18-24 Princess Street (underneath the Arora Hotel), 0161 238 4348 www.obsidianmanchester.co.uk
Obsidian Bar and Restaurant bills itself as “Manchesters (sic) Finest” on its website. If you get the impression that modesty and understatement is not its selling point, then you’d be right. According to Test-card Girl, it has a reputation as the place to hang-out for aspiring Carrie Bradshaws. Indeed, not the kind of place you would expect to find TCG and Whoopsi J on a Friday evening. However, Obsidian also has something of a reputation for innovative modern British cuisine. With price concerns dispelled by the wielding of the trusty Hi Life Platinum Card, the Gastromanc duo were prepared to put prejudice aside (we were, honest!).
Whoopsi J arrived first and was met by a very friendly maitre d’ who directed a thirsty WJ to the bar with a smile. She was wearing jeans which appeared to be a good sign – ‘can’t be that poncey’ thought WJ. TCG arrived shortly thereafter, and the eponymous duo were soon perched on stools at the bar supping a pre-dinner G & T.
The bar staff were perfectly friendly and the atmosphere wasn’t unpleasant. Okay it was mainly full of city-types having a post-work drink, but if you fancy a bit of a sneer (and we do) one can do so unobtrusively enough with the use of the angled mirrors behind the bar. Stressed executives will be pleased to learn that their Honeysuckle Daiquiri can be accompanied by a soothing shoulder pummelling, courtesy of Obsidian’s very own in-house masseuse. Interesting touch. Obsidian has a long, gallery bar, and the décor is all bright orange lights and neon. This effect is carried through to the restaurant, which is a strange contrast of prevailing gloom and bright neon lighting that hurts your eyes when you look at it. The attempted effect is volcanic, hence the name “Obsidian” which is a black glass-like rock created by rapidly cooling lava flows (of course). TCG took a shine to the orange net curtains that decorate the booths. However, to our disappointment we were not sat in a booth, but were led to a table in the middle of the restaurant underneath the blue neon criss-cross strip-light that cuts across the breadth of the dining room. This blue strip-light has an almost imperceptible flicker that is probably just noticeable enough, enhanced by the ambient gloom, to induce epileptic seizures in someone susceptible (be warned). It took some getting used to.
The A La Carte menu is interesting enough and reflects the use of local produce
such as Bury black pudding and Goosnargh Duckling (though which modern British restaurant or hotel in the north west doesn’t have Goosnargh duck on its menu these days?). There are traditional dishes that suggest an honest simplicity, for example, the Obsidian Fish Pie (their signature dish), or ‘Simple fillet’, fat chips, spinach and oven roasted tomatoes, and Pork loin with sage and onion mash and grilled Bury black pudding. On the other hand, the menu is peppered with dishes that comprise a perhaps unnecessary assortment of rather disparate ingredients, for example, the Blue crab salad, guacamole and mango salad with crostini, and the Roasted Halibut with butternut puree, and salad of apple and walnut.
The wine list was reasonably varied and there was a separate bin list from which we ordered a South African Chenin Blanc at a very reasonable £14.95. This was a fruity white wine that complimented the food well.
For a starter Whoopsi J had the Tuna carpaccio and celeriac with a pear and truffle salad (£7.25). The portion of fish was generous enough but didn’t look that fresh. At least, it didn’t appear to be red, but to be honest this was hard to discern with the gloomy lighting. WJ thought it looked, and tasted, like sword fish carpaccio. Still, it was difficult to tell because the delicate slivers of fish were covered in a thick layer of lemon juice and handfuls of sea salt. It tasted lemony, salty, and fishy in that order (peculiarly). 
What WJ assumed was the celeriac and pear concoction consisted of a coleslaw-like heap in the middle of the plate, upon which rested a nest of some green salady stuff that might possibly have been some kind of sprouting vegetable (alfalfa sprouts?). The texture of this was hard and crunchy and WJ wasn’t convinced that it went at all well with the other ingredients. In fact, it was a bit like eating a disaggregated Shredded Wheat biscuit. The ‘truffle’ advertised in this dish must have fallen-out with its strange bedfellows the alfalfa sprouts and the coleslaw and gone for a pint in the Circus Tavern, because WJ found no trace of it on her plate.
Test-card Girl couldn’t resist the Grilled Bury black pudding, poached hens eggs & baby spinach salad (£7.50). Unfortunately the lukewarm slices of black pudding seemed to have had only a brief encounter with the grill and so were soft and squidgy rather than crisp and sizzling. The poached egg, however, was cooked to perfection and TCG let out a contented sigh on bursting open the oozing yolk. The plate had been drizzled with a curious dark and glossy bitter-tasting dressing that was somewhat reminiscent of Marmite but in fact was a disastrous caramelised sauce that tasted of burnt sugar and did absolutely nothing for the dish.
For main course WJ had the Grilled Scottish salmon, beetroot fondant, creamy polenta & goats cheese sauce (£14.50). Again a generous portion of fish, the salmon was nicely cooked, though it had a hard crust that wasn’t entirely consistent with grilling (seared?). There was no beetroot “fondant” (unless it had eloped with the truffle from the starter), but instead chunks of cooked beetroot – very tasty admittedly. There were also two tiny little funeral pyres of chopped fried beetroot with goats cheese – again quite tasty. The polenta bed on which all this rested was nicely creamy and soft, and the goats cheese was tangy without being overbearing. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, this had been so badly over-salted that after the initial taste wore off it became truly unpleasant in the mouth. Indeed, the dish was ruined by aggressive over-salting.
TCG had the Roasted Halibut with butternut puree, and salad of apple and walnut (£15.50). The halibut was roasted to crispness without being overcooked, though Test had to agree with Whoopsi J that the seasoning had been rather heavy handed. The butternut puree was pleasant enough in itself, but the bland sweetness of the puree didn’t exactly compliment the fish. Far nicer were the tiny cubes of deep-fried squash that were scattered about the plate. The apple and walnut salad was pleasantly sharp and crisp. Although each component of this dish was well executed, the flavours and textures didn’t go terribly well together. For example, the sharp apple and walnut salad would have worked better with an oilier fish. Mackerel perhaps, or even Whoopsi J’s grilled Scottish salmon.
For dessert WJ had the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Maybe it was the welcome taste of sugar after all that salt, but WJ really enjoyed this sticky toffee pudding. It was succulent and had a nice sweet toffee-caramel sauce. It came with a separate serving of homemade vanilla ice cream which had a lovely texture and creaminess. This was the highlight of the evening for WJ. TCG had the Rice Pudding with Fruit Compote. This was served crème brûlée like, in a ramekin with a crisp caramel topping. Once recovered from the shock of the rice pudding being served cold (in keeping with the crème brûlée style presentation) Test was impressed by this sweet and simple pud. A minor niggle: the fruit compote would have been more at home with a traditional hot rice pudding.
The desserts were washed down with a very generous glassful of Australian dessert wine (£4.95), which was an excellent way to round off the meal.
Throughout the service the waiting staff were friendly and filled the wine glasses up EVENLY (TCG watched carefully). The service was prompt without being rushed.
A word about the clientele? Paris Hilton look-a-likes, wannabe WAGS, general city types - the young Cheshire set. The rose wine was flowing and so was the Dolce and Gabbana. We had an interesting evening of people-watching if nothing else.
Despite having some things to recommend it (friendly staff, nice wine, nice dessert), we were left feeling rather disappointed. Had we not got a free starter, main, and dessert with the Hi Life card, we might well have been angry even. Some of the food had the makings of a good dish, but we felt this was spoiled by conceits such as the combination of too many poncey ingredients, and, unforgivably, a chef who clearly had got carried away watching ‘bad boy’ TV cooks lobbing fistfuls of Maldon salt into dishes at each stage of preparation, cooking and plating. Obsidian? Obsodium more like…
| Food | 5 |
| Menu: variation | 6 |
| Menu: innovation | 7 |
| Service: speed | 9 |
| Service: friendliness | 9 |
| Service: helpfulness | 9 |
| Ambience | 6 |
| Décor | 6 |
| Sneer Factor (ponciness) | 8 |
| Value for money | 3 (poor – apart from the wine) |
Visit date: Friday 25 January 2008
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