter was a real crowd pleaser. Chilli Popcorn Prawns came in a huge portion and were perfectly cooked with a crispy exterior coating the juicy prawns, along with a nicely balanced hit of spice. Very moreish. |
|
|
<
|
|
|
Chicken Supreme is a classic for good reason. Succulent chicken with crispy skin gave good texture and a lovely roasted flavour note. Garnish came in the form for crispy polenta cubes, which were plentiful in portion size and absolutely delicious. A plate would of possibly worked better than a bowl for ease of eating.
Cod with Shellfish Bisque was our second main. Fresh, delicate cod, paired wonderfully with the rich bisque sauce, filled with quality seafood. A truly indulgent plate. |
|
|
|
|
|
Sticky Toffee Pudding was Masons’ own take on everyone’s favourite pudding. The self-explanatory pudding element with a butterscotch inspired custard rather than toffee sauce, topped with a perfect ball of ice cream and some textbook honeycomb.
We finished up with Baked Alaska, as a nod towards the pending seasonality. Swiss meringue, prettily piped and blowtorched, blanketing a lovely hazelnut and coffee mouse, along with a little surprise in the very centre. But I won’t spoil that for you, although this is a dessert which you could share!
Book your table at Masons today, and get a taste of their new menu for yourself. |
|
Masons Restaurant Bar Summer 19 Menu Preview |
|
|
|
|
|
Since it's Summer, Masons have launched a few new seasonal menu items, ready for the sun, if itself decides to make a launch. We were invited down for a taste of what you can expect, so here's what we thought! |
|
|
|
As we gazed over the menu, debating which of the new appearances to sample, the Gin Trolley appeared at our table. That's not a typo. The Gin Trolley. Now when it comes to dining rooms, generally anything served on a trolley is instantly brilliant. Cheese. Bread. Puddings. Table side cooking. But a Gin Trolley is a new one to us.
Your server establishes a bit about your gin tastes, and then constructs a bespoke gin serve, using an array of gins, premium tonics, and a selection of tied-in botanicals. These perfect serves cost £12 per creation, and are worth every penny for the theatre and experience alone. |
|
|
|
Lobster (£13), which was served as a half tail, with whole claw for some extra decadence. It came with lemon mousseline and Summer Veg Salad, and was much brighter than the Mancunian Summer skies outside. |
|
|
|
Tuna Tartare (£9) was served in a glass, with the rich tuna pairing well with lightly dressed salad, and some textural pop from pomegranate seeds, finished with a novel introduction of sliced almonds, for an extra dimension. Light and summery, as hoped. |
|
|
|
Summer Chicken (£17) was Summer on a plate. Perfectly cooked, juicy chicken, served with crispy skin, still on. As it should be. Garnish was a fresh serving of minted peas, and lovely charred Pak Choi. This was well partnered with a glass of zesty Parlez-Vous Picpoul de Pinet (£9/250ml). |
|
|
|
Sea Bass (£20) was novelly served as a whole fish, only butterflied rather than filleted. Tender, soft, perfectly cooked flakes of fish, with some lovely aioli filled fondant potatoes, seasonal greens, garlic, herb and caper berry dressing. The obligatory wine match for this dish was a textbook aromatic Kiwi, Turtle Bay Sauvignon Blanc (£8.50/250ml). |
|
|
|
White Chocolate Marquise (£7) was another light and suitably Summery affair. A white chocolate dome, with lovely smooth texture and a prettily garnished plate, all balanced with some lovely lemon balm acidity. Chocolate and yet lightness. Everyone's a winner. |
|
|
|
Cheesecake (£7) with Olde English Peach was served 'deconstructed'. A crumble and poached peach bottom, topped with a creamy cheesecake element and some meringue feathers. An ideal way to finish up. |
|
|
|
So, the new Summer menu is a hit, as is that Gin Trolley! You can't miss it, and we were left wondering how it hadn’t somehow been wheeled into our lives way earlier. |
|
|
|