Blanchflower Altrincham Friday Dinner, Reviewed

It’s Friday. You’ve toiled all week with late trains, lunch leftovers and the violence of social media, suffered the ribbons and arrows of work pressure and now you’re done, what exactly?

Go to the pub and dive headfirst into comforting nonsense?

Lay on the sofa, turn off and turn into an empty vessel for the evening?

Or go to dinner?

Sometimes it can be hard to muster up the enthusiasm to get dressed, jump on the tram and go out to eat. And sometimes that’s just what you need.

Blanchflower Altrincham started their ‘7 Fridays of Dinner’ weekly menu at the beginning of June and will run until 23rd August. So to try the limited edition I booked a table for two and met my brother from the tram in the busy food and drink business that is now Altrincham.

As someone who doesn’t eat enough bread to justify buying sourdough and avoids more expensive coffee almost on principle, I’ve never been to Blanchflower. But then there was never any promise of a bistro menu. Now that it is, I beat a path to their door.

Blanchflower sits in a prime location opposite Altrincham Market, where the Walking Streets invite a lively buzz from the place. Blanchflower really couldn’t be in a better position for the day. But when the sun shines over the yard, coffee and pastries just won’t cut it. You need a proper dinner.

The menu makes it the virtue of a simple bistro plate; one star of the show in the form of a piece of meat or fish, interesting uses of vegetables (perhaps in the form of pickling or chutney) and sauce or oil emulsion. For starters, Will went for the grilled glazed monkfish, pickled apple, soft herb salad and cauliflower cream (£13) and got all of the above, not to mention a portion size that towered over most mains. It’s not really about how much money you get, but it’s still nice to know.

I chose something that I always, if not always, stumble upon when I see it on menus; chicken liver parfait, in this case with toasted brioche, rhubarb ginger ketchup, dates and endive (£11). Simply put, this was amazing. No ifs, buts and clarifications, just a beautiful balance of ingredients executed wonderfully. Of course, dishes like liver parfait (aka French) are a bit indulgent, but this was a culinary fastball that had Lou Reed drooling and drooling at parties.

The brioche was toasted by name, but there was a lot more to the plate, as if it had been soaked in a butter bath all afternoon before being dunked in the deep fryer. We’ve all had toast before, but this was completely different. Toast turned into money.

The parfait was beautiful; a plush velvety texture with oceans of depth and complexity, combined with the tart, fruity notes of rhubarb and date and the peppery crunch of endive, this was as delicate as it was decadent.

Will and I decided on the same main course, the magnetic pull of what was offered was too strong; roasted cod, lobster cream, buttered golden cabbage, sea herbs, leek, chive oil and mussels (€22). This was a wonderful exercise in simplicity of taste; apart from the cabbage and leeks, an ode to the sea and the flavors that only it can offer.

The fried cod was perfectly done, the meat cooked to the point that it decisively avoids that flaky point of no return. The skin was crispy and not overly seasoned, meaning the plump piece of fish held up more than the other flavors on the plate. After all, it had to make room for the lobster bisque, the broad shoulders and sharp elbows of such a sauce are such that it can push around. Clams, a centerpiece of their own in many dishes, were given a supporting role here, but provided a subdued note of shellfish that added the final notes to a well-rounded plate. There was also extra biscuit in the little pots, which really added to the richness of everything. Fantastic.

We had a bottle of white with the above, a Moroccan Chardonnay no less than Domaine la Zouina, ‘Epicuria’ Chardonnay 2023, and it did everything you could hope for in a good chardonnay; rounding out the aromas and flavors of complex dishes and at the same time bringing its own strong personality to the party.

As a final dessert, Will chose the sticky date and toffee pudding with candied pecans, vanilla mascarpone, toffee sauce and granola snap (€9) to end the evening. While the thing knocked him out about three-quarters, he took the rest home to the sofa to snuff and then no doubt to bed.

I chose the lighter side of things with strawberries and cream, burnt white chocolate, vanilla ganache, strawberry mushroom, vanilla strawberry puree and meringue (€9). It might not sound light, going off the ingredients track, but it was the perfect dessert when you absolutely want something but don’t want to be whisked away when you’re done. The addition of the mushroom, ganache and meringue worked wonders in elevating a beautifully simple dessert in strawberries and cream to something a bit more plush.

Who would have thought that a bakery would work to this level?

It’s a very clever move by Blanchflower to set the parameters this way; shows the kind of vault foam that is appreciated by people who enjoy eating out, but only one day a week. Without even trying, it has managed to establish exactly what it is and demonstrate the ability and potential it can fulfill between now and next week.

Yes, it’s only on Fridays, but that’s when they say you should always leave your audience wanting more. I will book again, even if the sound of the sofa sirens signals the end of a long week.

Blanchflower12-14 Shaw’s Road, Altrincham, WA14 4EF