The Cut & Craft Preview

The city centre has been blessed with the introduction of a few steak driven restaurants last year or so, with something for all tastes, occasions and budgets.  But an outstanding mention from the bunch was The Cut and Craft; a brand which has been creating quite a bit of positive noise back in their native Yorkshire since first launching in the lovely city of York in 2019, followed by Leeds in 2022.   

Restaurants Of Manchester had a fantastic time at the press launch event back in Spring this year, so were keen to return after receiving a kind invitation to sample their Sharing Sunday Roast.  Whilst doing some pre-attendance research on socials, it looked like a huge platter of goods and was generally impressive on the eyes!  But there's only one way to find out if delivery stacked up to the visuals, so we headed into the city centre. 

We arrived on a typically wet Mancunian day, surrounded by bucket hats and Adidas trackies, thanks to the ongoing Oasis gigs.  But once sat down, it's instantly obvious that The Cut and Craft have secured an utter gem of a unit here, located in the historic former RBS building on Mosley Street. 

So as with any building with financial roots from back in those days, the ceilings are palatial, the décor is stunning, and it's just an amazingly impressive space. You simply can't beat old banking buildings for presence and history, on top of generally being suited to getting adopted as restaurant fit outs.  It's a gorgeous spot.

We delved into the menu and despite being well aware that the roast was probably enough for 2 people, we decided to order a couple of starters too.  I mentioned earlier that 'we' enjoyed the press launch.  Sadly, I personally couldn’t make it so send 2 of my best reviewers instead, hence until this meal I'd never actually been to The Cut and Craft so thought that I may as well make the most of the occasion and add a few bits which weren't part of the press invite.

We started with Beef Fillet Tartare (£15).  Now I have no qualms at all in admitting that I'm a massive tartare snob.  I adore it and a genuinely good one is frustratingly hard to find in the city, but this was a winner.  Lovely quality hand diced beef, tempered with just the right about of acidity and salt, crowned with a novel crumbed/fried egg yolk which was still runny enough when sliced to allow itself to emulsify everything perfectly. 

The toast which this came with was probably a bit too thick, like Warbies Medium type thickness. Melba toasts would have worked better, but still, we really enjoyed this dish and it felt inline with those stunning surroundings.

The Seafood Tempura (£15), was our second starter and a bounty of a catch which also divided into 2 to share perfectly. Sweet slices of scallop, juicy king prawns, meaty monkfish, with a well-balanced tartare sauce plus the added fire of Togarashi seasoning.

The surprising addition to this plate though was some samphire tempura, which despite acting like a garnish also worked wonderfully well with the other tempura-ed goods.  The added pop of saltiness and freshness served as much more than a mere embellishment.  This was also a great value for money plate.

But we were here for the Sunday Sharing Roast, and ours soon arrived on its sturdy platter.  The sheer scale of it is admirable.  Im guessing that it's designed to feed 2 based on the double Yorkies, but in all honesty it could probably be fit to feed 3 or even 4.

4 generous slices of lovely quality beef sirloin, cooked to perfection. On top of that there was half a roasted chicken, and two tranches of slow roasted pork belly. The meats were served with roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips, those 2 huge Yorkshire puddings, half a charred hispi, onion puree and also some tenderstem broccoli.

All the proteins were clearly well sourced and of great quality, so it's evident that that The Cut and Craft don’t cut corners when it comes to provenance.  And whilst our jug of gravy was more than enough for even the biggest gravy fanatic, the gravy is unlimited should a whole jug somehow not be enough.

A bottle of Beaute du Sud French Malbec (£35) was our choice of tipple, which paired well with our feast.  The designation was Vin De France, which is basically a region-less bottle which our cross-Channel friends generally class as table wine.  I'd gladly have this on my table anytime.

But back to the sharing roast; we also added a couple of extra sides which were absolutely not needed in terms of volume, based on there being just two of us.

Macaroni Cheese (£6.50) featured bags of rich cheese sauce enrobed pasta, topped with breadcrumbs for a bit of texture.  The pasta was technically overcooked, but that’s one of my admitted out-of-work guilty pleasures.  But it was generally a super generous and wholly delicious side, which was easily finished off. 

The Cauliflower Croquettes (£6) were similarly generous in size and fully in line with everything else.  Super soft in the middle, with that deep fried casing offering the perfect crunch.  

Moving onto puds, or single pud as that's all that we could fit in, we just had to go for the Champagne Baba (£10).  It was doused with the in-house favourite of Moet & Chandon, and filled with vanilla Chantilly, mango & passion fruit.  A bit of extra sweetness was possibly needed due to the tag team of that dry wine and passion fruit, but this was a delectable way to end a hugely enjoyable and massively indulgent Sunday lunch. 

But before we headed off for a lie down, I just had to head to the basement for a peek of the ladies' restrooms.  They've been generating quite a bit of fuss over Instagram, from people who seemed to visit the facilities for reasons other than 'using' them.  To each their own.  But on my visit to actually 'use' them, I was greeted by other customers taking selfies.  Lots and lots of selfies, and even a few SLRs. 

It's clear that The Cut and Craft are aware of this strange phenomenon based on the sign outside asking customers to not hog the space for people who want to use it as intended.  But yeah, the loos are stunning.  I'd have taken an ironic photo had they been empty.  

Special note also goes for the private dining room too, which is located inside a historic ex banking fault, and is an absolutely feast for the eyes.  I cheekily popped in to grab a couple of shots, for your entertainment since there wasn’t anybody using it at the time.  It's without a doubt one of the most eye-catching PDR's in the city.  

So, The Cut and Craft has hit Manchester with a bang, and their Sunday Sharing Roast is a real winner.  It's a stunning platter of food, with great quality produce that's been carefully prepared.  It's superb value for money too, and just like the building itself, is a true feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds!

Get yourself booked in!