Cocktails & Carbs - A review of The Laundrette in Chorlton

You’ll notice a theme of my posts this holiday season…food! Yes, we’ve spent much of our Christmas holiday eating our way through and discovering the establishments in our new home town…and next on the list was The Laundrette in Chorlton.

The restaurant is nestled on a fantastic corner spot on Beech Road (with a really impressive outdoor seating area, which I can’t wait to maximise in the Summer). We popped our heads in one evening to find it packed full of happy eaters and drinkers. So we were kindly propped at the bar while we waited for a table and looked after by their extremely friendly and knowledgeable Bar-man. The place had a great atmosphere, was cosy and had a simple chic contemporary interior (apologies for the dark photos, the lighting was sultry and atmospheric!).

The cocktail menu is substantial and full of twists on the classics. When I saw a delightful concoction pass me by on a tray I asked what it was and Mr Bar-man said it was something he’d created and he’d happily do me one…with rum. So I was instantly pleased and settled down while watching my drink come alive.

We waited just under half an hour for a table to become free, but this was no issue as we hadn’t booked, it was peak time and the Manager kept us updated every 10 mins or so. Plus we had scrummy cocktails to keep us entertained as we perused the menu. The Laundrette boasts a selection of pizzas and cocktails, book-ended by some impressive sounding Italian starters and desserts.

We all opted for the Calamari to start, which came served with tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. And it tasted gorgeous! The squid was perfectly cooked, soft and not chewy, and the bread crumb coating was crunchy and crisp. A very good start to proceedings.

Next, the boys chose pizza which come at about 9 inches in diameter, freshly made thin-crusted with a good selection of toppings. Hubby went for this Meatball pizza with a creamy base…

I, being a total pasta fiend, opted for the Truffle Mac & Cheese as everything about that sounds right! And it was! It came served, freshly baked out of the oven, so a gorgeous crispy cheesey top with aromas of subtle truffle. The macaroni was nicely cooked and the sauce was perfectly gooey. My only slight criticism was that the dish was a little oily…but on the plus side, they do serve it with 2 wedges of brown bread to mop-up the oil…certainly carb-o-rific!

I can’t deny that the desserts had me curious, particularly the Calzone filled with salted caramel, bananas, nutella and vanilla ice cream…but after all those carbs and cocktails (and a cheeky bottle of Chenin Blanc), we couldn’t eat another morsel. Don’t dismay, I will be heading back for a cocktail and dessert only afternoon! Watch this space.

We were there for just about 2 hours in all and a very pleasant, warm and tasty evening it was. The service was bang-on; attentive without being stuffy and I’m always impressed when the waiting-staff memorise your order without writing it down (something I could never do). Again, I’ll mention that the Bar-man (didn’t catch his name) was particularly knowledgeable and accommodated all of our questions about the interesting selection of alcohol on his bar. And with 2 courses each, a couple of cocktails, a couple of beers and a bottle of wine – it came to £30 per head. Very reasonable for a nice dinner out, in a lovely setting methinks.

We will certainly venture back again and I hear they do a pretty impressive breakfast.