CityLife

Late autumn menus sweep into Manchester

Linen

THE mellow fruitfulness of early autumn has well and truly been blasted away by some grim weather, but there is still plenty of seasonality to enjoy on your plate.

Chef Neil Lorenzo’s autumn menu at Kitchen At The Circle, in Barton Arcade, includes some belly-warming dishes which celebrate the season, including wild mushroom lasagne with goat’s cheese cream and blueberries; roast pumpkin gnocchi with sage butter and rabbit pie with soft polenta and sage cream.

If you need a hearty autumn stew with a bit of Latin spin, Spanish restaurants La Tasca in Bolton, the Trafford Centre, Didsbury and the city centre are now serving up seasonal specials of Estofado Vasco, a Basque-style beef stew, and Cordero de Mallorca, a lamb stew which combines sultanas and prunes in a red wine and brandy sauce.

Linen restaurant, in Manchester 235 casino, off Deansgate, now open seven days a week, has seasonal starters which include pigeon breast and mains of vegetable casserole and roast pheasant.

And if game is your game, head further afield to the wilds of Lancashire where gastropub the Red Pump Inn, at Bashall Eaves in the Ribble Valley, is holding its annual five-day GameFest from Wednesday. The daily- changing menu includes rabbit haggis and jugged hare.

One man no doubt used to jugging his own hare (ouch!) is chef Robert Owen Brown, whose residency at legendary Salford pub The Mark Addy has begun after he hot-footed it from The Angel, on Rochdale Road.

The newly-refurbished riverside pub offers real ale and a typical Owen Brown menu, which will make lovers of black puddings very happy. The famous cheese and pate platters remain.