FIRST off, Waxy O'Connor's is not a conventional eating or drinking establishment. I'm not sure which it is, what it wants to be or whether or not it actually matters.
Based in The Printworks, just off Victoria Station, its four floors and nine seating areas boast three bars and an interesting mix of modern music and period decor, with stained glass windows and timber carvings.
The music is loud, but the atmosphere is good, though we did experience some confusion finding the correct room in which to sit.
advertisement
We ordered what turned out to be an exceptionally good and excellent value (£10.50) Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, which proved very welcome after an afternoon spent shopping in the rain.
The menu itself looked extremely appetising, with starters and small plates ranging from Clonakilty pudding (black and white pudding with streaky bacon) and Rossmore oysters to seafood chowder and a chicken liver paté.
Unfortunately, both of our choices - the oysters for my partner and the Cashel Blue cheese profiteroles for me - had run out, so Vanessa went for the mussels (fresh Irish steamed in white wine, tossed in tarragon and garlic sauce and served with Irish soda bread) and I chose the loaded potato wedges with spring onion, melted Cheddar cheese and Ballymaloe relish.
Both proved excellent choices; tasty and plenty of it.
Mains ranged from pork and leek sausages with bubble and squeak and Guinness gravy to Irish stew and fish and chips to the famous all day Irish - you'll have guessed the Irish theme by now - breakfast, which included pork sausages, bacon, black and white pudding, potato cake, tomato, whole field mushroom, poached egg and stone baked Irish soda bread.
Again, my partner's choice, Waxy's chicken stuffed with Irish cheese and relish, wrapped in smoked bacon was unavailable, though my tian of roast vegetables stuffed with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil pesto and served with tomato sauce was and turned out to be beautifully presented and mouthwateringly delicious.
My partner's rump of lamb, which came with garlic and olive mash, spinach and a rosemary and Guinness jus, proved a little tough for her, but side orders of crusty garlic bread with cheese, gorgeous Caffreys battered onion rings and cajun potato wedges with garlic mayo and sweet chilli dip had more than filled us up anyway.
Just to make sure, we had a second bottle of wine as we enjoyed the first one so much, but were too full to go for a pudding.
Altogether the bill, inlcuding the wine, came to a very reasonable £53 and we had a thoroughly good night despite the unavailable dishes.
Waxy O'Connor's, The Printworks, Corporation Street, Manchester M4 2BS. Tel: 0161 835 1210 Website: www.waxyoconnors.co.uk
Opening hours: Mon to Wed, noon to 11pm; Thur and Sun, noon to midnight; Friday, noon to 1am; Saturday, noon to 2am.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
