I was invited to the Swan at Salford a couple of weeks ago to meet their new management team and to see what’s cooking.
We were met with a really lovely welcome from the barman. That put the evening off to a great start!
What is the first thing you look for when you walk into a bar or restaurant? How busy it is? How clean it is? How cute the staff are?!
Well, the first thing @localfeasting I look for is a really lovely welcome. I feel this really sets the scene for the evening ahead; I love making food memories so how the evening starts is really important. The other thing I want to see when I arrive is that the place is being run really well. A visible, confident management presence immediately puts me at ease and suggests a well run operation. And in Alex, the recently appointed General Manager, the Swan at Salford have found themselves a real superstar. As we arrived Alex was seemingly everywhere at once, greeting locals, geeing up the team and generally running the show, all with the confidence and energy of a manager who knows they are on their game and has confidence in the product they are selling.
Drinks were efficiently served at the bar and we were shown to our table in a busy, buzzy restaurant environment. There were two very large groups dining when we arrived alongside several other smaller parties, and with loud chatter competing with some background music in a brightly lit restaurant there was a real energy in the room that was very encouraging.
Our confident waitress briefed us on the specials of the day, and whilst there were three items unavailable from the main menu we were dining on “steak night” so there was plenty of choice.
We chose from the deli board selection a “favourites board” to start along with a Brixham Crab starter. The Crab starter was excellent — generous portion, strong flavours and great presentation and use of colour. The thin potato blini was perfect to go with the crab and the sour cream really complemented the complete dish together with the Spring Onion salsa. Accompanied by a glass of Cotes du Rhone Rose that my husband described perfectly as a “glassful of Summer” it was a really, really good starter. The favourites deli board was good too-especially the whitebait with lemon mayonnaise and the spiced tomato hummous.
For main course I chose a Pork Schnitzel whilst my Husband took the Rib Eye from the Steak Special Menu. The Swan at Salford make a big deal of their meat supplier being Aubrey Allen , a third generation family Butcher based in Leamington Spa that boasts a Royal Warrant and an auspicious client list of top chefs. My Husband is a big fan of steak and given the provenance — and frankly the menu price of £26.00 for a Rib Eye and chips — expectations were high, and they were fully met. The steak was served perfectly cooked to medium rare, with the proper chargrilled exterior and accompanied by a fully flavoured yet surprisingly light Bearnaise sauce and a generous portion of Triple Cooked chips. Paired with a really good Cotes du Rhone red by the glass this was a fabulous quality main course that any chef should be proud to serve.
My Pork Schnitzel was equally good (and much more reasonably priced at £14.00). Moist, confidently seasoned and accompanied by a generous and well seasoned salad, the Schnitzel had a really lovely crisp breadcrumb coating and the tomato and caper relish was a great combination with the pork, a first-class main course that was a joy to eat.
Dessert was a sinful Valrhona chocolate mousse for me whilst my Husband tried a selection of the cheeses on offer — all very pleasant and a great end to the meal.
The service was attentive throughout and Simon the Chef then popped over to say hello. Simon has recently taken over the kitchen at the Swan having previously worked at Flitwick Manor. He and Alex are clearly on a mission together to drive up food and service standards at The Swan in Salford and judging by our experience this week the hard work is paying off.
It’s hard to believe given the plethora of “top end” gastropubs in the area these days that the Swan at Salford was truly ground breaking when it opened twelve years ago as part of the Peach Pub Company. The décor and design has been imitated in the ensuing Years, and whilst The Swan at Salford has certainly got the food and service standards right, the place itself could certainly do with a bit of love after all these years. The whole Pub could do with a fresh coat of paint to match the super energy of the people and product working in it! Toilets are an area that I think shows the overall standard of a restaurant and some investment in this area would not go amiss.
That minor gripe aside, the Swan at Salford is more than holding its own in a fiercely competitive sector as a pre-eminent gastro pub serving great food and wine really well, and being led by an excellent Manager and Chef. As a venue for a great pub meal, or indeed for a party in their superb private dining room, The Swan at Salford has much to recommend it. I think @localfeasting will be booking a Christmas party there. The group we saw when we dined were certainly having a great time and the kitchen was well equipped to handle large and small groups at the same time which is so often a challenge.
I wish Alex and Simon all the best and look forward to my next visit, I am thinking a Sunday Roast with the full localfeasting team!
The Swan Salford
2 WAVENDON ROAD, SALFORD, MK17 8BD
01908 281008
Date of Visit: Sept 2017