Greens is a vegetarian restaurant in Manchester, opened in 1990 by Chef Simon Rimmer. The Chef is not vegetarian, I found that a little strange, but in a good way. I can only rejoice for his decision to open it like this. The cuisine is modern British and that’s always a winner in my book.
I’m always happy to go to vegetarian restaurants, as I’ve been veggie for 7+ years and having the opportunity to order everything that is in the menu sounds amazing.
Just a sneak peak of the dishes to come 🙂
We went this Tuesday, just showed up, hoping to get a table. We arrived at 6.30 and were welcomed by friendly staff. We were lucky, in half an hour the place was very very busy, nearly full. Next time we have to book online, I’m sure that in the weekend or on Fridays it must be impossible to get a table without a reservation.
We perused the menu and had difficulties deciding (remember my comment about having the opportunity to get anything from the menu and how amazing it is 🙂 ). I even had a look online at home, but didn’t help, I wanted to try everything! Well, after a few minutes and pestering hubby with silly questions, finally I decided what I want and ordered.
For starter I had deep fried oyster mushrooms, pancakes and plum sauce, salad of spring onion, cucumber and pickled ginger. I loved it! So full of flavour, the sauce was sweet and complimented the salad nicely, while the pickled ginger added an extra punch. The mushrooms were amazing, crunchy and not oily at all. The dish came together beautifully.
Hubby wanted to try the garlic ciabatta and was very happy with it. He didn’t fancy any other starters, but he helped himself generously to my fried mushrooms. He is not too keen on ginger, this is why he avoided the dish.
After we finished the starters we had a chat about the food and sipped some wine, only me, as hubby was driving. The mains came out really quickly considering the restaurant was so busy. I was so pleased with that and the service in general.
Hubby had shiitake and chestnut mushroom gnocchi with red wine ragout. It was very good, the gnocchi were amazing just on their own. The sauce was wonderful and the mushrooms were perfectly cooked.
I thought after I tasted his dish that I have to make pasta at home. I’m not implying that I can cook as good as a Chef, but I’m sure I can do something better than we can find on a supermarket shelf.
My dish was quintessentially British: Lancashire cheese and basil sausages with grain mustard mash, beer gravy and tomato chutney. I loved it, beautifully presented and very very very yummy.
The gravy was deeply flavourful and the sausages were perfect, having the right amount of cheese and basil. The mash was smooth and creamy, great texture. The mustard was giving it just a little extra spice, not overpowering the potatoes.
I can’t recommend high enough the restaurant. The food and service were amazing, it was a real treat and I can’t wait to go there again. The restaurant looks very pretty, but it was too busy to be able to take a few pictures.
