Lennox A La Carte Launch

Those who've followed our thoughts on Six by Nico for any time will know that the RoM office are huge fans.  Six is a gateway brand into true premium dining, and the value for money which it presents is remarkable.  The fact that so many people directly compare it to proper fine dining venues whilst forgetting that it's not trying to be that, tells you what a good product is it.

But even at that level you can see nuances which suggest that there's a lot more in the creativity tank.  So what if Nico decided to do something with more depth and indeed a pricier menu?  Well, a few weeks ago Lennox was announced in the former Spring Gardens' Six unit, so we were a bit giddy about our pending visit/s to preview things ahead of launch!  The plural visits wasn’t a typo, but I shall come to that later.

So the new décor is in our view a huge improvement over the last fit out.  The bar is now to the left as you enter, with the massive open kitchen right at the back acting as the focal point.  It's flanked by dry ageing fridges, with slabs of pink salt at their base to help draw moisture from those hefty rib steaks, to boost their beefy flavour.

For those who have a deep interest in how your food was prepped can sit watching the Chefs ply their trade, and we happily sat at the table/s immediately facing the pass to do just that.  Chef Nico himself was working the pass, with his team behind him calmly producing the goods.

As our plates arrived we started with snack, the obligatory croustades (£9.5), beef tartare tempered with oyster emulsion in this case, only rather than a samey casing these were moulded into the shape of an oyster shell.  A strong indicator of what was to come as per any good snack.

The next plate was a playful rendition of a dish which could easily sit on a Six by Nico menu, albeit this was a bit more refined.  Ham, Egg and Chips (£10.5) was superb.  A smoked ham tranche, with egg yolk jam topped with a pretty disk of caramelised pineapple for that retro hit.  Some textured potato slices/mini crisps completed the comforting plate.

The next course was a unanimous winner for the whole table.  Lennox's Fish Finger (£9.50) was more playful cooking with slices of fish, bound together for form a square shape, then crumbed and deep fried, before being sliced and sat on top of a classic Gribiche and a smoked bacon butter sauce.  Punchy flavours and looked great too.

The party of starters/snacks came to an end with the Loaded Potato Skins (£11), with the loaded part being some oxtail ragu and a fragrant herb crumb. Delicious completion to a wave of plates which clearly set out Nico's intent for Lennox.

The larger plates started to arrive and our pick was the Potato Agnolotti (£14); parcels of perfectly made, generously filled and well-cooked pasta, topped with an indulgent rabbit ragu and crumb for some mouth feel.  An accomplished plate which was also a lovely nod to Nico's Italian heritage.

But the next dish was an absolute stunner.  Lamb Belly Katsu (£15) hit true highs with its incredibly deep sauce, and perfectly cooked protein.  At the risk of sounding a bit self-indulgent, immediately atter lunch at Lennox we drove to Birmingham for the evening, and then onto South Wales to eat at 2 Michelin listed tasting menu focused venues.  After the whole weekend was over, we still put this dish in the top 5 that we'd eaten all weekend.  It really was that enjoyable and well executed.

But it's not just snacks, small and larger plates at Lennox, they also feature a pretty impressive steak menu too including favourite cuts such as a porterhouse, a luxurious chateaubriand, or our pick which was a stunning rib eye (£30).  Great quality beef cooked simply yet precisely to our medium rare preference, served confidently with a red wine sauce.  We added a Caesar salad on the side to give it a Hawksmoor-eqsue spin, and that was as delicious as we'd hoped, with the acid and freshness working really well with the richness of our beef.

The meal ended with a shared dessert, as we'd indulged enough for a Friday lunch plus had to head down to the midlands for the briefly aforementioned dinner just a few hours later!  Salted Caramel tart (£9.5) was really well done.  A snappy based with well-balanced caramel filling, side kicked with some smooth yoghurt sorbet.

** Our experience was gratefully comped **

Lennox Sunday Roast Launch

Now as touched on at the top of this page, we actually returned to Lennox a couple of days following the above write up to try their Sunday Roast menu.  It's worth noting that the full menu is also available on a Sunday, which when you consider the size of said menu is a true feat for the kitchen to pull off.  But they did so without any trouble at all.

No starters were needed with the Sunday roast, and the portion sizes are phenomenal, but you can order from the main menu too should you wish.  You get a choice of dry aged beef or cauliflower, along with a host of traditional trimmings.  The menu/prices have been updated since launch, so visit their website for the latest prices.

We both ordered the beef and were rewarded with its splendid provenance, and a perfectly measured cuisson.  The portion size was also huge, akin to a solid sized steak.  It was plated with roasties, carrots, red cabbage and a pouring jug of lovely gravy which disappeared pretty quickly.

A cast iron ramekin of mac and cheese was served for each person, amazingly, as one to share would have been more than plenty.  It was generous, cooked really well to a nice crisp on top, with the middle staying oozy with a nice little cheese pull for those who like IG'able theatrics with their pasta.

But arguably the crown jewel on the plate is Lennox's Yorkshire Pudding, that’s been stuffed with shredded beef served in its own cast iron vessel.  It could happily act as a main course in itself.

Pigs in blankets to share was always going to be a winner.  Everybody's favourite festive side dish is neglected for 11.5 months of the year, but not at Lennox.  Here you can get them all year round!  We had a brief chat with Chef Nico about this, and it was a point that everybody agreed on.

Once all the dishes were served the table became a true platter, and our table for 2 was barely big enough to contain the goods.  You can add more sides to your order, but for 2 people what we received was more than enough.

We ordered our dessert and during a short wait, which was pre-warned to us by our server, we gazed over and watched by as Chef Nico butchered more beef to get on the go, to cater for that understandable demand from diners.  It's just a wonderful process to watch, and the seats right next to the kitchen pass are ones which you'll love if you have even a remote interest in food prep.

Hot from the oven our sharing chocolate fondant was served, gooey, oozy, deeply chocolaty and totally satisfying, and again a more than generous portion size.  Nico's 100% well versed in what makes us Mancunians smile.

We were well and truly stuffed, and couldn’t fit in anything more, following a truly solid Sunday lunch.  We can't think of many places in town who pull off a Sunday roast to this standard in all honesty, as the quality, quantity and value are all superb.  It's a meal that we usually cook at home as a result, but we will 100% happily return to Lennox and dodge the washing up!

** Our experience was gratefully comped **