Our roving reporter Mark Anderson ventured out to Pip,Mary Ellen McTague‘s new venture in the City Centre and he loved it but don’t mention the crackling
With an invitation to attend the launch of “Pip” the Treehouse Hotel Restaurant located on pretty much slap bang in the middle of Manchester, at the junction of Deansgate & Blackfriars St, it was a opportunity I didn’t intend to miss.
The acclaimed chef Mary-Ellen McTague, has now opened “Pip”, The all-day restaurant champions seasonality and low-waste cooking, with a menu featuring locally sourced ingredients from trusted producers – including Littlewoods Butchers, Cinderwood Market Garden, Organic North, and Courtyard Dairy.
Pip at Treehouse Hotel Manchester is a welcoming all-day destination, not only for hotel residents, but accepts walk in, and reservations.
Pip offers a relaxed yet refined experience across its restaurant, lounge, and bar spaces.
For those who don’t know Mary-Ellen McTague is a proud Bury native and devoted Mancunian, and has been a driving force in Manchester’s culinary scene, known for acclaimed restaurants like Aumbry and The Creameries.
Beyond her talent in the kitchen, she’s celebrated for her compassion, particularly through Eat Well MCR, the non-profit she founded during the pandemic to provide fresh, chef-prepared meals to those in need.
And so to the food-We opted to try the 3 course Sunday menu:
Starters:
Hibiscus Glazed beet, Radicchio, Blood orange & Hazelnut. (V)
This was very tasty dish of glazed beetroot, accompanied with a mixed leafs, Radicchio, Blood orange & crushed Hazelnut over the top.
Chalk Steam trout, Mustard Cream, Rhubarb Ketchup.
The trout was tender to the taste, but only had a very slight smoked flavour, the rhubarb ketchup was pleasantly sweet but not over powering.
Mains:
Slow roast Porchetta, Crackling Fennel salt & smoked apple Sauce.
An excellent choice, the Pork was excellently cooked, and accompanied with a not so sweet apple sauce.
A disappointment was the omission of the Crackling from the meal.
Roast Herb fed Chicken, Truffle leek sauce.
The Roast herb Chicken was perfectly cooked & very moist, which sometimes let some restraunt’s down, (but not this time) the truffle leak sauce very smooth to the taste & had a slight earthy texture.
All mains came served with Caramelized onion Puree, Seasonal Green, Beef dripping roast & gravy.
The roast potatoes (WOW) very good, crispy, tasty perfect. The gravy again was excellently cooked.
Desert:
Treacle Tart, Earl Grey & Bergamot.
Another good choice, lovely & sweet sauce, with a light sponge.
Sticky Toffee Parkin, Toffee sauce Vanilla ice-cream, & smoked Hazelnut Brittle.
Never tried parkin for a while & it didn’t surprise me; it was light with a rich toffee sauce, accompanied by excellently made Vanilla Ice cream.
Digestif: were also available after the desert course but at an additional cost.
All menus presented an excellent choice for all tastes and the food was very plentiful.
The restraunt layout, seating, and service from the staff ensured anything we needed was available.
The staff impressed me, especially our waiter Gary, he had exception knowledge of all the menus & any foods associated with them, he also impressed with the detail about the
Overall the food didn’t disappoint by any means & we had no real issueswith the food, apart from the Crackling being omitted from the main course.
My opinion was that it was just a very nice Sunday Roast. We would defiantly eat here again, but would next time try the “All Day menu as a change.
BOOK NOW: www.pipmcr.com
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