Table Table Christie Fields Review
Table Table
Christie Fields, West Didsbury
Reviewed by Paul Harvey and Family
Our table for five was booked for 4pm on Saturday 28th January, 2012. Our party consisted of my wife and I, our daughter Scarlett, age 5 and my mother & father-in-law.
Upon arrival we were pleasantly greeted by staff and although they were aware of our booking there was no specific table, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were able to choose where we sat. The restaurant was fairly quiet but beginning to get busier as you would expect for this time on a Saturday afternoon. It is very spacious, modern and clean with an open plan type design, which is complemented with a very ‘easy on the eye’ decor and surroundings. We chose to sit in a circular shaped booth-type setting, which had comfortable leather high back seating and a round wooden table. It was the perfect size for the five of us.
We were left with our menus to choose our meals and drinks. The menus are fantastic, like nothing we have seen before. They are very comprehensive, colourful and informative. This ranges from vegetarian options, one of your five a day, intolerances, etc. They even make suggestions for what type of wine/drink to have with particular meals. The children’s menu is also very comprehensive, but unfortunately there were only three drink choices included in the meal option, resulting in us paying an extra £2 for a cola.
After we had all chosen our meals and drinks we were unsure as to whether or not we needed to go to the bar to place our order? As such I went to the bar, but was told a waitress would come over and take our order. Our waitress, Emma, arrived shortly afterwards to take our order. Emma was very pleasant, polite and aimed to please. She even went to the trouble of offering me other side dishes when I declined coleslaw with my meal. She took note of every little special request, right down to my mother-in-law asking for ‘not too much salad’ with her lasagne!
We initially had a sharing portion of dough balls along with four different dips. They were scrumptious, very hot & fresh, and the dips complemented them very well. Our main courses arrived within 20 minutes of us ordering and were all piping hot, unfortunately apart from mine, which didn’t arrive with everybody else’s! I was then asked what I had ordered, and it arrived about five minutes later, but was fresh and piping hot.
Scarlett had a children’s meal of 3 pork sausages, mash potato and beans. I had a sample of her mash and I can honestly say it was the best I’ve ever tasted (which my wife reiterated) very fluffy and creamy. Father-in-law had fish, chips and mushy peas, which he was very impressed with – a good large size piece of fish, very fresh & well cooked. Mother-in-law had lasagne along with her specially requested small portion of salad. The lasagne was a good size, cooked perfectly and full of flavour. My wife, Louise had a 10oz 21 day matured rump steak, cooked medium to rare with large mushroom, tomatoes & chunky chips. The steak was cooked perfectly, with no fat, ideal size and tasted delicious. I had the Chicken & BBQ ribs combo, which consisted of six large chicken goujons, half rack of ribs, a bowl of beans, chunky chips and a bowl of BBQ sauce. The goujons were cooked perfect and tasted lovely, especially with the BBQ sauce. The ribs were awesome, owing to the fact that I didn’t even need to pick them up – the meat just literally fell of the bone and it tasted fantastic!
We all couldn’t resist trying some of the deserts on offer after having such beautiful meals. Scarlett had strawberry & vanilla ice cream with a big wafer, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Father-in-law had Lemon frangipane tart with cream – which he said was great, not dry and full of flavour. Mother-in-law had vanilla ice cream and a coffee and there were no complaints! Louise had apple crumble and bizarrely requested cold custard to accompany it, which to her delight she received. The only down-side she said was a lack of apple in the crumble. I had the Belgian waffles with cream and chocolate fudge sauce – presentation was nice, but the waffles (appeared to be one cut up) were very tough to get through with my spoon.
Overall, we all had a fantastic afternoon with great food & drink at a very nice and well-presented establishment. All of the staff were very friendly, pleasant and happy to help. We all would definitely dine there in the future and would be more than happy to recommend to family and friends.
Thinking back, the only criticism we have is that there was nothing provided to keep young children entertained at the table (such as crayons, colouring/activity booklet, etc.) and as such we were glad Scarlett’s Nintendo DS came along!
For more information visit:
www.tabletable.co.uk/content/tabletable/our-pubs/manchester/christie-fields.html.