There is no better way to brighten up the January blues than with a lavish meal at the Pier Eight restaurant in the Lowry. As a regular theatre-goer, I often wander past Pier Eight, caught by the exquisite scent of the kitchen, so I was intrigued to finally give their menu a try.
Fellow blogger Nikki and I went down to the restaurant on Saturday evening to see what the Lowry has to offer outside of its sensational program of theatre. With seasonal menus, Pier Eight offers a main menu for those wanting to enjoy a night on the Quays or a pre-theatre menu ideal for eating before a show.
It’s a stylish and contemporary setting that offers spacious dining overlooking the beautifully lit up Quays. With a relaxed atmosphere, Pier Eight is ideal for a catch-up dinner with the girls or a romantic date night. The menu is classic and has a selection of high-quality dishes to cater to everybody’s needs.
Sitting down we struggled to choose what to order with an impressive nine starters, seven mains and eight desserts – everything was catching my eye. After pondering for a while whilst sipping a superbly flavoursome Sauvignon Blanc I decided on the roast onion risotto, forest mushrooms, Garstang blue cheese and chilli jam to start. Perfectly portioned, the blue cheese melted into the risotto creating a succulent creamy flavour. Nikki had the seared scallop, pancetta, pork dumpling, caramelised cauliflower purée, crispy sage and apple sauce starter and the multitude of textures made it a really interestingly tasty dish.
We then moved on to our mains and I tucked into the pan-fried duck breast, boulangère potatoes, blackberries, celeriac purée and chilli jam dish which struck the perfect balance between the ultimate comfort food and a luxurious meal. Cooked to perfection, the duck was tender, juicy and bursting with flavour which was complimented well by the soft potatoes cooked with crispy layers. Nikki thoroughly enjoyed her lamp rump, sweet potato, savoy cabbage, onion purée and lamb jus that was lean and tasty and the cabbage made for the perfect accompaniment.
Despite feeling particularly full after the first two tasty courses, we were tempted by the array of sweet treats on the dessert menu. As a nut allergy sufferer, there were quite a few dishes I couldn’t have but the lemon meringue ice cream, limoncello sponge, and liquorice tuille did the trick for me. Cleverly creating different zingy puddings that satisfied my sweet tooth, the lemon meringue ice cream coated in white chocolate was truly delectable. Nikki tried the peanut butter & raspberry cheesecake with peanut cluster and the flavour was delicate rather than overpowering and the chocolate flake clusters deliciously melted in her mouth.
Pier Eight is a divine restaurant that boasts an extraordinarily tasty menu that is full of variety and rich with flavour. With the delightfully friendly staff that are wonderfully helpful and attentive, it was a highly pleasurable evening topped off with first-rate food.
Book into Pier Eight on their website here and enter the code Jan50 when booking for 50% off food in January.
*The Lowry kindly provided the meal in return for an honest review, all photos belong to the Lowry and are credit to Nathan Chandler
