City Café Manchester

Affordable food & stylish surrounds are typical of the Mint Hotel chain, & this outpost gets an added boost from its imposing location: the new Piccadilly Place development, just a stroll from Piccadilly Station. With its plate-glass outlook (& alfresco options), the City Cafe is also a popular dining destination, & the kitchen is surprisingly ambitious – witness starters of Jerusalem artichoke veloute with confit duck leg, & cep brioche or breast & leg of quail with date puree, crisp pancetta & pickled walnut. Mains follow a similar path, offering ballottine of oxtail with bone marrow & parsnip puree, braised carrots, poached tongue & Hermitage jus, as well as red-wine poached halibut with creamed celeriac, beetroot confit & parsley root. Earl Grey tea cream with Eccles cakes & milk foam rounds things off with a regional twist. Two-course lunches (£9.95) & three-course dinners (£16.50) are good value.