Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

Another of the Manchester genre of café/bars and one that has survived the test of time with flying colours. Eight years now. If you fancy some talent spotting, with a particular penchant for Corrers, you could score here. Formerly a Police Station but now serving a more sociable cause, Lead Station is really a wine bar and café, with a select brunch and evening menus based round old favourites such as steak and chips, salmon fishcakes with fries and salad and sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce. It always seems to be full of children which contributes towards its total informality and friendliness.

Located on High Street in Manchester, alongside the Arndale Shopping Centre, The Walrus Bar offers a unique combination of cocktail bar, a relaxed lounge and contemporary Asian eatery. The modest entrance leads into spectacular interiors that combine kitsch psychedelia and sleek minimalism to stunning effect.

The delicious Oriental menu, prepared by ex-Nobu chef Paul Day, offers a Japanese style canteen cuisine with a hint of Thai, encouraging guests to be flexible and engage in some relaxed and sociable dining. Prepared from organic ingredients, the restaurant's signature dishes include three times cooked black pepper ribs and beef Mussuman curry. There are also bento boxes of sea fish, ebi katsu or breaded prawns, pickles, fish cakes and steamed rice and a variety of small plates such as chicken and pork gyoza served with yuzu sauce or salt and pepper squid.

The food is accompanied by a wide choice of white, red and rose wine and champagnes or choose from the extensive cocktail list.

One of the old brigade of established Chinese restaurants in Manchester that produces consistently good dishes to a loyal and appreciative supporters' club. Their hot and sour soup is rated highly and from their range of dim sum the cheung fun rice rolls come in for special mention. I never fail to marvel at the extraordinary wealth of dim sum produced by the smaller restaurants, considering that they draw from such a small range of suppliers.