Alston Bar & Beef Manchester Review

On Sunday 17th December I visited the Alston Bar and Beef restaurant which is accessed via the external Cathedral Street entrance of the Corn Exchange in Manchester. The building was recently re-developed into a dining destination with 17 food outlets. Alston opened its doors in October after undergoing an extensive transformation with interior design and architecture practice Jestico + Whiles. 

As you enter the restaurant via a feature staircase with a bespoke easy speak stylish bar downstairs and the restaurant upstairs which is centred around the venue's extensive gin offering. The restaurant has a main dining area with a private dining area for up to 16 people which has beautiful metal work and mirrored walls. There was also a second dining area that can be booked out for functions seating a further 40 people. The decor is industrial themed with exposed pipework incased in silver wrap. It has a tiled clean modern look with simple colours such as black and white tiles with a pop of colour from the huge hand painted mural of a woman on the main wall with lily's and flowers on the other side. 

We were seated in the main dining area with a great view of the mural, I drank a Raspberry Royal which is a gin and prosecco cocktail whilst my friend tried one of the signature cold-compound gins which have been created to accompany the steaks. She went for the Damson gin with fever tree tonic, served with its own unique garnish. The bar boasts a selection of 58 gins from around the world, including several local brands such as Manchester Three Rivers, Thomas Dakin and Manchester Gin.

The menu features eight different cuts of beef including a chateaubriand and 500g T-Bone, as well as classic fillet and sirloin cuts. Each cut has been selected from the top one per cent of Scottish beef and dry hung for 35 days for optimum flavour and cooked to perfection in a specialist Montague oven. I couldn't wait to try the Sunday roast and my friend opted for a classic fillet steak with peppercorn sauce and fries. The roast came with all the trimmings and the steak was that tender you could have cut it with a butter knife it was perfect. 

For desert we indulged in the salted caramel chocolate brownie which came with a hot rich chocolate sauce which you hand poured yourself and the poached pear with creme anglaise which were both utterly delicious. For an after dinner drink we headed downstairs behind the curtain to the Jazz & blues bar which has a speak easy vibe and rustic features such as pillars from the original building in the early 19th century. We sat in a private booth and enjoyed an Espresso Martini from their expansive cocktail menu. I would fully recommend a visit to try the exclusive range of gins and the best steak's in Manchester. 

This review was carried out for Luxuria Lifestyle magazine. www.luxurialifestyle.co.uk