A magical time at The Alchemist, Manchester

[caption id="attachment_4359" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Us with our delicious desserts[/caption]

We have gone to a lot of cool places to eat – particularly in London (see Jess’s piece on Five Cool Places to Eat in London here), and more recently on our trip to Toronto. Now we have another place in the UK, but up north!

Robert and I recently went to Manchester (more on that soon) and while we were there we not only had a meal at Cafe Football (lots of burgers and milkshakes) but also at The Alchemist by Media City.

We weren’t sure what this restaurant would be like, but we definitely liked the name and the suggestion that some alchemy would be going on inside! We weren’t left disappointed.

The Alchemist has a trendy vibe, but actually we were warmly welcomed (we aren’t that trendy!) and all the staff were extremely friendly. The menu has a lovely range of food, all reasonably priced, and we ordered a variety of items, including snacks - sweet and salty seaweed popcorn and crispy kale (both extremely yummy) and a starter of cheese nachos (which Robert wolfed down!)

For our mains, we chose a fish finger sandwich and a vegetable burrito (which I thought were pretty good value, at £9 each) and we both had our own delicious dessert – waffles with ice-cream for Robert and chocolate brownie with ice-cream and salted caramel sauce for me (so lovely).

But while the food was good, the exciting part of the Alchemist is its wonderful drinks menu, which is full of marvellous potions and even looks amazing on paper! The choice of cocktails was so immense, it took me ages to decide what to have. But it’s not only that they sound so tempting, they also involve magic – drinks which bubble up, or change colour, ones which require test tubes to be used to put them together, and ones which just sound amazing (Bounty, peaches and cream, Mint Aero!). Eventually I chose a screwball, made up of Absolut Raspberry, Briottet Blue Curacao, bubblegum, apple lime and white chocolate cream foam. It came (naturally) with a cherry on top and was utterly delicious.

[caption id="attachment_4362" align="alignnone" width="1200"] My delicious cocktail![/caption]

There are also mocktails on offer and I felt obliged to give Robert the chance to try two. The first he picked was Mango shake, made up of white chocolate cream foam, orange, apple, lemon, mango and passionfruit. He liked it, but wasn’t overwhelmed. The second, however, was a huge hit Bubbleygum is made up of bubblegum, apple, cranberry, lime and bubbles, and it frothed over the glass continuously.

Meanwhile two ladies behind us had chosen something which looked as if it should have been in a lab, involving smoke (and shrieks of delight).

All in all we had such a lovely evening and would really recommend a visit, although the cocktails are not cheap (mine was £8.50 and the mocktails are £4.50). It’s not really a specific place to eat for kids, but there are things that will appeal to them, and if you have a range of ages in your family, this place will go down very well. I have already checked that there is a branch in London (there is) so I can try another cocktail – this time going with my husband - while there are also other restaurants in Manchester, as well as Liverpool, Leeds, Chester, Newcastle and Birmingham. Cheers!

 

Chocolate Galore at the Hotel Chocolat Restaurant

Jess writes: It's no secret that mum and I both love chocolate, so I was really looking forward to our visit to Hotel Chocolat's Rabot 1745 Restaurant in Central London. Mum had decided to treat us, and I was really excited to see how Hotel Chocolat would incorporate chocolate into their food. This is what we thought:

[caption id="attachment_3741" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Rabot 1745 from the outside[/caption]

As soon as we sat at our table, mum and I were given a small dish of cacao nibs to try, which were rich and delicious. This was an unusual touch, and meant that I was looking forward to what happened next. I was also thrilled when our server asked us for a refill (we obviously said yes).

[caption id="attachment_3742" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] We loved the cacao beans![/caption]

Mum and I shared a starter: "Sourdough with three cacao accompaniments: chocolate balsamic, cacao pesto, nib butter - £6". We were interested to see how these tasted, and they were all delicious. We unfortunately didn't have enough bread to lap up all of the sauce, but I was very impressed by how clearly you could taste the cacao, and how well it worked with everything.

[caption id="attachment_3743" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] There were cacao nibs in all three of these dips: pesto, butter, and balsamic vinegar![/caption]

Next came the main courses: I picked "Mac and cheese in cacao nib pastry, smoky cacao nib and almond roast cauliflower - £14". This looked very small on the plate, and I was surprised by how rich it was. I enjoyed the mac and cheese, although it wasn't particularly special. For such a fancy restaurant, it could have been more interesting. Mum tried the "Baked sweet potato gratin with cacao buttered black beans, poached eggs and melting cheese - £15", and she enjoyed it, though she was confused why the cacao was added. I agreed with her - it didn't stand out in either of the dishes, and didn't add anything to the experience.

[caption id="attachment_3744" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Our mains were nice, but not amazingly special[/caption]

We were both too stuffed for a rich, chocolatey dessert, so instead chose "Three home-made sorbets - cacao pulp-soursop, guava, pineapple-lime - £7". These were lovely - the cacao one was unlike anything I'd tried before, and the pineapple-lime was mouth-watering. Had we been in the mood for chocolate, I'm sure they would have been even better.

[caption id="attachment_3745" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The ice cream was delicious - a perfect way to round off our meal![/caption]

Overall, our trip to Rabot 1745 was very nice, but not super special. We both liked the novelty of the chocolate, the atmosphere was lovely, and the servers were great. The restaurant was pricier than usual, but the starter and main were definitely worth it, it was an exciting experience, and also a good conversation starter! We also thought the starter and desserts were amazing and reasonably priced, but we probably could have got a nicer main course somewhere else. I would love to return, but this time just for another plate of the sourdough with dips, a dessert, and a hot chocolate.

More chocolate!

A chocolate walking tour in London