Chorlton Green Brasserie

So after our great blow-the–cobwebs-away bracing beachy march this weekend, we worked up quite an appetite and finally got around to trying one of Chorlton’s newer additions – Chorlton Green Brasserie. Located at the end of the foody haven that is Beech Road, just opposite favourite Parlour (see post on their award-winning Sunday lunch here) we had high expectations. Luckily we were not disappointed!

The little bistro is done out in a fab mis-matched shabby chic style. It has not been open all that long and I think with maybe just one or two extra additions to make it a little cosier, it will look really great. I was pleased to see that the menu was nice and succinct with just a few dishes to choose from in each section plus a couple of interesting sounding options chalked up on the board. In my opinion it’s much better to do a few dishes really well than produce a menu that is several pages long which takes ages to read! But I’m probably biased given how indecisive I’m known to be!! I also liked that the wines were divided into the sections of Good, Great and Brilliant – a nice touch I thought.

With impressive speed (at least for me!) we picked out our starters – blue cheese and beetroot tartlet for me, poached duck egg with bacon bits on a mustardy potato cake topped with hollandaise for the mister. These were both absolutely delicious. Egg and bacon are of course a classic combo and the little twist on this worked really well. The texture was lifted by some lovely crunchy kale.

Just look at that perfect ooze!

My blue cheese and beetroot tartlet was equally scrummy, the flavours were really tasty and the pastry nice and crisp. I only realised after hoovering the little beauty up that it hadn’t come with the ‘Manchester salad’ described on the menu – I was only disappointed as I was intrigued to know what such a salad was!

Onto the mains and Rob chose off the special menu – slow cooked shin of beef with mushrooms in a port reduction with horseradish mash, while I went for the fish pie – made with fresh cuts from local fishmonger Out of the Blue. The beef was fantastic, the port reduction was so tasty and, added bonus, I got to eat all unexpected mushrooms (as he cried out ‘mould’ and ‘fungus’. Weirdo. What sort of person doesn’t like mushrooms?! Sigh, the things I have to put up with…. 😉 )

Not quite sure what happened to this photo, it’s rather ghoulish! And I didn’t have the chance to take another as it was swiftly demolished with a fork with the horseradish mash plopped on top…! (although only once the ‘mould’ was scooped off of course!)

My fish pie arrived topped with creamy mash and a giant scallop!

While the flavour was good and there was nothing really wrong with this dish, I have to say it was the one disappointment of the meal. I think for fish pie to be really stand out it has to be truly and absolutely spot on and I think that perhaps I have been spoiled by the bloody brilliant fish pie at Bistro West as well as my other favourite fish pie at a beach-side pub in Elie, Scotland! The odds were probably rather stacked against this poor fella from the start…

By this time we were pretty stuffed, but not to be deterred from our duty of testing out this new restaurant, we gallantly soldiered on and agreed to share a desert – and of course it had to be the Death by Chocolate Pot, especially when I read that this was served with the intriguing sounding beetroot shortbreads!

Now there have been many Death by Chocolate deserts over the years, but this is one that really is worth dying for! (Well, almost!) It was absolutely sinful, filthy, luscious. Very likely the best chocolate desert I have ever eaten! Yuuuum!

Desert was accompanied by espresso, look at this adorable cup!

All in all, I think the Brasserie is a welcome addition to Beech Road, plugging the gap for a slightly more upmarket ‘restauranty’ eatery on the road. With a just a few tweaks I think it could go from being Great to Brilliant (as per its wine menu!)