It should be pointed out that away from the excellent Set Menu, which is available Monday to Saturday 12pm - 2.45pm and 5pm - 6.30pm, prices are not cheap. Starters average £8.50, mains at £20 (plus £3.50 for sides) and desserts at £7.95.

This is in stark contrast to the wine menu, which is incredibly good value for money, as are beers with Kaltenberg at £4 a pint or San Miguel at £3.50 a bottle. Cocktails aren't cheap though, setting you back between £8.95 and £9.95, which is a lot more than you'd pay at some of the award-winning places in town.

Talking of the wine list; it's incredibly impressive and offers grapes from around the world. The preamble in the menu states “There are 10,000 known grape varieties that can be used to make wine, although the French authorities only list 200 of commercial significance.” Damson offer 74 of these, 19 by the glass.

You can even choose three award-winning fines wines by the glass, including the only Rioja served at El Bulli, the Rioja Reserva Valenciso 2006 (£10 per glass), or the hand crafted white burgundy, Meursault Premier Cru ‘Les Perrières’ Vallet Frères 2008 (£25 per glass).

The house Champagne for many Michelin Star restaurants in France, Champagne Lallier Grand Cru Grande Reserve Brut, is just £7.99 a glass.

Away from the fine wines, the rest of the menu is also reasonable value, starting at just £15.95 for a 2011 Sicilian Ca’ di Ponti Catarratto or a Nero D’Avola (£5 in the shops), with a further 40 bins less than £25. As a comparison, the reliable 2010 Pouilly Fume, Domaine la Renardiere, Sauvignon Blanc at £29.95, is a whopping £47 in Michael Caines (generally £15 in the shops).

There was no amuse bouche on our visit, which was surprising given the technical nature of the dishes that followed. That said, the bread was fantastic, as were the starters. The whole meal consisted of some of the best looking dishes we’ve had in Manchester during a week of visiting 15 top restaurants.

The delicious Slow Roasted Onion Squash with Goats Cheese Pannacotta, wild mushroom, macerated grapes and candied hazelnuts on the Set Menu was the same size as those on the A La Carte Menu, of which the Salad Of Mr Ashcroft’s Mixed Beetroots with Goats Cheese Moose (£7.95) was described as “to die for”. Served with pickled Thai shallots, candied walnuts (which seem to be everywhere we’ve visited this week), pickled apples and pain d’epice crumb, this was cooking at the highest level.

The Tuna Tartare (£6.95) was also excellent whilst the Roasted Breast, Club Sandwich & Fried Quail Egg (£8.95) was beautiful but little more than a mouthful.

The main courses continued the wow factor. Steve Pilling and chef-partner Simon Stanley may have left Sam's and Mr Thomas's Chop Houses behind but the dishes prove they haven't lost their ability to source the finest meats. In fact, Steve later explained to us, whilst showing around an incredible eco-friendly kitchen, that Damson actually have an in house butcher, who produces incredible stock and sauces on site. These were especially apparent in the the Breast of Gressingham Corn Fed Duck (£19.95), which was excellent.

Served with wild mushrooms, green beans and parmentier potatoes, spiced butternut squash puree, white truffle oil and sherry vinegar, with port wine sauce, the flavours were incredible.

The Grilled Cod Loin (£18.95) was equally good. Accompanied by provencale crumbed mussels, kalamata olive tapenade, butternut squash, baby spinach, girolles with parsley and garlic and sauce bois bourdain, you can understand the high price tag, given the number of quality ingredients.

The 28 Day Aged Fillet Steak (£25.95) with dauphinoise potato, roasted onion puree, Portobello mushrooms, spinach & onion rings in a red wine sauce, was the only disappointment. Whilst still beautiful, it was served Medium Rare when Medium had been requested.

All in all, Damson at Media City is a fantastic restaurant and, of the 15 we visited in our week long project, was the one that left us most pleasantly surprised. Of course, we're fully familiar with its multi-award winning sister in Heaton Moor, however we'd go as far as saying that Messrs Pilling and Stanley have taken their admirable talents up a notch with the 140 cover restaurant in Media City.

As we paid the bill (on which service charge wasn't automatically included), we noticed other smartly-dressed diners also doing the same, ahead of their short walk across the water to the bright lights of Old Trafford. There was a few famous faces and notable big company bosses amongst them. With the BBC located next door, you can't help but feel that the restaurant will become the regular haunt for many media executives. Damson should definitely help quash some of the nonsense that was quoted about their relocation from London." - restaurants of manchester - 23/10/13 (visited on a Wednesday evening)