The Northern Quarter Restaurant, NQ Manchester

I'm scared of the Northern Quarter. It can all be a bit hip and 'down with the kids'. However, recent trips to lovely establishments such as Home Sweet Home and Sugar Junction have given me the confidence to go forth! Normal people appear to frequent these places too! It's ok.... (breathes into paper bag)
Last week I asked Twitter which restaurants do the best desserts in the North West. Lots of people were suggesting places that I had already been to, but I really wanted to try somewhere new. Quite a few suggested the Northern Quarter Restaurant, so off we trot!

We got there quite early, but it became clear from the shouts of 'two burgers, one sticks one ched!' (I will explain this lingo later...) that the burger was a popular choice! We went here on Saturday, so that would have meant two burgers in two days. Oh to hell with the diet, I'll behave during the week! The burger comes with a choice of either Blacksticks Blue cheese or mature cheddar (thus the 'sticks and ched'). We tried both, just to be on the safe side...

This burger was totally different to the one I had the night before at Suzanna's. Both special in their own little way... The chips were lovely and crispy (I can't abide a soggy chip!) and the burger came with some spicy tomato relish. What was really nice was the portion sizes. We went for lunch, so this was enough to fill the sizeable hole created by shopping, but didn't immobilise me for the rest of the day! Their lunch menu is really reasonable too, it was £12.95 for two courses or £15.95 for three.

Once again, it was the promise of desserts that had led me into this restaurant, so I wasn't leaving without sampling their wares! My husband had crème brûlée and I had sticky toffee pudding.

The brûlée was thick and full of flavour, and came served with a berry compote and biscotti. 
The sticky toffee pudding (to quote Greg) was laaaavly! Really light sponge served with a thick toffee sauce and ice cream. I could eat this every day of my life. That and the assiette. And Jason Atherton's Pistachio Financier. OK, I'm a total dessert piglet. 

A rather enjoyable lunch indeed, and great value. I'd love to go back in the evening to sample the à la carte menu. I get the feeling that this takes on a slightly more sophisticated feel. Highly recommended if you like a good dessert too...

Find them here.

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Disclaimer: I was not paid by the restaurant to do this review. I went because Twitter told me to...