Reviews in Manchester

Oh dear, what happened! Contrary to a recent wonderful experience, last week we (16 of us) visited the Olive Garden for lunch - a special £6.99 menu. It was AWFUL. The Cannaloni looked like a giant croquette, the pasta was hard, the cheese and herb filling was tasteless and, worst of all, it was covered in a breadcrumb-like substance and seemed to have been deep fried. There was no 'cheesey' white sauce either, just some chopped tomatoes. Whilst for £6.99 one does not expect a feast, we were all very disappointed and the experience has unfortunately done nothing to encourage a return trip. Also, the starters (mostly soup or Bruschetta) took three quarters of an hour to arrive!) - and I think we were the only people eating in the whole restaurant at the time. All very sad.

Was urged to try by a friend last week. The food is cooked in an open kitchen on real charcoal and was simply delicious. The decor is fresh and modern and the service we received was superb. We are definitely going back. Would recommend the grilled fish...absolutely yummy!

A really enjoyable place to eat. The welcoming is warm and friendly, staff are attentive without being intrusive and this all makes for a relaxed, informal atmosphere. The menu is varied, the food fresh and well presented and very good value for money. Well worth a visit.

This has got to be the worst restaurant I have ever been in We were made unwelcome when we arrived, they claimed not to have our booking, even though we pointed out in the ledger! We then waited an hour for our table, the staff only wanted to push drinks on us and would not take the order. At this stage we realised that they had very little staff and could not cope with the Saturday evening crowd.This included the chefs serving in the restaurant! We waited two hours and still no food! At this stage I asked for the drinks bill as we wished to leave this took a further half hour, and during this time we were closely watched by a group of doormen, this was very intimidating for a mature family group. The "Famous Raja brothers" then charged us 45 pounds for the six drinks we had! I cannot comment on the food as we never had any! ENTER AT YOUR PERIL!

very good food, good quality service

this is a fantastic restaurant ,the food ,service and cost is excellent, take your own wine ,beer ,book a table at weekends as its very busy .

Only 3 staff waiting tables on a fairly busy Wednesday Night. I've visited stock a few times and everything's been near perfect before, this visit however was a bit of a let down. The staff that were working were reasonably helpful, the food seems to have become a bit rushed and my partner's gnocchi had the same sauce as my steak (although advertised differently). The food had to be sent back both at the starter and main course because it had gone cold. Lavish, exquisite surroundings but just a bit of a poor performance on the night

Great place, great value. Enjoyed!

Pleasant atmosphere, good service, lovely rice!

The Owls of Standish is possibly the best place to go for a meal in the whole of the North West, serving the highest quality of meals, at a low price. There is a three course menu, three courses for only around £8 sounds like a good deal to me, but when its as high quality as the Owls chefs produce, its more than worth the money. With massive amounts of space for big groups for birthday parties etc, it makes it the best place to eat out in Standish, in the evening. There's even a bar area for bar meals, at lunchtimes and evenings.

We went to Baci on Saturday 26th January 2008 to celebrate my husbands 30th birthday. This restaurant was recommended to us and I have to say that it did not disappoint. We had a table booked at 8.45 and arrived slightly early to enjoy a pre dinner drink in the bar area. The bar was very crowded and our table was slightly late, not a good start I thought. The restaurant host showed us to our table and did not even offer to assist in carrying our drinks while we were struggling with coats and bags. At this point I had a very low opinion of the service and didn't hold much hope for the night ahead. The restaurants saving grace was the waiters, they couldn't do enough. They took service with a smile to another level. They were certainly entertaining! We were having such a good time that we did not notice that it was almost 11pm and we had only had our starters. As soon as I queried this with the waiter he rushed to the kitchen, hurried the food along and gave us a bottle of wine as an apology. The food when we received it was fantastic, some had pasta some duck and steak and all were very impressed. All in all it was a fantastic evening, luckily we had very understanding babysitters! We will definitely be returning very soon but will try and book in a bit earlier and hopefully avoid the rush.

Our favourite Bury Indian, lovely friendly staff along with olde English surroundings! Romantically lit, coffee is superb. Pleasant music and magical freshly cooked curries and sides, normally around £35 for poppadoms, curry, naan, vegetable side and a couple of draught pints of chilled Kingfisher. Complete with Bombay mix whilst you browse the menu, who could ask for more.

VERY DISAPPOINTING! On arriving there was no one on the front desk so we were left to wait for ten minutes before being seated. We ordered some water whilst looking at the menu, I think they sent someone to Buxton to get it judging by the time it took for the waitress to bring it to the table. We ordered and then watched our food sit on the side for ten minutes before the waiter noticed it. The order when it eventually arrived was wrong, I ordered the CHURRASCO but got a plain sirloin instead. On sending it back I watched the chef butterfly the steak, dip it in the marinade and put it back on the griddle! On pointing this out to the waiter he assured me that a fresh steak had been cooked. Utter rubbish, the staff seem to forget that there is a lovely open kitchen at Gaucho. We did complain to the Maitradee who did not charge us for the steak. I have eaten at Gaucho twice before and I thought the service and food were excellent. This time the service was insultingly bad. The new decor looks tacky, the black and white furry fake cow skin seat covers really do look appallingly bad. The treatment of customers is way below the standards of the restaurant Gaucho used to be. The food was average and overall experience very disappointing. I have recommended Gaucho to friends before, this time I will be warning them, a lack of basic service ruined a birthday celebration. Never again.

I've been to Asian Fusion a few times since it opened. Evey time the food has been excellent. I especially like Granny Special Madras lamb or chicken, it has potato in it which soaks up the flavor of the sauce. Staff are friendly and you can get a vimto lolly on the way out.

The Cow and Calf is a small and very friendly local public house which serves fresh homemade food. I have dined there several times and not once have I had a bad word to say about the food or the beverages. I have had to wait a couple of times but the place is decorated so beautifully and feels so comfortable almost like being in your own living room, and the people are so friendly you dont mind waiting. As fast food is not good food and you only get great food served here. Why not try it yourself you wont be disappointed Im sure of that.

Little Italy in Timperley - Have visited a couple of times - Service, Staff, Food all the best - Sunday Lunch 5 course offer - simply the best and such good value for money - Love the fact that Sam the chef always makes time with his customers - Highly recommended and great for us as walking distance! Jenny and Eddie

DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT - ABSOLUTELY AWFUL The food was tasteless sludge. Service lazy and poor - order taken was incorrect and the 'correct' dish served amazingly quickly. Not sure if the correct dish was actually served as tasteless, oily and unidentifiable. Comments about the quality of the food met with a disinterested smile and nod. Bill delivered to the table without being requested. Not a pleasant meal.

EXCELLENT VALUE AND GREAT TASTING FOOD! WE HAVE MADE THE TRIP FROM BOLTON AT LEAT 10 TIMES IN THE PAST YEAR! WE HAVE NEVER BEEN LET DOWN! A****