Following a decade of success in the capital, Blacklock’s Peter Street site is the first venue outside of London for the six-strong restaurant group. It’s also the latest in a succession of meaty openings in Manchester, following Flat Iron’s arrival earlier in 2024.
Among the smiley staff on arrival, there’s a couple of familiar faces from the nearby Hawksmoor. In fact, the Blacklock operation follows closely in the image of its Deansgate neighbour, with founder Gordon Ker having cut his teeth at Hawksmoor after leaving a career in law.
Inside the cavernous basement, leather banquettes line the exposed brick walls, while round, candlelit tables are dotted around the room. Cast iron pillars, a reminder of the building’s former life as a textile warehouse, require speedy servers to weave around the floor. At an early preview dinner, a full, buzzy room with low lighting and dark walls made for a cosy and convivial atmosphere.
Cocktail service is slick and the four different drinks, including a well-balanced martini, arrived at their intended recipient. The staff have gone through an intensive two-week training period, our server explained, learning the ropes and trying everything on the menu. Blacklock’s signature cocktail trolley makes its rounds while a comprehensive choice of kegged wine can be the ordered by the litre, alongside a bottle list that opens at £36 and a selection of Blacklock’s own beers.
The menu is almost identical to the London restaurants, opening with bites of potted meats and kimchi, or egg and anchovy, followed by starters like pig's head on toast or a crayfish cocktail. Perfect to stave off hunger while considering the main event. There are ‘skinny’ chops of pork and lamb (inspired by Joe Beef in Montréal), the famous ‘all in’ pile of chops for £27 per person and, on blackboard menus around the room, individual cuts are advertised by weight and crossed out when ordered.
Mirrors are scrawled with red painted slogans like ‘in my porterhouse era’, which inspired our main course of a kilogram porterhouse steak. It arrived beautifully cooked and rested and called for sides of beef dripping chips, barbecued baby gem with anchovy dressing, and broccoli and walnut salad. All sides are competitively priced at under £5 and from the line-up of the classic steak sauces, the chop sauce stole the show on our visit.
Blacklock brings together well-sourced ingredients, a solid ethos and slick service in one crowd-pleasing package. One of their tried-and-tested winners from London is their ‘say when’ white chocolate cheesecake, heaped generously into bowls at the table — not unlike Skof’s tiramisu or that famous Onda drawer. The people of Manchester can get on board with a fun dessert, especially when it tastes as good as it looks.
WHEN 27th September
WHERE 37 Peter Street Manchester M2 5GB
FOLLOW @blacklockchops
BOOK theblacklock.com
The Good Food Guide allows three to six months before anonymously inspecting a new restaurant. Look out for a full review coming soon.
