CityLife

Jack Spratt

Desperately ignoring the fact that we are the only people in the entire restaurant, the waiter insists that their new dinner service at Jack Spratt is off to a successful start.

To be fair, it is a miserable Monday evening and, despite its emptiness, Jack Spratt has a homely feel with wooden furnishings, sofas and quirky bits of decoration scattered about.

Quotes painted on the wall border on the bizarre: ‘A meal is like a bank account, a healthy balance is always better.’

There is another quote about goulash – which the restaurant doesn’t serve.

On the new evening menu the stuffed chicken and parsley sauce for the fish and chips have run out.

We order crab cakes and chilli squid (both £5.50) to start.

The waiter returns. The kitchen are out of crab cakes. Remain positive. We choose the ‘spicy chicken and avocado stack’ instead.

Neither are impressive. The ‘stack’ is nicely presented but lacks any spice and the similar creamy consistency of the components cries out for something crunchy.

Another few people come in making a more relaxed atmosphere. My friend has the fish and chips (minus parsley sauce) and is disappointed by the chips and fish to batter ratio – too much of the latter – but enjoys the mushy peas. The steak and ale pie (£10) was the stand-out winner.

A pie purist may take issue with its puff pastry lid rather than a solid encasing of shortcrust, but the filling was undeniably tasty.

Beautifully tender meat swam in a delicious dark gravy with carrots, courgettes and plenty of rosemary.

The chilli chargrilled broccoli it came with was incongruous. Served with a bubble and squeak cake it was a generous portion for a tenner.

The chocolate brownie (£.4.50) came with an unexpected, but not unwelcome, peanut butter topping and rounded off a mixed meal.

Predominantly a daytime cafe, with varied food and nonchalant service, Jack Spratt needs to up its game to compete as an evening eaterie.

11 St James’s Square, John Dalton Street, M2 6HW, 0161 833 1016 (jack-spratt.co.uk).

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