Quite simply, some of the best dining room views in Manchester are to be had here.  I’ve never been one to visit places just because of the view and perceived glamour.  Usually it’s a recipe for excessive IG snapping over the shoulders of those seated in the window, with little real customer consideration for the seated diners’ experience.  Not here though.  The tables are all positioned to enjoy those views and were generally comfortable.  Cutlery and glassware are equally as high end, and the polished feel carried throughout with that focus ultimately being on the food and drink delivery.  The vibe is relaxing and in keeping with that food and drink focus.

The entry lobby is a bit dark, unlit and sparce with a security gent perched atop his stool whilst overseeing said space. The main feature was a huge electrical ceramic heater that illuminated, in neon red, both said gent and also said space.  It rang of Darth Vader’s man cave and felt a bit low on first impressions.  And our table was possibly a bit small for 4 people, once those water glasses, wine glasses, plates, menus and of course the food started to land.

Cutting to the chase; it wasn’t cheap.  We didn’t expect it to be in fairness since you pay for quality, but it was a tad over anticipations and there’s no menu online to do your research ahead of landing.  4 of us racked up £630, so about £155 per head, with one designated driver. But we did generally go to town a bit on the wine, and even the food truth be told.  You could do it for a lot less, with some restraint and complete lack of professionalism. The cheapest bottle of wine on our visit was the sturdy Moulin Camus Folle Blanche for £29, which has a wholesale price of £12, so a respectable x2.5 mark-up.

Definitely pitched towards the top end of the price points for Manchester.  Added service charge also applies.  We’d have tipped anyway, of course, but still.  And I’d argue that as a wine led venue, the water be it still or sparkling should be included due to necessity, especially when your table has ordered such a variety of vino.

Now it’s a lot of dishes so I’ll keep this compact;

Olives (£4.50) and bread (£4.50) were both good quality. The oil which came with the focaccia was good enough to bathe in.

Coronation Chicken Vol Au Vents (£8 for 2) were a retro smile on a plate. Textbook buttery flakiness, straight out of the ‘80s, crammed full of lightly curried chicken, topped with a flourish of chive.

Sea trout tartare with avocado, clementine, seaweed and sesame (£13.50) was a huge flavour pop. Fatty trout, creamy avo with a strong savoury backbone and ideally acid balanced dressing to pull it all together. Fantastic and another table favourite.

BBQ’ed Celeriac (£8.50) was bang for buck, a hero.  Earthy, smoky root veg with some tart rhubarb and silky crème fraiche, topped with potato sticks for textural variance

Braised carrots with dukkah, feta and chermoula (£9) was, and I’m ashamed to say this as a meat freak, our highlight plate of the evening. Sweet carrots cooked until they retained just the right about of bite, with tartness and creaminess from the cheese, an all-important a textural pop from the dukkah, rounded off with the punchy chermoula. A dish which had everything, with perfect synergy across the plate. Bravo.

Monkfish with miso butter and sea herbs (£26) was simple yet enjoyable as per most good fish dishes. Well-cooked tail, sauced generously, boosted by a salty pop from the sea herbs.

Roast Artichokes, BBQ Spring Onion, Szechuan dressing and Borlotti bean puree, with optional added truffle (£24.50) was a bit indulgent, largely because the added truffle was more than a light shaving. It perhaps upstaged the ‘chokes, which were still nutty and enjoyable, sat on top some super smooth and well-seasoned bean puree.

Cornish cod with lobster satay sauce, kohlrabi and fennel salad (£18) was another hero.  Superb, daisy fresh fish sat on a rich nutty sauce which begged to be mopped up with gusto, nuanced with some lightness via the salad and kohlrabi ribbons.  A side of carbs with this, and I’d have been happy with it as a main.

Pork Loin, choucroute and pickled pear (£26); I’ll come to that dish later.

Sirloin on the bone with Caesar salad (£70) came perfectly cooked over coals, as it should be a for a purist, with melting amber-hued fat and massive smoky notes. It was a real crowd-pleaser and gives Hawksmoor a run for their money if you want a big bone-on steak. Delicious.

Wines, which obviously need a mention, were all fantastic in selection and quality. We could have stayed there all day just drinking. The Tenuta dei Sette Cieli Scipio Cab Franc was outstanding. Big, bold and unapologetic. The Chateau Haut Bergeron Sauternes was also a stunner, and finished us off in style with our puds, which were;

White Ganache, poached pear, lemon with olive oil biscuit (£8) was impressive in its restrained sweetness. The pear was this time perfectly done with a nice mouth feel from the biscuit. The pud of the evening, without question.

Fennel seed crème caramel (£7.50) was delightfully wobbly, smooth and silky, and came garnished with some delicious Sauterne-soaked raisins to give a nice pop and mix up all that smoothness.

Rum Baba, Armagnac prunes, Chantilly cream and Florentine (£9) was big, way bigger than I’d envisaged. The tuile top was a nice addition to this French classic, which sat in a pool of boozy indulgence.

Cheese board (£5) was simple yet quality, in the form of a single cheese, good crackers and a splendid chutney. Straightforward and confident.

The pork loin warranted little praise at all, especially for almost 30 quid.  It was sliced into rashers rather than being served as a whole chop, so had lost its temperature and moisture en route from the pass to my mouth.  It was just a bit dry and flat, plus the pear garnish was well undercooked inside, despite the nice external char.  The only real ball-drop of the meal.

And more minor points in express format; Was the monkfish a touch too simple and small for the price point?  The crème caramel sauce was over and hence uber-bitter.  You could tell by the colour before even tasting it.  And the baba was both caught and not a baba in crumb structure at all, so struggled to do what it should in sponging up that rum.

Wine is what Climat is largely about at the nucleus, and our wine service was handled by the super knowledgeable yet approachable Nikolai. It takes both skill and natural charm to boss wine service with zero pomp and stiffness, but that was achieved here. The biblical French driven wine carte was verbally trimmed down to just a handful of educated and well measured options, once our tastes and budgets had been discreetly established. Our table of well drank wine buffs and hospo pros felt in the very safe hands of our vino-pilot, all afternoon.

After dinner we were treated to a tour of the wine ‘cave’, where we looked at some bottles that we couldn’t afford to do anything more with than simply look, whilst pretentiously photo’ing them for this piece as if we’d purchased them. Maybe the pretentious crowd had actually landed during lunch service?

Food service was similarly professional, prompt, and warm. The fabulous Grace looked after us like extended family for the entire service.

Glass and plate clear downs were perhaps a bit slow in places during busy periods, which were amplified by those small-ish tables.

Im going to state from the off that I’d bet my fully stocked wine rack on Climat picking up a Michelin Plate in the next 2 or 3 months. It’s 100% on that level; i.e. a well-regarded local venue with good standards.

The venue is slick, the food is a solid standard without being too fussy for most tastes, service is a definitely a highlight, and the wine offering is without question a match for anywhere in the city and immediate surroundings. Wine, de France, is very obviously the focus here, or at least it feels it in my book, as well as in their black leather-bound wine bible. I envisage many more visits, sitting at the counter with a nice Burgundy and a few small plates, quite happily.

Without question Climat has landed in Manchester with a bang, which was entirely predictable for anyone who’s aware of their sister venue in Chester. I can’t think of anywhere that’s any better in Manchester to relax with a glass or 3 of wine, with some quality small plates

Cooking standards are probably a touch below the price points, even in the current ‘Climat’.  I just had to shoehorn that in somewhere, sorry. As an inevitable comparison; Erst already has a Michelin Assiette and also serves good wine, as does Another Hand, albeit neither cellar is this high end, but both also serve solid food.  Yet they are both priced about 20% less than Climat.  Maybe you do pay for those views after all?  But the wine experience is 100% worth the asking prices, and that’s the ultimate draw here for me.

And pastry standards felt way below the savouries.  Everything should be consistent.