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The Dinner Detective Dines At: Opus One, Peter Street, Manchester
The Dinner Detective5/ 5/2005
UNLIKE restaurant reviewers on some newspapers, the
Dinner Detective eats out incognito and always pays for the meal.
That way the Dinner Detective gets the same treatment as the
readers, giving you an honest review of the service you might
receive.
A VISIT to Opus One on a Saturday night is a
confusing experience.
As soon as you walk in, it isn't difficult to believe you are about
to embark upon the poshest dining experience in town.
Everything here smells of money and opulence, from the huge stone
Buddhas to the vaulted ceilings and the enormous red glass jars
next to the velvet-lined walls.
It looks like the sort of place where important deals are made by
important people.
After all, this is the restaurant of Manchester city centre's only
five-star hotel, the Radisson Edwardian (the Lowry is across the
river in Salford). It was built on the site of the Free Trade Hall,
former home of the Hallé orchestra and many of the city's most
important musical happenings over the last half century.
Which is why I was a little confused about the house music pumping
out of the obviously very expensive hi-fi system.
The thumping bass drums and gradually increasing bpms were not the
musical accompaniment I would have chosen to go with the place's
plush elegance, and would probably have been a bit more appropriate
next door at the M2 club.
Perhaps they were trying to cater for that venue's punters, who had
piled into the restaurant's adjoining bar for a pre-club cocktail
or two, or perhaps it was an attempt to give the place a more
contemporary feel - they describe the restaurant as "glamorous
Manhattan".
Either way, as far as I was concerned this just didn't work, and I
felt as if the place was crying out for something a little more in
keeping with its glorious past.
This may seem a petty complaint, as it was the only thing that
marred an otherwise perfect evening, but I spent my entire time
there with a nagging feeling that Opus One's musical policy was
completely destroying its natural ambience.
That said, the restaurant's service and the quality of the food
were both excellent, and thoroughly deserving of the £100
bill.
I started with the steamed asparagus spears, served with poached
duck egg and hollandaise sauce (£7.50) while my dining companion
had the pork belly terrine, with shallots, parsley and red onion
marmalade, for the same price.
I was also pleasantly surprised that the vegetarian menu had plenty
to offer. I eventually plumped for the truffle macaroni with a farm
house cheddar (£13) which was delicious - I never thought the words
tender or subtle could be used to describe anything containing
cheddar cheese.
My companion had the organic cord-fed chicken with fondant potatoes
and green beans (£15.50) and we chose one of the many house bottles
from the 59-strong wine list.
By the end of it, there was no room left for any of the desserts,
tempting as they were, but we certainly didn't complain when a
plateful of delicious chocolates were unexpectedly brought out with
the coffees.
The most expensive main course was the Angus rib of beef on the
bone served with Anna potatoes (£22.50), while the cheapest were
the five vegetarian options (£13 each).
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