24 Bar and Grill, Manchester Reviewed

I love a Twitter competition and was really pleased to win a meal for 2 at 24 Bar and Grill. It can be found in the Arora Hotel on Princess Street, in fact, I was a huge fan when it was called Obsidian. I’ve had many a fabulous meal there.

The decor is unchanged with plush circular booths lining the wall and regular tables dotted around the centre of the restaurant. The bar is long and dimly lit with a lengthy menu that even surprised me! We had a few cocktails, it would be rude not to, and they were all lovely. Their porn star martini was particularly good and not as sweet as the one I tried in Dog Bowl, a definite bonus.

We wandered through to the resraurant and ordered our starters. I went for the duck rillette and Charlie decided to try the smoked salmon and leek tartlet. The plum compote served with the duck rillette was lovely and rich. This would have been perfect had the duck itself had a stronger flavour, it just drowned it completely. I’m not sure what was missing? Perhaps a different seasoning to bring out the flavour of the duck? Charlie’s tartlet had a beautiful filling that wasn’t too strong but the pastry was a little soggy which, was disappointing.

For the main course I went for the butter braised chicken with spiced cous cous tagine. Charlie went for the lighter option of pancetta and forest mushroom linguine served with a herb crostini. The chicken was lovely with a deliciously crispy skin. The houmous bed was delightful and made this a posh twist on a kebab. The cous cous was tasty enough but could have done with a bit of more chilli to add to the subtle kick. Charlie tells me her linguine was perfectly cooked with lovely mushrooms that weren’t too overpowering. I didn’t try this due to my mushroom phobia 😉 We did giggle though as when Charlie bit into the garlic crostini served with the dish, half of it ended up on the floor due to its crispyness!

Onto dessert and I was instantly attracted to the chocolate and salted caramel mousse whilst Charlie went for her firm favourite, the cheese board. I was expecting a light and airy mousse with a lovely salty bite to cut through the sweetness of the dessert. Unfortunately this wasn’t really a mouse, there was no air and it was extremely rich. Not usually a problem for me but I was expecting something different. I couldn’t really taste the salted caramel either.
Charlie’s cheeseboard looked pretty and the Blacksticks blue was the star of the show. The cheddar was a little rubbery and lacked flavour, the crackers were a little on the soft side and the pickled grapes? Wow they packed a punch… in a fairly unpleasant way I’m afraid. I’d never heard of them before but they were very strong. A lighter vinegar would perhaps have worked better?

So, in conclusion, a little disappointing overall with some nice beautiful cocktails. Hopefully this was an unexpected blip and next month’s ‘Taste of 24’ menu will be better, it’s great value at £23 per person for 3 courses with wine.