The Trof New Menu Launch

I'll get out of the blocks in a hurry here and state that if you've never heard of Trof then you've probably either not spent much time in Manchester city centre, or you just don’t get out anywhere near enough.  Either way, it's a place that should have been on your radar ages ago.

The reason being that Trof has reliably been one of the city centre's darlings for many years, and it's one of our office's unnegotiable faves for a quality pint, and also over the years has served some unflappably solid grub too.  We've been visiting for circa 15 years, and I can't remember ever not having had a fabulous time.  Good going right?

But a few weeks back we got wind of them going through a bit of a refurb and facelift, which both made us happy and full of trepidation in equal spades.  Don’t mess with the classics as they say, right?  We were however reassured that the new food offering was going to be more in line with what you expect from Mr Jamie Pickles based on his strong performance down at Stow on the other side of town.

So we were invited down to get a closer look and to ultimately pen this article.  The most instantly noticeable change is that Trof has now been rebranded as 'The Trof'.  Once you enter that eye-catching corner door, you're in the thick of the action at the downstairs bar area, and I'm pleased to say that it still feels very familiar aside from some new signage and window decals to reflect the new name.

The bar hasn’t been messed about with and hence is still great. Even the iconic hidden 20p has kept its place adhered to the wall next to one of my favourite little tables, in a quiet cubby next to the bar.  If you don’t know where to find it then get a pint and have a nosey around.  There's a snack menu, hand-written as is the trend, and whilst I really fancied giving the Scotch Egg a blast, maturely opted not to as 1, we were invited in so don’t like to take liberties, and 2, we fully expected to eat generously over dinner so let's not ruin the appetite.

Heading upstairs following a palate wakening pint of Thornbridge Jaipur, it's the same bright and well light space as ever.  It's always reminded me of the upstairs dining room at The Dev, down in that there London's Soho, which can only be a complement.

We ordered a couple of cocktails from the reassuring looking carte which was full of crackers, and mused over the menu, probably unnecessarily since we'd already done so 73 times ahead of arrival.  A splendid blanco/clear Negroni did the job, as did our Russian Spring Punch, as much as the Manchester rain outside contradicted its optimistic theme. 

Our lovely server Ellie promptly gave us the bad news that the Mince on Toast was sold out and hence was off bounds, which was top service as much as the news itself was meh.

We instead decided to ask that the kitchen just picked for us, to showcase what they class as their must order plates.  It's usually the best course of action when doing press visits, plus we enjoy eating everything anyway so it usually aligns well.

The first course up was, to replace the gulf left by that 86'ed mince, the Crab on Toast (£8) which had been lifted off the downstairs bar menu.  A sturdy slab of lovely toast topped with well-dressed crab meat, some technicolour roe and generous yet precisely placed dill frond, which of course is crab's best buddy.

Truly delicious and would be a more than suitable starter.  We'd probably serve this pre-sliced at the bar to make it eat better without cutlery, but when upstairs it's no issue.  A strong start to things.

Pommes Forestiere (£9) was our first proper starter, and despite being an initial course, was one of the favourite plates of the whole evening.  A menagerie of splendid spud, wonderful mushrooms, a ton of rough parsley and about thirteen quid's worth of olive oil.  The potatoes were cooked absolutely perfectly; soft yet retained that all important bite.

English Asparagus (£12) already feels like a must order on the fledgling carte.  It's obviously quite photogenic and is assembled with high end produce throughout.  The currently-trendy gribiche was exemplary with half a well-cooked boiled egg crowning a plate that was seasoned wonderfully throughout. 

The asparagus could have taken a bit less cooking, but it's charred notes sang and it still showcased quality produce.  It's a dish that you'd enjoy for dinner as much as for breakfast.

Chicken Schnitzel (£22), was, I promise you, a lot bigger than it appears in our badly angled shot.  Juicy and cooked really well, it's a dish which is a nailed on big seller.  The poultry was side kicked with a chunkily sliced remoulade, with a clever salt laced briny pop coming from some anchovies.  A more tidily sliced citrus wedge would have looked better, but then ultimately that doesn’t matter much.  Once squeezed over the chicken, all was well.

Bavette (£28) was the second main course of our experience and was arguably the menu's crown jewel. A nice cuisson, topped with some caramelised shallots which were cooked down to a nigh on jam, with the protein sitting on a pickled mustard seed laden beef sauce (£28). Big flavours, lovely provenance, well cooked. It's the kind of straightforward yet quality dish that fits the venue perfectly.

Ellie also picked out a splendid all-rounder to pair with our diverse menu choices, a lovely bottle of Spatburgunder, or Pinot Noir as the rest of the planet calls it, from the lovely Weingut Messmer which was as it happens, gut wein (good wine).

And then of course there was the obligatory sides.  We went with some Beef Fat Chips (£6) which were fantastically rustic, but at the same time were also well-cooked and seasoned precisely with no sign of excessive internal grease. I'm sure that some of you are looking at the photo thinking 'they look like my Mum's chips, not a fancy pub's'.  But then there's 50 types of chip after all, and for me there's a huge place for a good simple double or even just single cooked chip, without all the Cheffiness.  Triple cooked ones are so 1990s and they've been done to death ever since, regardless of how good Heston's deep fried masterpiece unquestionably is.

Our other side plate was similarly delish.  Some Braised Greens (£7), studded with soft, sweet garlic slices, nuanced with a bite of texture and substance coming from some stalks, which are too often overlooked in favour of the leaves alone when prepping veges.  A fitting way to end the salt based courses.   Truly delicious.

Only the sweet stuff and Dark Chocolate Mousse was in a word, enormous.  Not only do you get a generous XXL rocher of lovely rich mousse, but a hefty serve of whipped cream too.  I'd call it more milk than dark though in terms of cocoa content, especially when combo'ed up with that cream.  For me a jot of texture would lift this plate no end, and you could easily cut the portion size by 1/3 without upsetting anybody at all!

Lastly, Bakewell Tart is another must order.  If served this coloured anywhere else, it would have been sent packing all the way back over the Greater Manchester city limits to Derbyshire.  Here though it's served dark as intended, in what I'd assume is a lovely little nod, not only to Jamie's hometown, but also to his other stellar dining room over on the other side of town, who serve a similarly coloured tart which is one of the city's most outstanding puds.

As we sat digesting, we overheard a couple of gents on the table next to us discussing their evening and how much they'd also enjoyed themselves.  We noticed that they were from north of the border, so turned to ask them what brought them to The Trof and indeed the city itself. 

Amusingly, it seems that they'd seen Trof's relaunch mentioned in the news section of this very website, hence they booked in whilst in the city for the footy! So if you're reading this gents, then you made an excellent choice of dining venue, as well as source of info.

We headed off, happy in the knowledge that the new Trof, The Trof, is the same, but even better.  If you've never been then just like our Scottish readers, now's the time.  And if like us you've always loved it, well then now there's even more to love.  We will return in due course, ie very soon, for that elusive mince on toast as well as a Scotch Egg at the bar!

** Our experience was gratefully comped **