| Ocean Tr235ure review (yes that's its name) |
| Gordo loves table cloths and food in the open-to-all casino restaurant
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Gordo found himself sat with a couple of colleagues having an early dinner in a brand new Chinese restaurant discussing business. It was called Ocean Treasure (or nearly was) and it's replaced the excellent Italian that was attached to Casino 235, Numero. If you think of the common grievance of some of Manchester’s restaurants, people talk of good to great food, but no atmosphere. The Red Chilli family have altered it here with one move. Linen tablecloths. These have been out of fashion for a while but sometimes you need to look at tradition and go figure. Numero suffered from a strange atmosphere around the room, Gordo could never put his finger on it. Rarely would he think of going there for a meal even though at times, the food could stand up to some of the best in Manchester and the chef was a very good bloke who remained shadowy but was great at what he did - authentic Sicilian cooking. In the early days, the people themselves added the warmth but when you were in with a handful of other diners it was cold. Gordo looked around the room this time: it seemed different. The new owners, who have family ties to the excellent Red Chilli restaurants, one on Portland Street, and the other near St. Mary’s Hospital, have given it a very cosy feel. The new manager John Lee, had greeted Gordo’s party with a smile but no recognition. He told us that the place didn’t open for an hour. He then told us to hang on, the chef had just cooked the staff meal, but he would see if he could do something for us.
Coming back he welcomed us with a beaming smile and sat us down. This marked the service up for Gordo, who decided that he was going to do a review immediately, normally he would give it a few weeks. Scratching his head, which is a lot easier these days due to a distinct lack of his early ginger mop, Gordo suddenly realised what was making the place so cosy. Tablecloths.
Linen napkins as well. The colour scheme was chocolate brown and, er, mauve? Whatever it was, the whole place felt like a restaurant that was going to try hard to welcome you and then hold on to you. It was bloody comfortable. If you think of the common grievance of some of Manchester’s restaurants, people talk of good to great food, but no atmosphere. The Red Chilli family have altered it here with one move. Those linen tablecloths. These have been out of fashion for a while but sometimes you need to look at tradition and go figure.
The Modern at Urbis for example. Styled on a late fifties TWA airline feel, they keep getting grief, not the least from that shifty little sod at The Grauniad, for being soulless. The reason? Shiny polished ultra modern furniture does rock all for the place and certainly wouldn’t have been there in the fifties. Anything that wasn’t a caff had linen tablecloths. Yup. This stuff makes a helluva difference. It softens the sounds, it feels like luxury, it makes you feel important.
Now where were we? Ahh, Ocean Treasure. It’s not actually called that, but you can’t have everything. It’s name is Ocean Tr235ure. It’s part of Casino 235, geddit? Might be a headache for the marketing department though. You don’t have to be a member of the Casino to get in by the way, the entrance is off to the side. Given that the ambience and service is scoring high, then what of the food?
The menu is pretty traditional, not many surprises; Gordo chose sui mai, which was made with chicken; apparently the restaurant is working towards halal wherever it can, encouraging Muslims to visit – a clever move given the demographic of most casinos. The dish looked great when it came, and had that unctuousness required of these little steamed beauties. Very good start, but the vegetarian spring rolls crispy and dry, were a little bland. Ginger and spring onion steamed beef dumplings were fantastic, whilst a soft shell crab, deep fried in good light batter then finished with salt and pepper and scattered bird eye chillies were a rare treat. Schofield, ever the boy, couldn’t stop going on about them.
Main courses began with crunchy beef. It was pretty faultless and, although a bit punter-ish,this dish is one of Gordo’s favourites wherever he goes. These stood out for the good tangy saucing with an underlying crunch. The sea bass with ginger and spring onion came to the table whole and was expertly split by manager John into two superb, fat fillets that had us looking at each other in that way you do when you weren’t expecting something quite as good as this. The tofu dish chosen by Schofield came out well. The peppers that were hugging them were just about to collapse and yet again the deep, broad yet sharp saucing was keeping us on our toes. Rice was good. But a warning. Do not order the ‘crunchy spiced chips’ unless John can look you in the eye and tell you they have got over the problem. The problem of them being fucking vile.
We drank a good bottle of Burgundy as well: Schofield doesn’t do food without beer or wine, even ones that are supposed to be business based. No puddings, we were feeling the burn late in December to be frank. Sorry about the lack of prices; Gordo was relying on the bill, which turned out to be a simple receipt for £140.60, which was pretty good as £20 of that was a cash tip (always try and tip in cash folks, that way you know it’s more likely to go to the staff - not just here, Gordo quickly adds - everywhere) and the wine was about thirty quid or thereabouts.
A quick business meeting had turned into one of those unexpected pleasures that put smiles on our faces as food critics - we heartily recommend the place. It may well get better. It’s open really late, which is useful as well. It’s a smart place, more Wings than Red Chilli, so make an evening of it is Gordo’s tip. Bumping into John recently he tells me that he's been inspired by our early doors arrival. Instead of opening 6pm-4am, he'll be opening 5pm-4am. This, a) shows the power of the customer and, b) means if you or your friends are peckish at 2.30am you have a choice on this side of the city.
 Venues are rated against the best examples of their kind: fine dining against the best fine dining, cafes against the best cafes. Following on from this the scores represent: 1-5 saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9 get a DVD, 10-11 if you must, 12-13 if you’re passing,14-15 worth a trip,16-17 very good, 17-18 exceptional, 19 pure quality, 20 perfect. More than 20: Gordo gets carried away | ||||||
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