The Modern

Last night I was very lucky to have been invited to a meal with my lovely friend Kate and her parents, who were visiting for the weekend.

The restaurant they had chosen was The Modern, a very nice place which had I not been invited to, I would have had no idea existed. It is located on the sixth floor of Manchester's Urbis building and therefore is a perfect spot for lovely panoramic views of the city centre, the Printworks and the big wheel.

On arrival we had a sit and a drink on the sofas of the top floor bar which was a really nice start to the evening. We were then led down to the restaurant via a spiral staircase with dizzying views of the city centre - a really great way to see Manchester at night.

On being given the menus we faced the problem of trying to read the tiny print on the menu in the dim lighting. Eventually we managed to decipher it and it turned out that Kate and I decided to have the exact same meal as eachother. What great taste we have!

For starters we decided to go for the scallops with watercress sauce. Before last night, the only time I had ever had scallops was when I was living in France and bought myself 6 scallops from Auchan supermarket and attempted to cook them for myself for my dinner. I had no idea what I was doing really and the results were not great. So I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy them or not, but as I had heard that The Modern was one of Manchester's top 10 restaurants, I trusted them to do a good job.

I was delighted when a beautifully presented plate of appetising scallops arrived in front of me and definitely did not regret the decision to order them when I tasted them. They were really nicely cooked - slightly crisp on the outside and soft in the middle and I was surprised at how meaty they tasted. They went perfectly with the subtle watercress sauce and I thought the portion size was perfect.

For our mains, Kate and I ordered lemon sole with potatoes and side orders of cumin carrots and herb salad.

The sole and potatoes were really tasty and as the fish was cooked on the bone we spent ages eating it and enjoying every mouthful. The cumin carrots were quite unusual but worked really well and were very moreish. Kate and I were both really glad we had ordered it.

Despite making the responsible decision not to have a dessert, I did have a "hypothetical" look at the dessert menu, and there were some really lovely choices. Kate's dad went for a dark chocolate and malt whisky tart - sort of a chocolate ganache in pastry - which looked absolutely amazing.

I think Kate's parents really enjoyed their dinners too and we all had a really nice time. It was the first time I had met them and I found them really nice, funny and easy to talk to.

I also thought the waiting staff at the restaurant were really attentive, relaxed and friendly and were very willing to join in the banter we were having at the table, and were also very nice and helpful when Kate had a problem with her contact lenses.

I would definitely recommend a visit to The Modern for a special occasion as the food was really good and I felt we were able to relax there. I'm really glad that Kate and her parents invited me as I had a lovely evening and if you are reading thankyou very much, what a wonderful meal!