Since it opened on Church Street, below The Light Aparthotel in 2011, we have been regular visitors to the Moreau family's French restaurant. This was our first visit, however, since they had moved a few rues along The Northern Quarter to the former Market Restaurant on High Street.

Less intimate than their previous incarnation, the restaurant is now split over two floors with the tables better spaced and a large bar counter the centre piece of the room. Chilled out jazz and lo-fi tracks add a nice soundtrack whilst the simple yet beautiful lights create the perfect ambience in which to enjoy some of the very best cooking to be found in Manchester.

Unlike other restaurants in The Northern Quarter, prices are high. In fact, only Simon Rogan at The French and Aiden Byrne's Manchester House are more expensive in the whole of the city centre.

The menu is small, with only 3 vegetarian options, and offers a collection of classic French dishes, alongside an extensive 52 bin wine card (from £22 a bottle) that takes in all of the French regions, with 13 available by the glass (from £4). A good cocktail list (£8.50 each) offers a touch of Parisian flair.

Sadly, Head Chef Eric Moreau, and his son, Alexandre, who oversees front of house, were both enjoying the evening off work on the Sunday which we visited, a busy night in town following the Manchester Derby. This, however, seemingly did not affect the quality of the food that was being crafted by their kitchen team.

The meal started on a high with an amouse bouche of a delicious Pea Consommé. Sadly the waiter didn't describe what the kitchen had welcomed us with, however it seemed to resemble one of the dishes described on the menu, served as a starter with the addition of an organic poached quail egg (for £8). On further enquires, this was the case and the amouse is apparently changed for another offering if you happen to order the same dish as a starter.

The Maquereaux en Escabèche (£8.50), served up delicious cold chunks of marinated mackerel, with fennel and carrots in an orange jus. An excellent autumnal dish that was just as impressive as the Tartare de Dorade (£12.50), a lime drizzled Sea Bream tartare. Simply beautiful.

The highlight of the starters, though, Millefeuille de Saumon Gravlax (£11), three juicy cuts of fresh salmon gravlax presented as millefeuille layers with fingerling potatoes, asparagus, and radish, was easily one of the best starters we have enjoyed in Manchester this year. Highly recommended and you can see why it is a signature.

The main courses were equally beautiful, but expensive.

The Filet de Bar Poêléthe (£19.80) was roughly the same size as the salmon starter. The sea bass cooked to perfection and matched wonderfully with mashed potatoes. A side dish was certainly recommend, especially if you have a large appetite. I chose the Baby Leaf Salad (£3.80), which was almost as big as the main dish.

The Carré d’Agneau (£26) was more filling, however still very expensive when compared to similar restaurants in town. Served as two perfectly pink racks of lamb, accompanied by a tasty aubergine caviar and tapenade - a Provençal dish made from puréed olives, capers and anchovies.

The top baristas will probably tell you that the perfect temperature at which to serve coffee is 63°C, but Eric Moreau, after many years of experimentation, will tell you that it's also the temperature at which to cook the perfect chicken. Cooked long and low, the signature Volaille 63 Degrés (£16.80), was indeed very nice, if not overly impressive considering its big build up. The tenderness of the chicken showed in the three cylinders, in which it was served, although the stuffing, whilst nice, slightly distracted from the main event.

Desserts were spot on. The Fondant au Chocolat (£7.50) was delightfully moist and oozed chocolate. Served with a sweet strawberry parfait ice cream in a jar, it was one of the highlights of the meal.

The same can be said of the Fraisier (£7.50), a small cake filled with strawberries and crème pâtissière and accompanied by a strawberry sauce and a thinly sliced strawberry. It was an excellent way to end the meal.

All in all, our Sunday night visit to 63 Degrees was pleasant. It's a pity we didn't get to see the famile Moreau, as that is a real selling point of the restaurant - one of only a very small handful of family-ran independents in Manchester. Perhaps if Alex had been overseeing the restaurant, service would have been better. It was certainly friendly but too laid back and slow to complement the kitchen's fine work. From the start, we were left for too long before even being given menus or offered drinks, other diners were left waiting for attention in the doorway on arrival without even being acknowledged, the amouse bouche was given with no explanation, as were other dishes, if we're being truly picky from a fine dining point of view, and empty glasses seemed to sit on most tables. The two waiters working at two different speeds, in a room that wasn't overly busy or complicated. Without wanting to sound too much of a stereotype of dining in France, you could argue that it was all romantically "very French", except the staff on this evening were English.

And whilst the food is excellent, it comes at a price. The only two restaurants more expensive, The French and Manchester House, are both multi-million pound affairs pushing for Michelin accreditation. 63 Degrees is not, and is also based in the cheap and cheerful hipster playground of the Northern Quarter. Not that you can tell from the smart clientelle who seem to be made up of older guests, suited 30 somethings and proper foodies. It's testament to Eric Moreau's cooking that people will travel in to try his food - a true destination restaurant in a destination in which you wouldn't expect it.

We grow tired of the number of dirty burger bars and same-old same-old theme restaurants that keep opening up in this part of town. It is refreshing to know that 63 Degrees continues to turn the heat up on the scene, despite its relocation." ~ Restaurants Of Manchester, (visited Sunday night 25 Oct 2015)