Reviews in Manchester City Centre

A cold and wet night was quickly put aside upon entering this attractive and atmospheric restaurant. The menu is more than ample with an excellent range of dishes. The fillet steak is highly recommended as is the cheese platter. Service was pleasant but a little slow. Overall: Nice place, good food but worth the wait. I will revisit.

Great food, wonderful cocktails and fantastic setting, in all a wonderful evening. Will be recommending it to all my friends and family!

On arrival we were pleasantly welcomed and shown through to the new, airy, two sectioned dining area. The service was pleasant and attentive initially and we were quickly looked after for our drinks and food order. We had a mildly pleasant glass of the house Claret to go with our food. The starters we had were Mussels in a very agreeable, if voluminous, scrumpy sauce and a delicious, if ever so slightly too cold, soup. As we were there on a Friday Night and having a maximum of £20 fix per head, the choices were probably less than you would normally expect, although sufficiently varied to cover most tastes I would have said. My wife and I both went for the Roast Lamb. For some reason any offer of condiments didn't materialise in our little corner of the restaurant despite there appearing to be plenty on offer elsewhere. By the time we realised we couldn't be bothered to ask for them, but it was a slightly annoying oversight on the part of the waiting staff. The Lamb was wonderfully cooked, but was slightly fatty. I did ask for extra gravy which turned up neatly in a little pot with spoon for ladling across my food; a nice little touch. Vegetables turned up in a shared dish and all mixed in together, which might have been a pain if we hadn't both liked all of the vege therein. Again it was all very pleasant without really taking us to epicurean heights. Finally puddings were a sticky toffee pudding (not as good as the Ivy's, according to the missus!) So all-in-all, a pleasant and enjoyable experience without really being the culinary delight we had been anticipating. Informal discussions with the staff however did start to shed some light on this. The place has recently had major overhauls, the new seating area, new Kitchen where less than 4 months old. I fear that the English Lounge may not be able to live up to its newly won reputation unless it irons out some of the 'niggles' that can just take make the difference between OK and great. I do wish them all the best of luck.

great food, they also do take away

Very good standard of restaurant, excellent cooking and friendly service!. La Tasca watch out. Definitely one of the best Spanish restaurants in town for consistency, and I've eaten regularly at most of them. Give it a go. A real treat and great atmosphere,,,,, great food.

Good food, nice staff. Food was an average price, good choice.

The food here is just excellent and also a little different to your usual Bar / Restaurant menu restrictions. Can't recommend highly enough and the staff are fantastic and knowledgeable. Worth every penny. The upstairs restaurant, I believe which has just been built is a beautifully done, relaxed atmosphere in stylish setting with subtle, well-chosen background music. I would highly recommend a visit just to view the lavish decor, hanging chandlers, and highly impressive waiting staff. Well Done.

Good quality italian food with style great location, free parking

Fantastic food, what a great place less than £10.00 per head for food and a beer... well done !!

My wife and I go into Manchester every week to sample the flavours of what the city has to offer, my wife suggested going to a place called 'The English Lounge', located not too far from the Arndale Centre, an establishment, recommended by a friend of hers who had dinned there before and had enjoyed it herself. We had a drink in the bar as we arrived about 10mins before our booking time to get relax and get a feel for the place. You look around and can tell a lot of thought has gone into the place. We had placed in front of us a beautifully presented and designed menu, offering a very varied choice of both, continental meals, and English dishes. The meal was perfection! 10/10 at the end of the meal (Both feeling very full and had 2 bottles of wine plus the 2 bottles of water to keep us standing up right). I can only thank the staff for being both friendly, and delightful in their approach and mannerism's. When we left I explained to the manger we had not had service like that from a waiter more helpful for a long time. Last note this place is a must for anyone wanting the best of Manchester, and highly rate this establishment, as a must for both dining and sampling a great range of wines and real ales. Mr. & Mrs. Goodayle.

Went to English Lounge on a Friday night and the whole evening was brilliant, entertaining and a great start to the weekend. Huge portions!! It was well worth it as the price for a main dish alone can be under £6.00. Our table was delighted with the service, drinks we constantly refilled. We couldn? finish our main courses & next time (there will definitely be a next time!) would probably just opt for mains! A brilliant, lavishly furnished restaurant - perfect for drinking copious amounts of wine with delicious food. Brilliant!

Gorgeous cocktails, lovely food (red pepper soup is to die for), fantastic views and great service. Will certainly visit again.

I have been many times and it always maintains a very high standard. The food is excellent and always fresh and authentic. The staff are professional, very polite and efficient. It's ideal for theatregoers - if you tell them, you can have an aperitif, three courses, coffee and pay, easily in under an hour. If you want a leisurely meal however, it is advisable to tell them that you are in no rush. Overall, excellent food, good service and not expensive.

We were a party of 6 over the holiday period but were seated immediately. The food was both superb and plentiful, as no one had been checking the prices when ordering the bill (including 4 starters, 3 bottles of wine, beer, 2 desserts and coffee) of £180 was exceptional

I have eaten at Villagio on two occaisions with two different groups of friends, both times have been excellent. The staff are friendly and the service is very good. I will most certainly take other friends there in the future.

easily the grandest restaurant we have been to in manchester,and the food aws excellent.went to the groucho in amsterdam last week and that was good too. if you like steak OUTSTANDING.

The food was excellent, location very good but the service was poor. Waiter seemed uninterested that main course was going cold whilst waiting for vegetables to be served and was at times rude.

Enjoyed one of the best meals out all year at this fabulous restaurant. The atmosphere was fantastic, the restaurant itself totally gorgeous and the service perfect. My food really was incredible. So much so that I am busy taking to Room about using it as a wedding venue. Go before everyone else finds out about Manchester's newest, best and coolest place for dinner.