Circolo Popolare Revisit

Last Spring saw one of the most hotly anticipated launches of the year in the form of Circolo Popolare, situated on the ground floor of the brand-new St Michael's building just off Deansgate.  The property is a stunner, and generally it was well worth the wait and fully justified all that anticipation in the run up to launch.

So we braved the cold snap outside and headed back down after a decent bedding in period, to see how things have settled in after a few months of operation.  And the answer is very nicely indeed, with a jam-packed dining room even on a freezing Tuesday evening!

We were gratefully seated in a lovely booth to the side of the room, complete with comfy cushions, flanked by the towering walls that are filled with every conceivable bottle of spirit.  Table settings are lovely sporting the iconic painted RAK plates, in a whitewashed setting which reminds you of an Italian cave restaurant, all wrapped up in the fun vibe which Circolo Populare is known for.

Whilst settling in we started proceedings with a bottle of Corvina (£31)  which was loaded with red fruit and some seasonally apt spice.  The juice was from the reliably solid Montresor, a producer who know a thing or two about delivering a great combination of quality and value, and Circolo are not taking liberties with their wine markups either, which is great to see.

After our quick reccy of the menu, since the festive period is approaching, we decided to focus on the sharing dishes on offer, starting with Circolo Popolare's Torre di Prodotti (£35); a literal tower containing all your favourite forms of antipasti.

Bresaola topped with rocket and Parmesan shavings, a fabulous quality San Nicola prosciutto which was sliced to a perfectly translucency, a wonderfully oozy/creamy burrata topped with a hearty dollop of green pesto, all accompanied with some lovely focaccia.  Top quality produce is key in any platter, and this didn’t let us down one bit.

During the soft launch, whilst being happy with what we'd ordered, we couldn’t help but notice a neighbouring table being treated to a bit of tableside theatre with their pasta dish. Upon delving into the menu again, this was seemingly the Malfadine al Tartufo, so this time we took the chance to try it ourselves.  Served as a portion for 2 people (£23 per person), it was a stunner.

As touched on above, 2 portions of properly cooked pasta arrives at tableside, and is then combined right in front of you to marry with the freshly shaved truffle and a hugely indulgent truffle cream sauce.  The whole ensemble is then decanted into 2 cute pans for you to eat from.  It's just a great dish and won't ever fail to impress in either theatre or flavour.

In our infinite wisdom we decided to also to order a pizza to accompany the sharing pasta, since double carbs are usually a must.  How wrong we were though, and the pasta would have been more than plenty of food, so in hindsight the addition really wasn’t needed.  But still, the Cheese The Man Pizza (£15) was delicious; a crispy yet light base topped with pumpkin cream, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Pecorino, and an interesting pop of texture from some hazelnuts.  Just under half of it also made for a solid lunch the following day, after the lovely guys boxed up the leftovers for us!

So onto the final course.  Now back in our soft launch preview write up (below), the 'Incomparable Lemon Tart' was stated as being a valid reason to visit Circolo Popolare in itself, and on this particular evening we didn’t notice a single table which didn’t order it!  The dish has already become a staple with its super short pastry case, lovely citrus driven filling, topped with a mountain of expertly spatula'ed meringue. The untrained hospo eye would suspect that it was finished in a Rational (commercial oven), but no, only a blowtorch is used to add some colour and texture!  And it's somehow got even bigger since the soft launch, and for just £8 it's quite simply a must order, and it also sufficed as pud for two!

So with that, we could fit no more food in since that pasta was deceptively huge.  But before we ran off, a couple of shots of limoncello arrived on the house.  I say that it's a tradition which has died out in too many places so it's great to see the guys keeping it alive and well here.

Get yourself booked into Circolo Populare. It's a true venue for all occasions, whether it be a birthday, date night, a gathering with friends, or just popping out for a nice dinner on a random Tuesday.  Either way, it's easy to see why it's already become one of the city's most popolare spots!

** Our experience was gratefully comped **

Circolo Popolare Launch Preview

Big Mamma are thrilled to launch their first restaurant in the North, and of course it's right here in Manchester!  Following the opening of acclaimed restaurants Gloria in Milan, Barracuda in Brussels, and most recently in Barcelona, Circolo Popolare is set to take Mancunians on the ultimate authentic Italian trip via the country’s excellent cuisine and exceptional produce. 

Circolo Popolare is a modern trattoria filled to the brim with collective joy and good times, bringing the electric atmosphere and playful spirit of its namesake in London and Madrid, to take guests on the ultimate celebratory Italo-escape. 

We booked in to get an early look during the soft launch period, which runs until June 2nd.  After that, proper bookings are open and the venue is officially launched on June 6th, but until that time the guys are taking the opportunity to get well-rehearsed whilst giving you a bargain at the same time.

Set within a spanking-new development, St Michael's, off the thoroughfare of Manchester’s Deansgate, the glinting bottle walls catch your eye as you're led into this buzzing jasmine-clad trattoria; a glitteringly expansive 300+ cover space set over 2 floors!

We delved into the menu with gusto and picked options from as many sections as possible, to give you guys a through overview of what you can expect. 

Gnocco Fritto con Stracchino (£8.50) took me back to the streets of Modena where I first ate the dish almost a decade ago and instantly fell in love with at the time.  Circolo Popolare's version was stuffed with oozy, creamy Stracchino cheese.  Absolutely dreamy, and it's fantastic to see one of my favourite Italian dishes on the menu!

Focaccia with Garlic (£5) was a dish which seemingly every table around us also ordered!  Superb quality bread with a textbook crust, sliced down the middle and filled with a garlic/ricotta style cream filling. 

Arancini Al Ragu Di Salsiccia (£9) was another must-order and is set to become a staple on the menu and will appeal to most customers' tastes.  A rich ragu/risotto filling, crumbed and deep fried to perfection, scattered with a grating of Parmigiano.  You'd need to be in a seriously bad mood to not enjoy these.

Our two servers on the night, Oss and Faith, were both wonderful, showing few signs of it being the first service to customers, despite it being a soft launch event where everyone's there as a test pilot whilst paying half price in a purposely packed out/strained dining room, yet still expect perfection.  The whole team handled service like true pros.

Spaghettoni Al Ragu Di Agnello (£19) was our chosen pasta course.  A deeply flavoured and obviously slow cooked lamb sauce, with a zingy mint-driven salsa verde which completed the plate's flavour profile and took the whole thing to another level. The pasta was cooked perfectly, aka al dente, with plenty of texture, something which our server gave us advance notice of.  As much as we prefer pasta to be cooked this way, I suspect that things may need to change for the Manchester market once feedback arrives in the coming weeks. 

A Pizza was our next dish, in this case the 'Looking for Truffle' (£21), which was the name of the goods.  But we didn’t need to look very far for the truffle at all because half of the truffle in Alba had been shaved onto the pizza!  A white pizza topped with ricotta and truffle cream, sauteed mushrooms and mozzarella, with that unmistakable scent coming from the shaved black truffle. Earthy, luxurious and truly decadent.

Tiramisu (£8) is having its moment back in the limelight, and every single restaurant in the land now seems to be serving it again.  Circolo's version is scooped at tableside for that theatrical touch which was nice, as was the tiramisu itself.  A superb balance of cream and well textured savoiardi which had been steeped in just the right amount of booze, topped with a more than healthy amount of cocoa powder.  100% one of the best iterations we've had in the city all year. 

'The Incomparable Lemon Pie' (£8), which is the actual menu description, was our second dessert pick, and mark my words; it’s a dish which Circolo Populare will become known for across Manchester.  It's super IG friendly in appearance, and more importantly than all that, it's very well made and utterly delicious!  Lastly, it's also a bargain price.  This dish alone justifies a visit.

So Circolo Popolare looks set to become Manchester’s ticket to the ultimate joyful Italian escape, with 100% homemade Italian cooking, authentic artisanal products, fabulous service, and good times aplenty.

** Our experience was gratefully comped **