Giraffe (Trafford Centre Manchester) Review
Giraffe
Trafford Centre, Manchester
Reviewed by The Wilson Family
We had a table booked at the Giraffe restaurant at the Trafford centre located on the second floor. It was a Tuesday evening at around 5:15 pm so business was just starting to pick up at this point with a dozen or so tables already being served. Upon arrival we noticed that from the shop entrance if you’re looking for somewhere to eat Giraffe is quite difficult to see due to the amount of pillars in the way. You have to walk right round before noticing the green, orange and brown décor of the restaurant. The restaurant was nicely lit, welcoming, bright and colourful with different types of table sittings to suit couples, families, children etc. The staff that served us were excellent throughout from greeting, serving and explanation and recommendations of the menu choices.
Having children as anyone with them will know we first had to take them to the toilets which were very clean, nicely built and with all necessary facilities. Back at our table we ordered drinks and our children being fussy wanted a full explanation of the smoothies on offer. Holly aged 7 had the mango and strawberry and Megan aged 4 being fussy had a tap water. However shortly after Megan wasn’t happy with her tap water and I told my Wife it maybe due to the chlorine. The lady serving us gladly got Megan a bottle of mineral water and Megan was then happy, which does show even children have a good sense of taste!
Holly however couldn’t get enough of her smoothie and had a second shortly after and both girls loved the fact they get a little souvenir giraffe type drink garnish with every drink. To start my wife had the Tuscan bean soup whilst I had the chicken popstickers. Both starters were excellent and completely different showing the menu had a good variety. The Rustic Tuscan bean soup was full of flavour and just a hint of spice and came with rustic crunchy garlic bread. It was a good portion and would have made a great lunch time choice on its own. The chicken popstickers were great too, little fried chicken dumplings with a soy dipping sauce and a little dressing that gave a hint of ginger and chilli which was very nice and complemented the dumplings perfectly. The girls had their mains sent with our starters so they didn’t have to wait and although there were options available they wanted to wait to get a pudding!
Holly had freshly made breaded chicken goujons with a fresh crisp side salad and nicely cooked chips. She ate all hers and it was nice to see these were actually made and not just processed chicken nuggets, care had clearly been taken with the children’s meals too which for any parent is really nice to see. Megan had crunchy cheese and tomato pizza fingers which looked they were made again and from a focaccia possibly, May at this point we point out Megan rarely clears a plate at home let alone when we dine out. However to our surprise the only time Megan stopped to eat was when she had to put more of the tomato and mayonnaise sauces from the nicely displayed branded condiments rack on her chips. Both of the girls finished their meals and happily coloured their colouring books they were given upon arrival. For our mains my wife had the aged sirloin steak and chips which she told me was cooked perfect and very tender and the chips were excellent and came with a crispy skin. I had the grilled salmon cooked till the skin was crispy and came with a lovely herby mash well-seasoned and full of flavour, the salsa was good with tastes of basil, cherry tomatoes and jalapenos overall a nice light dish that was suitable for evening or a lunch menu.
For desserts the girls had the vanilla ice cream Holly had chocolate sauce with hers and Megan had strawberries, both were met with no complaints and finished as fast as possible! Lisa, my wife, had the baked white chocolate, mascarpone and passion fruit cheese cake recommended by the waiter and was amazing and the highlight of her meal I believe. A nice crunchy base with a great creamy white chocolate flavour. The passion fruit on top went excellently and just cut through the cheesecake and made it that bit more lighter. I had the huge Key Lime pie which was equally amazing as the cheesecake, very flavoursome, and similar crunchy base as the cheesecake as every key lime pie should have.
Overall the whole experience was excellent and great value for money the kids and ourselves equally enjoyed it and will be back to book a table very soon.