An Evening of Luxury Dining
Before we tucked ourselves into our huge comfy kingsize bed at Hotel Gotham, we knew we had to pay their restaurant a visit for some fine dining. I visited Honey earlier in the summer for a blogger event and absolutely loved it, so I was really keen to visit again with Mat, who I knew would love it too.
Set on the 6th floor of 100 King Street, with spectacular views over Manchester, Honey is a relatively new restaurant situated inside Hotel Gotham.
The Nibbles
What’s an evening of fine dining without some nibbles to get started, eh? We went for the olives, which were delicious. I don’t usually rate olives but these didn’t have an overpowering flavour, they were just right.
We were also presented with a little swag bag full of freshly baked breads. Perfect to snack on whilst you peruse the menu and try and make some decisions.
The Cocktails
We skipped the wine (for once) and went straight for the cocktail menu. Despite lacking some familiar cocktails, which can still be whipped up for you if you ask, we managed to find some gin-based cocktails that sounded great.
Mat had the ‘Bellboy Barry’ cocktail, complete with joker card, and I had some sort of gin and champagne cocktail (totally forgot the name). We weren’t blown away by them, but they were lovely all the same.
The Starters
Although I’m a huge lover of seafood, I actually hadn’t tried oysters up until this point, so I was really excited to give them a go. We ordered six oysters to share and they were presented on a huge tray of ice, along with two sauces.
After a squeeze of lemon and a few dashes of sauce, I took the plunge and slurped up an oyster. I have literally no idea of the proper way to do it… so if anyone can advise, that would be great! But yeah, they were just as tasty as I thought they would be. A bit of a strange texture but once you get over that, you can really appreciate them.
The Mains
We were both a bit spoilt for choice with the mains, both having a few favourites that we couldn’t decide upon, but in the end I went for the curried monkfish and Mat had sea bream and cockle soup. Major seafood theme for this meal!
The curried monkfish really did live up to expectations, with mild curry flavours, mini cauliflower pakoras, spiced quinoa and a pineapple salsa. I think I would’ve loved a little more monkfish, but other than that, this dish was perfection for me. It had a mix of different flavours that all worked well together.
Mat’s dish doesn’t appear to be on their online menu as I’m writing this, but I’m sure it’s there permanently on the restaurant’s menu. When we read ‘soup’ we expected something a little different to what actually turned up, but Mat was happier with the dish as it was.
He had a mix of sea bream, cockles and whitebait, with a bean ‘soup’ and greens. I had a little nibble myself and it was delicious!
The Desserts
By this point, we were pretty full, but I’m never one to say no to dessert. Mat took a bit of convincing, but he chose the baked chocolate soup after I harassed him with classic blogger phrases like ‘but think of the blog post! Think of the photos!’.
The baked chocolate soup is a strange one. It tastes like the melty bit inside of a chocolate melt-in-the-middle pudding, which we all know is basically the best bit.
It was served with an assortment of goodies to sprinkle and splash on top, such as honeycomb pieces and salted caramel sauce. Even though it’s quite sickly, Mat agreed it was a great dessert.
I chose the custard tart, which I’ve had before, because I loved it so much last time. It was thick and creamy, served with a dollop of cherry ice cream and decorated with cherries soaked in rum. A really simple dessert but they’ve absolutely nailed it.
The Verdict
This isn’t cheap, much like my review of our night in Hotel Gotham, but it really does complete your experience of the hotel. Staff are attentive and friendly, the surroundings are beautiful (both outside and inside) and the food is beautifully presented and made with the freshest of ingredients.
It’s the ideal setting for a special date night or a birthday celebration. If you live in or around Manchester, you definitely need to experience it.
Have you ever visited Honey or would you visit?
