Smoak Bar & Grill

Amazing Sunday brunch, from the buffet starter to the mixed brunch for main course. All topped off with a signature Bloody Mary.

Went there for lunch. The soup was very good, Personally, didn’t really like the sauce. Still quit great. People there were very friendly.

I almost gave this place 4* as the atmosphere was great and it looks very good too.
We stopped by for a drink whilst waiting for a train. The bar was pointed out to us after a little while of tentative waiting, as it’s pretty hard to see where it is from the door.
The layout is great, seated in comfortable Chippendale-​esque chairs at the sunken bar, it’s really quite relaxing.
We ordered a couple of beers, the drinks really are hotel prices, so a spirit (about £4.50) with a mixer (add £1.60) can really set you back!
The service was nice, but as is often the case the bartender forgot I had also ordered a glass of water.
We also ordered the porcini and truffle arancini to nibble on, and eagerly awaited.
They came in good time and was a nice portion of 6 — good for sharing. However I couldn’t really taste the truffle and the garlic mayo overpowered any flavour from the arancini. I think it would have been better for the mayo to be infused in truffle oil instead perhaps.
Overall the experience was ok. I’m not sure if pay the money for a full blown meal, especially after seeing the manager shout at a waitress on the restaurant floor and click his fingers in her face telling her to wake up — very disrespectful. In fact had that had not have happened, I may have rated Smoak 4*.

Just a quick stop at Malmaison for a cocktail before heading out for dinner. This place does a mean (good) Black Forest Martini, one of my favourite off the menu.
Male moody boutique feel is perfect for a romantic drink with a special someone. The food from the SMOKE restaurant is delightful too but this is only a flying visit today sadly.

I have to say, Smoak does the best steak I’ve had in England so far. The place was completely booked out when we arrived, but they were happy to place us at a seat at the bar to avoid the 40 wait we’d’ve apparently had for a table. Then again, they apologies for taking 40 minutes to cook the Steak, so maybe we should’ve placed our orders and joined that queue…
I split the Tomahawk between 3, although I could’ve eaten half of it myself, especially with that taste, though at £65, I’m glad to’ve shared the cost a little!
I think if the waiters had been either intelligent enough to bring our Sides out while we waited, or had communicated the delay so that we could’ve specifically asked for them in the interim, I may well have given this place 5-​stars.

Not the best experience I’ve had. Been to smoke a few times not bit on this occasion the service failed. 30 mins for cocktails to arrive. Longer for food though the quality of the food was lovely as ever. Never been on a Saturday nigh before, was busy and as we were a group of 9 dining we had to prepay a £10 deposit per person! l when making reservation.

I had a good experience here at the bar on my own. The goat cheese salad and fishcake were both nice, service great and the wine is good by the glass, which is rare here. In a town seemingly underserved for foodies, a decent place to get a bite.

Went here for Brunch.
The way it works is that you have an all you can eat buffet.
This includes a soup of the day. A selection of unlimited hors d’oeuvres and chef’s cook station featuring eggs, omelettes, waffles and pancakes prepared just for you. Various cooked meats — hand carved serrano ham, salads, pates, terrines, smoked salmon etc. Plenty of choice! Dont have too much though because you need to save room for the mains.
Actually, you get a choice between either Brunch after the buffet. Brunch is either a big English breakfast or an eggs benedict with salmon or spinach on a toasted muffin. Or you get a choice of between 6 mains including a burger, steak or a roast (beef or turkey)
I went for the roast beef — which cames with a Yorkshire pudding, gravy and all the trimmings. The beef was really nice actually. The rest of it was «OK».
If you come for brunch here, take you time eating. Have a nice relaxing Sunday. Read the papers in-​between each plate. Be prepared to stuff your face!
Overall it gets a ³⁄₅ because the service was pretty good — nothing special but good. All the food in the buffet was nice and as I said the actual beef was nice.

Decent food & drinks but awful service.
After spotting a 50% off offer for the brunch at the Mal on twitter we booked in. I’d heard good things so was keen to try this out.
We got there a little early but as it was very quiet they seated us straight away. Despite the fact there were a lot of very good tables we were offered one in the middle of the restaurant. There was left over foods (quite big crumbs) all over my chair so we asked for a different table. The waitress again ignored all the nice tables and took us to another pretty average one.
We immediately ordered drinks then had a good look at the menu. The format for Sunday brunch/​lunch is an all you can eat starter buffet followed by a main and dessert that you order off the menu. The buffet has lots of great options on it. I had things like artichoke hearts, Caesar salad, couscous, Camembert, olives and some fantastic bread. There were also a lot of meat and fish options.
After we finished our starters we still hadn’t received our drinks and had to ask for them. Our waitress got confused and thought we wanted more drinks until we had to point out we still wanted our original drinks…
While we chose mains still no drinks appeared. We had to ask for the specials rather than being told about them. I ordered the lamb roast dinner and Dan went for the cooked breakfast. Then a good ten minutes later our waitress came over and asked what mains we wanted again — she obviously hadn’t put them through yet.
At this point I wandered back to the buffet and ordered some pancakes off the station at the end. They also do waffles! Amazing, I want this for the flat. The drinks were really good when they finally arrived — the Bloody Mary was great, very spicy and delicious.
When the mains came they looked great. The breakfast comes with fries, steak, sausage, mushroom, black pudding, eggs and tomato. My roast dinner was good but I’d have liked mash as the roasties were a little dry and the veg was a bit over cooked.
For dessert I ordered an ice cream sundae and Dan had the crème brûlée. The sundae was not good. The ice cream was melted and there was far too much cream on top. The cream was fairly tasteless and just sloppy so not pleasant. I sent it back. The bite I had of Dan’s cream brûlée was good though.
Some of the other staff seemed ok (although one waiter tried to give us a bottle of water when we asked for tap water — cheeky) but certainly our waitress was really struggling, we were told she was new. They took off one drink as compensation which was fine. A point to note here — they put a service charge on the bill. My pet hate in restaurants. We had not had good service and to have to ask them to then take the charge off didn’t improve my overall experience.
I can see why they are having to do 50% offers as overall based on today it wasn’t an experience I’d rush back for. I do think that they could do better another day though and Dan really enjoyed his meal so we may return. Lots of small things they need to improve on. Hopefully they can.

Holy gastric band, batman! Smoak’s Sunday brunch has defeated hunger forever.
I am a big lover of a good breakfast. And this is an epic one.
It’s a 3 course extravaganza that begins with a buffet table the like of which I’ve not seen this side of Vegas. Roasted veg, cold meats, fresh omelettes, pastries, salmon, pancakes, waffles and more… I’d died and gone to over-eater’s heaven.
After a modest 4 trips to the groaning counter of starters, I turned my attention to my main — I chose a full roast dinner (Mr Creosote’s got nothing on me). Rib of beef was served pink (of course) with a towering Yorkshire pud and some decent veg too.
After that, a rich and ice creamy chocolatey marshmallowy concoction for dessert.
Then a leisurely flick through the complementary Sunday papers while I waited for the sick feeling to go away.
Bill for 2 came to just over £50, with coffees and soft drinks.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. And definitely won’t need to eat again today!

Enjoyed a few well made cocktails at the bar before dinner with its quirky décor and eclectic mix of clientele; as much fun for the people watching as for drinking. I have eaten here before but it was the first visit for my partner and he particularly liked the low bar top with its surrounding comfy chairs.
I had tomato and mozzarella salad to start — nice selection of tomatoes and well dressed but skimpy on the cheese. Adrian had prawn cocktail, nicely presented and he enjoyed but quite a price at £8.50.
For mains we both had steaks — cooked on the restaurants trade mark Josper Grill which we went over and asked with the chef about. They use two types of charcoal to keep things running smoothly and the grill/​oven can reach temperatures of 600 degrees. The chef was in the middle of cooked a 900g steak whilst talking to us which he said was going to take 45 minutes to cook to medium and involved repeated removal from the grill for resting to stop over charring (not for diners in a hurry) Both our steaks were tasty but we both agreed slightly over-​cooked for the medium rare we requested. I am guessing that really accurate steak temperature cooking is pretty tough on the «Josper» Nice garnish of flat mushroom and bone marrow but potato choice extra — a bit stingy at the prices they charge here. Both had fries and alioli, good but not remarkable.
We both enjoyed a luscious sticky toffee pudding for afters (we asked for extra sauce on ordering) and then retired back to the bar for a couple of liquers. We avoided coffee as last time I dined here it was the most heinous black treacle like substance — I can’t possibly quote the description of my dinner companion on that visit as it is just too rude!
Overall, attentive knowledgeable service, a posh but casual style and great atmosphere added to our evening and we will definitely return — probably more so to the bar and occasionally to eat. Rates as one the better places to eat a steak in the city centre.

My table (for a dinner date) was booked for 8pm but on arrival they hadn’t a copy of the reservation — fortunately I’d kept a copy of the email to show them. They dealt with this well and we were seated in a few minutes, albeit not on the best positioned table but somebody had to have it. There’s an interesting display of beef taking centre stage in the restaurant — after seeing this I’m not sure if it’s possible to go to Smoak and not order steak.
Considering I’d been to TGIs just 4 hours earlier I’m not sure why but I went for the 24oz T Bone with Bernaise which came with a mushroom and some unexpected bone marrow (a nice surprise). It was a good steak but not one of the best I’ve had in Manchester (although I probably ought to try it again when I’m more hungry). The best steaks I’ve had in Manchester have been at Gaucho, Restaurant Bar and Grill and (perhaps unexpectedly and this was 3 years ago) The Lowry — I’m slowly but surely working my way through the Top 10 Steaks on Manchester Confidential.
I did like the ambience of the restaurant and the open kitchen and the urinals are certainly unique and worth a viewing (if you’re a lady just peek round the door)
PS despite the size of the steak and lack of hunger on my part the plate went back empty (⁷⁄₁₀)

Maybe I wasn’t expecting much. Usually, I save hotel restaurants for when I’m too tired to go out. And after a long trip, that’s exactly what I did.
I opted for a lighter meal, on an Asian theme, and ordered the fish cakes and the Thai soup. The starter was pretty disappointing — even the accompanying chili sauce was bland, and I had to heavily pepper the little bugger to get it to taste like anything.
The main soup, on the other hand, was wonderful. The broth was a combination of complex flavors that were missing in my starter. There were some nice vegetables and a good amount of noodles to make the soup filling, but as a vegetarian offering, I felt that there could have been more. I finished with a delightful scoop of lemon sorbet with a couple of fresh berries that ended my meal on a high note.
Service was OK — nothing too special, but there were an awful lot of servers for the number of diners in the restaurant when I was there — could have been a little more attentive.
If you’re in the hotel and want a quick bite, give it a try. But there are better options a short walk away if you have the time.

I’d herd good things about the new Smoak Bar & Grill and from their website I was very much looking forward to eating there. Wasn’t really what I was expecting to be fair…
Me and my brother were dining there on the 50% off August only deal, promoted by ManCon. The prices are quite high, although since we had 50% off food, we decided to order loads and try out everything as it all sounded so good! Smoak is supposedly trying to be clever in its New York style bar and grill interior, it comes across quite quirky and cool, the atmosphere was good and the menu design seemed quite smart although wish I could be this positive about the food and service. But I won’t, I’ll be honest.
To start; Frito Misto, Steak Tartare. For mains the Smoakburger, Fried Buttermilk Chicken and Kansas BBQ Ribs. The Frito Misto was minimal bleak shite, the Steak Tartare was greasy sickly and the raw egg was a bit off putting, I know you can do it with a raw egg although I prefer it cooked. We ordered the Smoakburger (rare), so black and blue, it came out rare which was what we wanted although it wasn’t juicy at all, this indicates that the mince must have been old or dry, it just wasn’t right! The bun was rock solid, could of broke a tooth and the punch line of the joke was the garnish! They topped the burger with obviously lettuce, onion, tomato, except the tomato had its stalk popping out of it… not cool. I’m very passionate about burgers and this burger sucked massively!
The chicken was also jank, over cooked, to much seasoning and the chips /​frittes were also cooked to shit = crispy grease sticks! Got stuck into the BBQ Ribs next, that weren’t very BBQ at all, tasted like they had been heated up in the microwave and you’d think they would be served with slaw and BBQ sauce, since they’re meant to be «BBQ Ribs» nope. Got my coleslaw and… sourcream wtf… wheres the bbq sauce?
During service, our waitress was very busy and hardly bothered checking on us for drinks or anything else, to see how our food was, she hardly noticed us to be fair. It took way to long to get the bill at the end of our meal and we ended up getting the bill our self.
Obviously its traditional for the waitress or waiter to ask how the food was after you’d finished while they clear the table. We didn’t really beat around the bush about it, told her the entire meal was pretty unacceptable and shite /​why it was, gave here an explanation. Although it didn’t really matter as the waitress couldn’t care less.
Once we got our bill sorted the manager rung it up on the til and got it wrong lol, she forgot to take the 50% off deal into account even though she was the one that took the voucher off us and sat us down to begin with. Once we helped her correct the bill and basically instructed her how to use there own til, she asked how our meal was and for any feedback, obviously we told her how bad our food was and she seemed to be writing it all down in her head.
I’d still like to come back and give it another chance although its not exactly winning me over!
Malmaison — Smoak Bar & Grill = No.

Positioning itself as a high-​end grill /​steakhouse, Smoak replaces the previous velvet gothic feel of Malmaison’s restaurant with a quirky cross between US diner and robot butchers. Whilst some have been critical of the new décor, I rather like it — it’s nice to have something a bit different.
The place was very new when we went, and it seems clear it’s still finding its feet: service was a bit all over the place, although they were friendly.
We started with a round of cocktails. Their take on the old-​fashioned is very good, rivalling the city’s best (namely, the Alchemist’s version).
Leaving aside the stupid advertising about Mr Sharp and all that (nearly enough to put me off like that Rosso advert), let’s talk about the food. First challenge was navigating the bizarrely confusing menu.
I started off with their shrimp cocktail, which was decent: nice big juicy shrimp and a decent sauce. But worth £9.50? No way. Thank goodness for our ½ price offer.
I ordered the rump steak alongside some chips. Despite what the menu might suggest, you will actually get a mushroom and some tasty bone marrow with the steak. The chips were very good: tasty and cooked to just the right consistency. The steak was pretty good too, and LARGE (400g). On reflection I didn’t really need all that food. But we noticed to our surprise that two steaks ordered rare and very rare both came out identical (that is, fairly rare). Strange for a grill to not get this right, even in the UK.
I hear that they attempt to serve you wine in those metal beakers you have on the table. I don’t even want to drink water out of those: a quirky step too far, methinks.
Overall, the place has promise, but needs work. Most importantly, their pricing structure is totally out of whack.