The Rose
Garden in Didsbury is somewhere we have planned to visit for a long time; the
last time I had it booked for my birthday but felt too rotten after drinking too
much the night before! Some half a year
later we finally got a chance to celebrate my Masters graduation. Parking proved to be quite difficult but we
eventually found a space in one of the side streets, the residents must hate
people parking in front of their houses.
It
was a very hot summer’s night and we spotted a window table by the door as we
approached but this was nabbed by the couple just in front of us. Usually we avoid the tables by the door like
the plague. At first we were seated
towards the back end of the thin dining room, the heat was overwhelming and our
server noticed this and reseated us immediately to a free table closer to the
open door.
Since
we had decided to visit the menu has changed a couple of times but as always we
pretty much had already decided what we were going to order before we
arrived. For starters I chose the pan-seared
cod cheeks with smoked applewood rarebit, pancetta crisp, spiced cauliflower
purée and tomato salsa. It was seasoned
a little heavy with the pepper as it kept hitting the back of my throat.
Otherwise it was a great dish as I loved the pancetta crisp and the spiced
cauliflower puree combination.
Mr
Nom chose the spring lamb carpaccio, slivers of mint crusted loin of Cheshire
lamb with sweetbreads, broad beans, peas, pea shoots and minty vinaigrette. I tried some of this and it was a cool summer
dish and the popcorn chicken like sweetbreads went well with the cold lamb and
mint dressing.
The
heat in the restaurant was overwhelming since we arrived and I’ve never experienced
heat like this whilst eating before. It was
so hot the ice in the drinks melted within a few minutes! A few fans maybe needed during these few
weeks of sweltering heat whilst it lasts.
For
mains I chose the lavender duck, roast goosnargh duck breast with blackberry
& lavender glaze, sweet potato mash, roast beetroot, sweet potato crisp and
a blackberry sauce. I was instantly
drawn to this when I first saw the menu; the description seemed really
interesting with the combination of ingredients and flavours. Mr Nom said I liked all things with lavender,
even suggesting for him to use lavender detergent! The dish was a triumph, the lavender worked
extremely well with the duck, the flavours were well balanced. Nearly all
elements blended together perfectly, the only slight negative being I could
taste orange in the sweet potato mash which left a slight aftertaste in my
mouth. Nevertheless, the blackberry and lavender glaze was tasty as I kept
mopping up the duck with it!
Mr
Nom selected the seaside special, fillet of irish turbot with scallop &
herb mousse, English samphire, shrimp croquette and tarragon velouté. I had a bit of food envy when I saw the meaty
fillets of turbot. The scallop mousse
was divine and the fish with the tarragon velouté was heavenly. A great fish dish, I like that there were two
generous pieces of fillet whereas I’ve seen meagre portions elsewhere.
By
now the restaurant was cooling down with less people and as the skies were
darkening which was a relief. As always
I found space for dessert and we decided to share a raspberry & dark
chocolate mille-feuille puff pastry with strawberry coulis, fresh raspberries,
raspberry jelly, dark chocolate mousse and chantilly cream. The dessert was what I expected with the sharp
raspberries cutting through the rich dark chocolate. I suppose it was not too
heavy of a dessert to end the meal.
The
highlight of the meal for me was my lavender duck dish. I wish we hadn’t waited so long to visit as
we were impressed with the combinations and flavours of everything that we
ordered. Most of the dishes on the menu
are also available as part of the set menu which seems great value and
something we will definitely return for, although probably on a cooler night.

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