"We were really looking forward to our pre-theatre dinner at Numero. We arrived at the restaurant an hour and a half before the show started and our party of 3 were seated right away, our order taken within 5 minutes by our lovely waitress. All seemed to be going smoothly, it's a lovely restaurant and nice atmosphere, until 45 minutes later when we received our starter. You can imagine how we were feeling.
The food looked and tasted lovely but we had to rush it as we were watching the time. We asked the waitress if she could ask the chef to follow with our main asap as we had to get to our show in half an hour. 20 Minutes later our mains arrived with a lovely smile from our waitress. We had 5 minutes to eat our mains as the show was about to start in 10 minutes. Again the food was very tasty from what we managed to eat, but was let down by the very slow service in the kitchen. I would say that the restaurant has a very modern feel with a nice atmosphere. The waitress was very nice and did apologise for the slow service. Would like to say I would try again, but I just don't know." - Stephen Diamond, Manchester - member since Nov 2008 (27/6/09 - visited on a friday evening)

"Booked for two and table was ready on arrival. Great decor, very stylish. Friendly staff. Decent, varied Italian menu and wine list. Calves Liver to start, melted in the mouth, sublime. Filetto Rossini/Porcini Risotto for mains. Ordered steak medium - cooked to perfection. Risotto was a little al dente as it should be, so top marks to the chef. Modest sized portions, could have done with a bit more Risotto. Leaves enough room for a desert though. Fig parfait was pretty good. Excellent bottle of red wine (Corvina based) and four Espressos to finish. £89, so not overly expensive. Nice for couples/small parties. Would go again." - julian banks, bolton 6/3/09 (visited on a saturday evening - NEW MEMBER)

"I went to Numero last week to say farewell a friend and I was satisfied with the food and service. A really nice place to go and I enjoyed the atmosphere and decoration. The food was excellent but the portions are small so I felt hungry again 2 hours later. For the price, I expected to have more lamb or duck etc. It is a bit expensive for me (I spent £30 just on food)." - jenny, manchester 3/3/09 (visited on a saturday evening)

"Numero, on the ground floor of the plush Manchester235 casino, boasts arguably the swankiest decor of any Italian in the city centre. The surroundings make for the perfect location for Manchester's fashionistas, yet the atmosphere remains casual enough to be all inclusive, reflected by the excellent menu, which boasts plenty to choose from regardless of your budget.

We were extremely impressed with the traditional dishes on the menu; eleven pasta dishes are joined by nine meat and fish choices, with eight pizzas available too. From traditional regional specialities to modern twists on classic dishes, there's something here for everyone.

Whilst service was extremely friendly and attentive, the accuracy of the order wasn't as good - we ordered Seafood Linguine as a starter (£5), only to receive Seafood Rissotto (also £5), which we got stuck into instead. Described as Risotto cooked in Seafood Stock with Prawn, Mussel and Squid, there was a distinct lack of prawn and squid, whilst the mussels were very small, to the point where there was hardly any meat, and their bitter taste made them unappetizing - not the best dish to serve to (in this case) a Scandinavian reviewer with a background of working in the Seafood Industry.

The main courses were better, the Chicken Wrapped in Pancetta (£12.50) was delicious, as was the wonderful Mashed Potato that accompanied it. The Chicken Calzone pizza (£7.50) was too much of a twist on the classic pizza for this calzone addict, and as a result didn't quite work - chicken being too dry a meat for a folded pizza in my eyes - would have been better with the traditional ham filling.

The sorbet and ice cream desserts were perfect (although the waitress again got it wrong delivering Hazelnut instead of Stracciatella) and, had we not been in a rush to get to a show at the Opera House next door, we would have stayed longer to sample the excellent collection of Grapa's and Dessert Wines.

All in all, Numero is a great restaurant that is ideal for formal meals, romantic nights or group parties. The prices are reasonable and, with plenty of offers and gourmet nights, 10% off for casino members or 50% off for Hi-Life card holders, certainly worthy of a repeat visit. We'll be back soon." - restaurants of manchester - 17/10/08 (visited on a thursday evening)