Stow

Don’t be fooled if Stow looks quiet from the front - the street-facing bar is a mere transition, and as we wind through a mazy corridor into the bowels of the restaurant, the place comes alive. This is not a bespoke dining room - Stow has moulded itself around this twisting, turning space, sliding seats into nooks and crannies, and along a sleek metal counter that faces the kitchen. The vibe grabs you as soon as you sit down; Nas’s Illmatic is booming out of the sound system, and up at the counter, you’re so close to the kitchen you might as well be in it.

The fun is infectious. In less than a minute, the team has already put a drink in your hand, on the house. We summon a dish of milk bread, wild garlic butter and toasted yeast, and watch as a friendly chef immediately slices up a loaf and pops it on the grill. Milk bread is prone to drying out a bit but a light toast is perfect, and the whipped wild garlic butter is unbelievably delicious.

Everything else on the menu is staunchly no-frills. The first real taste of Stow’s true potential comes in the form of a pork and fennel sausage, carrying plenty of grill char, served with a pile of pear jam. Sweet, savoury, a heavy dose of smoke and gentle prickle of heat - this sausage has it all. It might have ruined bog standard sausages for us forever. A subsequent slab of ex dairy ribeye is beautifully cooked - fat rendered, still nice and pink in the middle. At £60 it’s really solid value as well, and an accompanying Alsace Pinot Noir chugs down nicely with it. We manage to save room to share a slice of smoked cream tart (fast becoming legendary, we hear) and poached rhubarb. It’s the most distinct thing on the menu, balancing sweetness with plenty of savoury character and another hit of smoke.

Slightly overwhelmed at how good everything is, we stumble out into the night, like ravers escaping to a smoking area. The cold air feels nice, but we already miss our seats at the counter - as good a sign as any that Stow has that special something. Top class cooking, brilliant hospitality, no messing around - Stow is a stone cold classic.

Bringing warmth (quite literally) and comfort to Manchester, Stow is an open fire restaurant and cocktail bar in the Deansgate area. Armed with exceptional skill, seasonal ingredients and a passion for good food, the chefs cook exclusively over open fire. Doors are closed on Monday and Tuesday, but open the rest of the week from midday until late.

The menu changes with the seasons, and what ingredients are most readily available, but the menu is always something special. First up are small plates of milk bread with burnt onion butter, roasted red peppers with sherry vinegar and pork and fennel sausage with creme fraiche and salsa rossa. Starters include a citrus cured salmon with pickled mustard seed, buttermilk and dill, and overnight coal beets with ricotta and smoked honey – how delicious does that sound?

Also on this fraction of the menu are the wild boar skewers with BBQ apple and fennel, and borlotti beans with extra virgin olive oil and sage. There are just a few main dishes, including brined chicken with tarragon jus, and ex-dairy rib eye with roasted garlic. Last but not least, the whole monkfish tail with trout roe beurre blanc and dill. On the side, you can enjoy tasty dishes to really elevate your meal, like the le ratte potatoes with garlic, parsley and corra linn, some citrus roasted vegetables and roasted crown prince with brown butter.

It wouldn't be a meal out without a sweet treat at the end, and we love the sound of the earthy dark chocolate cremeux with spiced date and nutmeg, along with the quince ice cream with Corra Linn cheese, and smoked cream tart served with rum plum.