Adam Reid at The French

From the second you’re welcomed in to the French, any pretence you may have about being intimidated by the huge crystal chandelier adorned room are put at ease by the friendly northern welcome, a theme that will form the core of the evening. The service throughout was spot on: relaxed but incredibly on it, at times you don’t even realise they’re there. It’s a huge departure from white tablecloth silver service and military brigades of straight-back servers of some of the fancier hotel restaurants. Great playlist, loads of Talking Heads and somehow quiet enough you can have conversations without raising your voice but buzzy enough to not feel stale. It all feels relaxed whilst feeling incredibly special, really hard to get that balance right.

That said, the elegance runs through a seriously stunning menu, a menu that starts with a ‘northern welcome’ of bread and butter served with an onion broth I could have chugged by the gallon. The 12 course menu runs like clockwork, with that ‘northern’ element being key to its charm. Standouts are the crab and tomato tart, a tartare on beef dripping toast, a woodland mushroom and yeast foam, the theatre of the cheese course served table-side, and the magnificent tipsy cake. This is a real snarl at those ‘you’d need a takeaway when you get home after 12 little courses’, we basically rolled out of there. Everything is full of surprises, table-side service and a little extra touch, but none of it feels over-the-top or hack whatsoever. The servers are proud of the food and it shows.

Both the wine pairing and the drinks pairing are so well thought out, with two lovely sommeliers who with their bafflingly detailed knowledge make everything simple to understand. The sake with the tart and umeshu whisky pairings are outrageous.

As we sipped our tea and cake, the hotel fire alarm went off. We felt so terrible for the staff but their professionalism and friendliness remained unmoved and the way it was handled was really great, given it was 11pm on a Saturday.

Quite amazed this place still doesn’t have a *, I’ve no doubt they’ll get one but it’s miles ahead of some places elsewhere that do and it remains the best in class, and one of the finest meals of 2025.

Nb: there’s no service charge on the bill, you need to ask to add a tip!

Celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary- The signature tasting menu was insanely good! The service impeccable and the music soundtrack was brilliant (c 1980s) . Will be booking again for Christmas time . Well done!

Visited on 13/08/25 for our anniversary. Words can’t describe the experience we had, from the moment we walked through the door we was greeted by the sous chef with the warmest welcome
our glasses filled with the finest wines by Dimitri who kept a close eye on us to make sure we was getting the most out of our experience, quite literally waited on hand and foot
Adam and his team created dishes beyond what we had ever imagined possible, the attention to detail in explaining the food whilst the flavours teased your senses, each mouthful complimenting the last and the next.
This place is art in the finest form, a night we won’t forget. Thank you to The Fench.

Celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with a wonderful meal. The presentation was amazing and the food delicious! The head chef Blaze was so welcoming and our sommelier Dimitri did not miss a beat! I'm not sure why you dont have a michelin star but you deserve one or two!!! I'll never eat at mana again after experiencing The French! Thank you so much for making our evening super special!

Fine dining in Manchester, creative but stay true to its northern roots, a great restaurant to celebrate your special occasion

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Adam Reid at The French