Refuge Summer Preview

We've noticed a pattern; whenever we write about Refuge, the piece usually starts with something along the lines of; it's one of the city's most iconic dining rooms, within the amazing Kimpton Clocktower hotel, and that very few restaurants in Manchester are as instantly recognisable, etc etc.  Well, that's because all of the above is 100% factual, so it's an ideal starting blurb for any article about the place in question.

Based on all of that, we purposely arrived via the front door rather than the cheeky corner entrance which is the fastest route to Refuge if you're coming in via the city centre.  The reason for the short detour was to take in the ceiling views of that sunning foyer.  It's quite simply one of the finest pieces of architecture anywhere in Manchester city centre and is why the building itself is such a local icon.

We soon landed at Refuge itself to test drive the new seasonal menu, 100% curated by Chef Cameron Tetlow.  We've known Cameron for a while now, and he possesses a very special talent which is all too lacking in Chef's these days.  Not only are his plates delicious, but he also understands the skill of feeding you very well indeed.  As usual on such invited menu preview visits, we handed full control of the dishes that we received over to Chef.  He knows the best bits better than anyone, after all.

We sat back and waited for things to start arriving, which didn't take very long at all.  An always superb start is the Holy Grain Sourdough (£6.7), which was served with a hefty swoosh of whipped butter.  It's a locally made bread which oozes of quality.  It's fair to say that for the purpose of simply eating as is, with some butter, there's no better bread than sourdough.  It was overdone for years with literally everybody serving it, but is once again a staple that I look forward to now that the rest of the world has generally moved on to serving the now presently overdone Parker House rolls, or Japanese milk bread, as their bread option/s.

The above bread came with two dips, firstly a cracking Whipped Smoked Feta dip (£7), topped with broad beans, mint and honey to deliver classically Hellenic flavour combos.  We just got back from a food led trip to Greece last week, and this was as good than any dip that we had out there.  Massive praise.

But the winner of the two dips was an unbelievable Babaganoush (£7).  It's not usually a dish that I'm overly fond of to be honest as it routinely carries a slimy texture.  But here, Chef Cameron has clearly put a lot of effort into making this as smooth and silky as is humanly possible.  Alright, so maybe his blender/Thermomix did, but we can still give him the credit.  Genuinely, the most enjoyable babaganoush that I can recall eating.  Smoky, smooth, with massive depth of flavour.

A new dish on the menu is the Merguez Sausage (£13), a spicy African originated sausage which is loaded with aromatic spices.  Refuge's was lovely quality, cooked perfectly evenly and served simply yet beautifully with a textbook celeriac remoulade, along with some sweetness and acid from Granny Smith puree.  Confident, delicious, and bound to be a real crowd pleaser.

To accompany the new offering, we also received an old school Refuge classic which we've somehow not tried yet until now.  Korean Fried Chicken (£10) was just superb.  Juicy chicken with a coating that was sticky, spicy, and crunchy in equal measures.  We knew that a lot of food was en route so purposely left a piece of this as to avoid overdoing it.  Come the end of dinner about an hour after it was served, we finished off the last piece and even then was still crunchy!  Unquestionably, a highlight of the whole evening.

Cured Trout (£12) rounded off the initial dishes.  4 tranches of quality fish, garnished simply with sorrel, bonito cream, a few fronds of dill and slices of fresh radish to add a textural facet to things.  It's an ideal dish for those in seek of something a bit lighter to start their meal with.

We also took the kind opportunity to dabble with Refuge's cocktail offerings in between the starters and mains, so thought it only fair to share a few words on those too.  The Glamour of Manchester (£15) featured Manchester Refuge Assurance Blend Gin, St. Germain elderflower, lemon, vanilla, topped with berry wine foam.  Also the Boulevardier (£13.5) was a perfect aperitif; well-balanced being sweet yet bitter.  Whilst ordering, my Bury accent and dire pronunciation didn’t do this any justice at all.  Fortunately the lovely lady taking care of us was French, so did a much classier job when repeating the drinks order back to us.

As the main dishes started to land, our first side course was served in readiness.  Chargrilled Tenderstem Broccoli (£8.5) was super generous in portion size, served with a suave Romesco which perfectly accented those charred notes from the greenery.  An ideal side to any of the mains, which promptly started arriving on our table.

Braised Lamb Shoulder (£25), is, getting to the point, probably my favourite cut of lamb.  When treated with love, patience and care, there isn’t another part of the animal which satisfies as much.  This dish ticked all 3 boxes.  It absolutely fell apart without and in hindsight we should have snapped an internal photo.  The meat was paired with miso aubergine puree, along with a with lamb and basil Italian-inspired sauce. Dreamy stuff.

Whole Lemon Sole (£35) was a feast for the eyes as well as taste buds, and we took our time filleting this at tableside like the pros we are, but staff will happily do it for you if you ask.  Here it's served with a divine Café de Paris butter, some say the king of all compound butters, which I've admittedly never had with fish before, only with steak, in line with tradition.  But then tradition isn’t always correct, and it works equally as well with sole despite my initial fears of it being too big for the fish.  Sensational.

Rose Harissa Chicken (£23) is served with a punchy nduja and butterbean cassoulet, which was truly delicious.  Smoky and rich with plenty of body from the beans, complemented with a nod of harissa spice which was there, but restrained enough to not offend or wreck the wider dish's balance.  But the chicken itself, whilst being well cooked and generous in portion size, perhaps lacked the flavour punch of the other dishes so far and needed a bit more pazazz.  We fed this back to Chef and luckily didn’t get kicked out.

Cauliflower Bravas (£9) is another Refuge icon which quite simply should never come off the menu.  If I was vegetarian Id eat cauli 3 times a week, at least.  It's just so versatile and meaty in its own way.  Refuge's replaces the traditional potato without losing anything at all.  The cauli was cooked immaculately, retaining some bite with a nice char to add an unbeatable depth of flavour, served with that iconic tomato based sauce.  This was a side but could quite happily act as a vege main course.

Chef insisted we order a couple of dessert driven cocktails to go with our pending sweet courses, starting with the Espresso Martini, a cocktail which appears to have fallen out of favour with many in recent years for some reason.  But for me, it's the ideal cohort for many puddings.  And the second team-member was sadly for him, driving, so had to stick to a West Coast Cooler (£8), which I'm assured was also delicious and didn’t miss the alcohol at all.

Now there's no question that since our last visit, the biggest improvement has been in the pastry section.   Desserts have always been tasty at Refuge but now they are as refined as they are delicious, with Chef Cameron showing off the arsenal of his technical background.  Tonkamissu (£9) was a play on the classic Italian pud, chocolate shelled tonka parfait, coffee ice cream, all topped with a lovely cocoa nib tuile for texture and a bit of balanced bitterness to hold back the sweetness and richness.

And lastly, White Peach (£10) was served with all things raspberry, along with lavender and a rocher of Prosecco sorbet.  These were both dishes that you could easily put on the menu in any of the city's Michelin listed venues, and nobody would bat an eye lid.  Only you'd also pay more than nine or ten quid at those places.  Superb.

So the new Refuge menu is a winner, and hand on heart, is in our view as good as it's ever been.  There's enough of the old untouchable favourites to keep regulars happy, but the new additions are generally fantastic and some real quality has been added to what's already a great package.  Get yourself booked in and take a closer look for yourself.

** Our experience was gratefully comped **

Refuge Spring Preview

One of the city's most iconic dining rooms is unquestionably Refuge, located in the heart of the stunningly historic Kimpton Clocktower hotel.  Very few restaurants in Manchester are so instantly recognisable, and the huge wall mural declaring the glamour of Manchester reminds you of exactly where you are.

Refuge have just launched their new menu, curated by Exec Chef Paul Beckley and Head Chef Cameron Tetlow who've worked in some of the region's finest kitchens, so you can be promised something a bit special at Refuge.

We had a gaze over the new menu to make our decisions and were far from short on options.  We eventually decided to leave the ordering in Chef's hands to make sure that we didn’t miss any of the highlights, so could just sit back and enjoy he ride without any FOMO.

We took in the lovely surroundings whilst enjoying some always-excellent Holy Grain Sourdough (£6.7), which was served with a more than generous dab of superb wild garlic butter.  It's great to see such a locally made quality product featuring on more menus these days, offering something a bit different to the excellent yet predicable Pollen bread which dominated the city's mid and upper range menus for years.

The above carbs were also served with a couple of obligatory dips to complement the butter, the first being a Whipped Smoked Feta (£7), accented with honey and mint, served beautifully too.  This was an early indication of what we could expect.  Huge, layered, complex flavours set the tone of things to come.

Beetroot Borani (£7.5) followed, and the vibrant colour instantly told you what it was made of.  Massive depth of flavour, as smooth as silk and again looked fantastic on the plate.  Just don’t get any on your white top!  Two sublime wakener plates which well and truly started the experience with a bang.

Chef also picked our wine on this evening, and he's clearly also a bit of a wine buff too based on the excellent Icauna Chablis which was gratefully opened for us.  Made entirely from Chardonnay, carrying notes of butter, honey and tropical fruits, with superb minerality and well measured acidity.  In short, it was delicious.

The splendid juice paired well with our next course, Yellow Fin Tuna (£12).  The wine's acidity and the tuna's natural fattiness acted as best mates, along with the dish's own acidic yuzu element, and some blood orange segments for a blast of sweetness.  Classic pairings all round.

As the menu picked up to jogging pace, the hot goods started to land.  Braised Pork Cheek (£12) was cooked expertly well and served with a beautifully seasonal artichoke puree, artichoke chips for a bite of crunch.  The salsa verde adding some sing to the earthy plate.  It's a dish which could confidently be placed on the menu in any of the city's Michelin listed small plate driven venues.  Phenomenal work.

Spring Salad (£10) was worth a couple of quid more and would happily act as a vege main course.  An orchestra of super fresh greens, dressed confidently, with an oozy dried/crumbed hen's egg sitting in the middle.  Cutting into it sauced the plate with that running yolk, which is a very clever touch indeed.

Pommes Anna (£8) has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years, and it's easy to see why.  Their laminated texture always brings unrivalled crunch to the party, and they pair up with pretty much anything, which is a good job really since Chef seemingly served us the whole menu!

Cauliflower Bravas (£9) was pitched as a side dish but again would happily act as a starter or even a small appetite main course.  Few vege foodstuffs IMO act as well we cauli for a substantial mouthful, and this was every bit as satisfying as it's more traditional potato variant.

Moving swiftly onto our main courses started with the Roasted Organic Salmon (£24), served with a delicious corn bisque, and a tranche of braised fennel.  Classic flavours, solid cooking, and a dish which is sure to be an absolute crowd pleaser.

Spring Pea Risotto (£16) was a more robust experience than it sounded on paper.  Perfectly textured risotto, tempered with punchy goats cheese, topped with granola for some variety in mouth feel, aka texture.  Amazingly rich and hearty whilst still retaining all that seasonal freshness.  I guess that in Manchester, Spring still feels like Winter anyway right? One of the evening's stars.

One of the evening's top attractions was unquestionably Refuge's Lobster Mac & Cheese (£17).  This is also available as part of Refuge's Girl Dinner Tuesday.  Again as per Refuge's sharing plate ethos, you could mix things up and make this either a wonderful side dish or a main course in itself, depending on your appetite!

And to round off the savoury plates, we ended on a high note with Refuge's 12oz Duroc Pork Chop.  I'm pleased to report that this is as stunning in the mouth as it looks in print.  More solid protein cooking and great quality produce, finished with a glossy cider sauce and a dab of smooth rhubarb puree.   We loved the touch of leaving the bone on the plate, which of course we stripped of its meat.

And so we moved onto the final phase of dinner which is of course the puds.  Rhubarb and Custard Cheesecake (£9) was a well assembled slice topped with fluorescent jelly, paired up with a lovely rhubarb sorbet and some stewed rhubarb. 

Secondly, we enjoyed the Chocolate and Banana Pudding (£10), which was deliciously light, garnished with a ball of white ice cream, dehydrated banana and a superlative Bumbu rum caramel which tied in so well with those banana notes.  A great end to a hugely enjoyable meal!

So in summary, the new menu at Refuge is a winner which you simply have to check out first hand.  Great quality produce, cooking which is clearly driven by a team with experience in the upper echelons, in a stunning dining room.  And I have to say, the price points are great too.   We are sold!

**Our experience was gratefully comped **