CityLife

THERE has never been a better time to sample on the cheap the best that Manchester’s restaurants can offer.<br /> <br /> Harvey Nichols, Michael Caines at Abode and Ithaca are all extending their special dining offers. <br /> <br /> It’s not a spirit of goodwill, more slight desperation to get bums on seats.<br /> <br /> It is easy though to turn up and spend a large chunk on extras. £8.95 for two courses for Ithaca’s Japanese fusion treats was terrific.<br /> <br /> Better quality<br /> <br /> But a third course pud, a £10 chocolate fondant, was as huge a tariff as succumbing to better quality wine because the lunch was such a bargain. <br /> <br /> So the prospect of wine inclusive made the current Malmaison Brasserie ‘2000 & Wine’ offer very inviting.<br /> <br /> Two courses from the Homegrown and Local menu, celebrating local producers, would normally cost you £29 – for the same amount, same choice, you also now get a bottle of house wine and coffee.<br /> <br /> Past master<br /> <br /> No hidden extras, apart from a 10 per cent service charge. <br /> <br /> Chef Kevin Whiteford is a past master at providing consistent hearty brasserie grub on the main menu, but you are not trading down with the Homegrown as we discovered. <br /> <br /> Even the house red, a South African cabernet, wasn’t the pup we expected, offering some simple, ripe fruit.<br /> <br /> So the whole thing was a bargain (aided by some unusually smart service), if not a culinary revelation <br /> <br /> Chewy but tasty<br /> <br /> Starters? My daughter’s goat cheese and red onion tart was creamy and smart, my Goosnargh chicken liver pate with grape chutney and brioche ditto.<br /> <br /> The mains were better. My Old Spot pork loin steak was chewy but tasty, the cider sauce and mustard mash spot-on (sic) accompaniments, while her sea trout fillet was surprisingly fleshy on a petit pois base. <br /> <br /> We resisted pudding and pudding wine. We are learning to live with the recession! <br /> <br /> Toast Roast<br /> <br /> To download a voucher for 2000 & Wine’ you have to register at www.malmaison.com/register.<br /> <br /> The offer isn’t applicable on Saturday evenings and on certain dates. Malmaison are also running a special Sunday deal called ‘Toast Roast’, where for £15 person on that day you get soup, Sunday roast and a a half bottle of house wine.<br />