Lady Lunchalot

I’m a big fan of communal eating. That’s why I love it when I go out to eat with a bunch of people who like to share their food, so everyone gets a taste of everything else.

Last night O and I went out to celebrate Signor Valvasori’s birthday at Manchester Lane. It was my first time there but it had all the necessary criteria for a great night out in one place: an imaginative cocktail menu, a dinner menu that makes your brow furrow with indecision, a non-smoking venue and great jazz music.

I suspected I was in for a treat when it took me about 20 minutes to decide what I was going to order.

For entrée we all ordered a few serves of dukkah floured calamari with rocket leaves, lime aioli and fresh lime to share. The calamari was nice and fresh, and it was a simple, clean dish, but it wasn’t particularly amazing.

The main courses were a different story. I ordered Asian style roast pork belly served on a salad made of crackling, lup chong sausage, apple and vietnamese mint and a beetroot roesti with a star anise jus. I know. How could I possibly go past that one on the menu?

O had duck confit (of course – I’ve never seen him ignore duck on a menu), served on braised cabbage and Kaiser fleisch bacon parcel with a marsala jus. It was very dark, very heavy and very wintery.

We also tasted an incredible gnocchi with blue cheese sauce, nashi pear and rocket salad (courtesy of the birthday boy) and brioche crumbed veal and sautéed du puy lentils. They were all superb.

But the main course was quickly forgotten when dessert arrived and I was served one of the most creative desserts I’ve seen in ages. Honey and walnut baklava with a tuft of very grown up fairy floss and Turkish delight ice cream. It was an exceptionally sweet dessert, but I have a healthy sweet tooth so I loved it. I’m also a sucker for baklava.

So many thanks to Signor Valvasori and his lovely lady Signorina Clarkebrese for introducing me to one of my new favourite places for a great night out.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 18th, 2006 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Reviews, Restaurants . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.