Malmaison Manchester

Manchester’s Piccadilly is awash with dining opportunities these days, but it would be foolish to forget the charms of Malmaison’s solid brasserie. The wrought iron & baguette may suggest French fancies, but one of the kitchen’s strengths is its ‘home-grown & local’ menu. At £16.50 for three courses, it offers a jaunt through celebrated North Country ingredients such as Goosnargh duck & chicken, Bury black pudding & Lancashire-grown leaves, with simple puds like custard tart to follow. Given the amount of business trade here, you can expect plenty of burgers & steak frites to waft past – although these have sound Scottish heritage, courtesy of royal butcher Donald Russell. If you’re catching a train across the road, keep an eye on the time – it disappears remarkably quickly in the Mal’s dark, sexy bar.