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The Dinner Detective dines at: Le Petit Blanc, Chapel Walks, Manchester city centre
22/ 9/2005
UNLIKE restaurant reviewers on some newspapers, the Dinner Detective eats out incognito and always pays for the meal. That was, the Dinner Detective gets the same treatment as the readers, giving an honest review of the service you might receive.
I LIKE the idea of my food being seasonal, fresh and free range.
I like to know I'm avoiding shrink-wrapped, perfectly-proportioned
vegetables that look like they've fallen out of an advert and on to
your plate.
And Le Petit Blanc prides itself on offering natural, wild produce,
food hand-crafted using the finest ingredients.
Somehow this even made me feel less guilty about ordering the
parfait of chicken liver and foie gras with red onion marmalade for
my starter (£6.95). The guilt was eased further as the dish melted
on my tongue.
My dining partner ordered the unusual sounding Thai cocount and
lime soup (£4.50). I was convinced it was asking too much of
anybody's taste buds but the frothy soup, served in a simple white
dish proved a success.
Our waitress, who had been attentive and friendly from the moment
we arrived - but knew not to approach when we were mid-gossip -
gave us enough of a break between courses and came to pour our wine
when needed.
I was soon ready to tuck into my rib-eye steak with home made chips
and bearnaise sauce (£17.95). But I was a little
disappointed.
The sauce was tasty, the chips cripsy on the outside and soft
inside, but the steak was so chewy that I was left feeling a little
humiliated at having to remove pieces of it from my mouth. Not
impressive, especially considering the price.
My dining partner opted for roasted Lincolnshire pork belly, with
crackling and spring vegetables (£14.95). He tucked in with relish
and his only gripe was the crackling could've been used as a
frisbee.
Nevertheless, the restaurant looking out onto a rain-soaked Chapel
Walks was romantic enough to (rightly or wrongly) take our minds
off such minor criticism. We enjoyed the calm atmosphere and
prepared our full bellies for dessert.
The chocolate delice in hazelnut cazette sauce (£5.50) was
screaming from the menu for me to order it. It was prettily placed
on the plate with a drizzle of vibrant and sweet red sauce. It was
so delicious that the design was wasted on me and destroyed in
seconds. My dining parter opted for the rather expensive
hand-crafted selection of French cheeses (£7.75) which, unsually,
came with chunks of bread rather than crackers and left him a
little disappointed but not too upset.
Le Petit Blanc is a nice place to eat but the steak was a genuine
disappointment - I do believe you can tell a good restaurant by its
steak - and because it was so quiet the excuse of being busy cannot
be made. That said, for an average meal in nice surroundings you
can't go wrong.
On the menu
Starters Caesar salad, with grilled chicken and
garlic and anchovy dressing £5.95; steamed Scottish mussels with
shallots and white wine sauce £7.50
Mains Seared king scallops and roasted fennel and
herb butter £17.50; hot smolked Duart salmon, beetroot and cream
£13.50
Desserts A selection at £5.50
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