River Restaurant at The Lowry Hotel, The

Manchester's first five-star hotel, The Lowry, features a delightful restaurant within its fashionable interior, The River Room, able to accommodate up to 126 diners, and providing customers with a wide selection of imaginative brasserie-style dishes in an atmospheric setting overlooking the river, but still within the heart of the city.

Executive Head Chef Eyck Zimmer's influences extend from classic British dishes to the more diverse flavours of fusion cuisine, basing his approach on the philosophy that cooking should be a 'carefully balanced reflection of all things nature has to offer'. As the man who has succeeded Gordon Ramsay as Knorr Chef of the Year he is in pole position to make such a definitive statement

His offers include an extremely tempting but relatively straightforward menu, allowing the natural flavours to shine through. Starters on the a la carte might include oyster ravioli with leeks and smoked bacon foam, chicory tarte tatin, with caramelised sweetbreads and egg cocotte with asparagus and wild mushroom cream.

Follow with a wide choice of pasta and risotto dishes for the main course, including macaroni, artichokes with broad beans and parmesan foam, crab risotto with lemon and black pepper and gnocchi with goat's cheese and slow roasted beetroots. Nor is the British love affair with fish dishes overlooked; choose from grilled swordfish with tomato confit, artichoke and crispy capers, seared sea bass with chorizo oil, sweet corn and basil mash, roast cod with a delicate mild curry crust, sauteed baby gem and coconut foam, lemon sole with with parsnip puree, razor clam and a parsley jus, or fricassee of lobster and scallops with herb gnocchi and shellfish cream.

Amongst the meat dishes look for Cheshire beef fillet with garlic snails and horseradish mash, or a juicy 16oz T-bone with crispy Spanish onions. Meat reared in the north it is claimed has a better texture and more definite taste, and you can test out this theory on the chicken and leek pie, tarragon, morels, pork cutlet with black pudding, sage beigne and a cider jus, lamb poached in olive oil with white bean puree, or slow roasted squab pigeon with pearl barley and a spiced cherry jus.

Desserts follow the same heady pattern with apple financier with clotted cream ice cream, cider apple jelly, lemon parfait with pine nut dacquoise and raspberries, banana mille feuille with passion fruit coulis, or a good English custard tart with prunes and pear. Cheese lovers are not neglected with a selection of four well-kept British cheeses, accompanied by plum bread.

Eyck offers a Daily Classics menu with set meals from Monday to Friday; if you are a Lancashire hotpot person Monday is your day, Tuesday is shepherd's pie, bangers and mash with onion gravy on a Wednesday, through liver and bacon with mashed potatoes on Thursdays, finishing up with beer battered cod, chunky chips, pea puree and tartar sauce on Fridays. This is supported by a du Jour menu, changed every two weeks to catch the best of the markets and the seaons, at a very reasonable £20 for 2 courses or £25 for 3.

The River Restaurant has a spirit of benevolent opportunism that takes happy traditional occasions, be they Mother's Day, Christmas or family gatherings and makes them into special treats, ensuring that guests return to somewhere in which they have trust, confidence and good memories.

As one would anticipate finding with any Rocco Forte restaurant, service is impeccable and the table settings and decor really cannot be faulted. The wine list leaves little to be desired with a well-mannered worldly selection pays homage to the food and the perception of the guests.

A delightful separate dining room, which can comfortably seat up to 20 people, enjoys natural daylight views along the River Irwell, making this an ideal venue for a special occasion where elegance and good taste draw inspiration from the surroundings that go to make up this very metropolitan hotel.

For larger occasions, say a conference of up to 400 people, expect the same well-tuned attention to detail, the same high quality of food - yes, big is without any doubt beautiful at The Lowry Hotel. Their Website is of the same high order, and will repay your attention.