The impressive building that houses the much talked about Hotel Gotham fits the hotel name perfectly. The former Midland Bank building, located at 100 King Street has the most stunning Art-Deco architecture. I’ve walked past and admired it on many occasions. That however has been the problem, I walk past admiring the building, yet have never ventured inside, let alone headed up to the restaurant on the 6^th floor – named Honey.

So when I was invited along to experience the workings of the new head chef Ross Chatburn, I was delighted to be able to check it out properly.

Ross Chatburn, cheekily referred to as the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ due to his youthful looks and sleek kitchen execution had previously won the Manchester Hoteliers’ Associations – Young Chef of the year. He has been promoted from Senior Sous Chef to the head chef position at the hotel’s restaurant and is very keen to showcase some unsung hero of ingredients in his new dishes.

This evening consisted of a 5 course taster menu, paired with wine. All designed to show Ross’s passion for some stunning ingredients.

The first course definitely achieved that brief. Titled RADISH, there were no prizes for guessing the featured ingredient here. Like a painting on a plate, this was a dish bursting with fresh flavours, a mixture of raw and pickled, butter with apple bursting through, with great acidity added from the pickled egg.

Next up was PIG CHEEK. A perfectly cooked pig’s cheek with an amazing Smokey flavour. The tenderness of the meat, complimented with the crunch of the most flavoursome red carrot and a beautifully sweet carrot ketchup. For me this was my favourite.

Third dish on the menu was SCALLOP. Served with a stunning caramelisation, tender and melt in the mouth, some crisp fried Whitebait and a beautiful cucumber sauce. The dish was made truly complete with a crunch of toasted sourdough and a charred cucumber square.

I was starting to bulge already, but we are now onto dish four. One of my usual go to dishes. A Lamb dish, very seasonally served on a bed of Asparagus, Wild Garlic and a new one to me – a wild Asparagus, which was gorgeous. The lamb and wild garlic was a flavour combination I’ll definitely be working with myself in the future.

The Lamb was also paired with one of the easiest drinking Mendoza Malbec’s that I have ever tried. An organic wine which was not too overpowering but had intense flavour to match the dish perfectly.

To finish of the evening came the fifth dish – A Peach dish, with flavours of Honey and Thyme. This was light and fruity with a sweet honeycomb and meringue adding texture. Being stuffed already I didn’t think I’d manage it – but I did!

I think that Honey Restaurant has been overlooked by many, as it had been by me. However the restaurant on the 6^th floor of this stunning hotel is a go to destination in itself, one that I would highly recommend you try out for yourself.

Those behind Hotel Gotham are currently looking to increase and vary their presence in the city, which can only be a good thing.

You can check out Honey Restaurant here

*I was invited along to try out the dishes as a guest of Honey Restaurant. All thoughts and opinions are my own.