The season of festive menus is almost upon us, which means all of your favourite restaurants have introduced a sprinkling of cranberry, brie and gravy – or all three – to their usual offerings.
Over at The Pearl, Prestwich’s stand-out ‘seasonal British bistro’, they’ve revamped their menu, but what’s most intriguing is that there’s absolutely nothing obvious about it.
From a theatrical take on a vodka martini, through to homemade scones, monkfish with caviar, and a re-imagined treacle tart, everything about this Christmas offering is thoughtful, stylish and a little unexpected – much like the restaurant itself.
Even without its festive bows and whistles, it’s indisputably one of the prettiest dining rooms in the city, a combination of vintage furniture and quirky flourishes. Add candlelit corners, plush velvet adornments and heaps of foliage, and you’ve got an irresistibly charming space for a really special meal.
As of November 21, the Winter à la carte menu will be available, priced at two courses for £50, or three for £60. Up first, there’s bread and butter for the table: a plump and satisfying homemade Japanese milk loaf served with a bright green parsley butter and a portion of cheddar and Marmite sauce. Not typically festive condiments, but we’ll sign any petition available to get them added to the usual rotation.
Next, there’s a choice of snacks. There’s a delicately-flavoured seared Scottish trout with beurre blanc, trout roe and caviar and a Salt Marsh lamb belly skewer with whipped feta and a zingy apple and cucumber salsa.
Perhaps most outrageously, there’s also a fried chicken dish with cranberry hot sauce – though given the The Pearl treatment it’s about as far away from KFC as imaginable, and a memorable antidote to memories of dry Christmas turkey. Satisfying and savoury homemade scones make an appearance in a mushroom parfait dish too, as well as oysters. If you’re going all out, you may as well go all out.
Meanwhile, over on the cocktail menu, there are five new additions arriving as of November 7. They include an apricot pudding inspired tipple with a festive tuile, a nostalgic peppermint-hued grasshopper, and a very dirty vodka martini served with a substantial garnish line-up: olive, anchovy and pickled quails egg. It’s difficult to think of a punchier or more restorative drink if you’re continuing on celebrations from the previous night.
Next, the mains. You’ll be hard pressed to find turkey, or Yorkshires, or even a reimagined Brussel sprout dish around these parts. There’s monkfish, served with a sauce with more roe and caviar, and a koji-cured duck with celeriac fondants and five-spice red wine jus, which is about as close to meat and veggies you’re likely to get.
As with everything at The Pearl, is traditional British cooking with hyper-seasonal ingredients, served with creativity, charm and an eye for detail. No wonder the place is up for Neighbourhood Venue of the Year and the Manchester Food and Drink Awards, with their relatively new Head Chef Matt Bennett also up for Chef of The Year, too.
Puddings are seemingly traditional, but a little off-beat. There’s a cheese shortbread with Dewlay Lancashire and quince, while the treacle tart is served with fig leaf ice cream, the fig leaves in question foraged and barbecued by the chefs themselves.
About The Pearl’s festive offerings, owner Sam Taylor says: “We’re a family-owned business, when you eat with us, you’re eating at an extension of our dining table; warm, attentive, relaxed service and excellent food. At The Pearl, you’re treated like family and Christmas is a moment for us to give thanks to all those who have eaten with us throughout the year, it’s a special time of year.”
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