On damp Saturday late afternoon/early evening, we found ourselves with a spare hour and a half to kill, for want of a better term, in between attending events.  So after a very short debate we decided to head over to Maricarmen in the NQ, who always do a great job of providing one of the city's very best indie Spanish experiences.

Surely every Spanish food fan in Manchester now knows all about their main venue over in Ancoats, and we shouted positively about it following our initial yet lovely impromptu visit last Summer.  The guys then launched in the NQ a few months back, with their new 'Tablas' format which sees guests presented with an array of tablets housing various toppings, which are taken around the dining room and offered to waiting customers.  It's just a super fun way to eat and reminds me of one of my favourite casual restaurants in Alicante, Las Tablas.

However, on this occasion we decided to head to the upstairs area of Maricarmen, which offers a totally different concept to the downstairs area, and it's one that I'm not sure enough people are aware of.  Pretty much all of the people upstairs on this occasion seemed to only be there whilst waiting for table downstairs, even though upstairs is a separate restaurant in its own right, with its own menu and a better ambiance in my opinion.

The upper floor is named 'Gildas', as per the iconic Basque pintxo.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a range of Gildas on offer, along with a great choice of raciones (large tapas!), quality meats, cheeses and of course a fully stocked bar.  The vibe is a lot more serene than downstairs and it's just a lovely spot which deserves more attention!

Whilst it's a term that I generally hate to utter, since others in the  local food media routinely apply it to places which are on main roads and have been about for years; Gildas is an absolute 'hidden gem'.  I feel dirty even typing those words due to my peers' waffle.  Anyway, we got settled in pretty quickly and decided on some restraint due to this visit being a bit of an event sandwich filler.

We ordered a bottle that we've tried and tested many times over; El Picaro from Bodega Matsu.  Their red range has 3 bottles with various labels showing either a young man, a middle-aged man, or an older gent.  They get bolder as you work your way up the age range, but the youngster still holds his own.  It's a lovely drop for sure and the markups here are very fair, but what I will say is that the cheapest red on Maricarmen's list comes in at £33.50 as all the wine is solid quality.  In this financial climate, a casual venue really should have a bottle of wine on the list which starts with a 2 in price point, even if that’s a 2 followed by 9.99.  It's psychological but matters and even many 1 Star Michelin's have an entry bottle for bang on £30, for comparison.  Also, some 175 and 250ML glasses on the list work out cheaper per ML than their equivalent full bottles, which is clearly a bit off kilter in terms of pricing.

But since this isn’t a bar review, we also ordered a couple of eponymous Gildas.  As mentioned in our past review of their Ancoats branch, Maricarmen, despite being a small and humble indie, still use top quality produce from several sources.  And that's the same story upstairs at Gildas.  The classic Gilda was constructed with great olives, top quality anchovy and a lovely chillis.  Simple but expertly balanced and 100% tasty.  The cost was a mere £2.50, which is comparable to what you pay in Spain; a country which unlike the UK doesn’t charge a premium for any and all foodstuffs which are not beige.

Our second and less traditional Gilda was the 'de la huerta', and this one was an obscene £1.80.  Bargain territory, but all vege which explains it.  I still think that they could charge £2.50 in fairness.  The skewer contained another fabulous Gordal olive, artichoke, dried tomato, and piparra.  A spin on the classic, but just as delicious.

Our other 'snack' was a bit more substantial, or a racione as named in Spain.  Basically, they are tapas but chunkier in size.  In fact for just £5.50 we received 4 top quality and super meaty anchovies, atop a generous helping of sliced and deep fried potatoes, seasoned simply but amazingly well with just salt and what I think was sherry vinegar.  Again, for the cash this was obscene, and it's just an absolutely perfect bar snack or even a dish as part of a wider platter of raciones etc.

Now I'm well aware that it's typically perhaps not entirely fair or indeed substantial enough to fully review a place based on eating and drinking little more than a few snacks.  But you know what; we've eaten here half a dozen times and never reviewed it at all, so why not!  We know the ropes here well enough to stand by our comments and scoring, without ordering a full on 3 course menu on this occasion.

Manchester has been blessed with a score of enjoyable Spanish venues over the last decade or so, but as good and polished as they may be, they've largely been driven by small to mid-sized corporates or English owners.  But when it comes to all things Spanish and doing things properly, the aforementioned venues simply can't compare to Maricarmen.